George Zimmerman shot and killed Trayvon Martin, 17, in Sanford, Florida, the night of February 26, 2012. Despite the media circus that followed, and Zimmerman’s high-profile trial last summer that ended with his acquittal, I have never written about this case.
Although it was a big story, I wasn’t sure it was a Lovefraud story. Most of the media attention focused on the racial aspects of the case. Most of the debate was on whether or not justice was served. Neither of these issues necessarily correlates with sociopathy.
There were a few hints that Zimmerman had sociopathic traits. In fact, a writer by the name of Shawn James did a good job of outlining them in his blog article, Why I believe George Zimmerman is a sociopath.
But now we’re hearing from Shellie Zimmerman, George Zimmerman’s estranged wife. And she’s describing behavior that all of us at Lovefraud will recognize.
Last week Shellie was interviewed by Katie Couric. Watch the interview here. It’s divided into two clips be sure to watch them both.
Signs of sociopathy
In Shellie’s descriptions of George Zimmerman’s behavior, I see the following signs of sociopathy:
• The night before the murder, Shellie wasn’t feeling well. George didn’t want to deal with it and publicly humiliated her. Sociopaths frequently show their true colors when their partners are sick. They have no interest in caring for others.
• Zimmerman’s behavior after the trial, including several run-ins with the law, casts a lot of doubt in Shellie’s mind about her husband. “I don’t know the person I have been married to,” she said. That’s because the person she married didn’t exist.
• “George does seem like a ticking time bomb,” Shellie said. “I’m certainly afraid.” This is an apt description of a sociopath.
• “When you’re married to a person who is manipulative and emotionally abusive, you start to lose yourself and your identity in that relationship,” Shellie said. “Leaving him was the best thing that I’ve ever done.” She is perfectly describing the experience of many Lovefraud readers involved with sociopaths.
• What does Shellie want to do in her future? “I would love to give a voice to a very silent population of women who suffer from emotional abuse or verbal abuse,” she says. Emotional and verbal abuse are hallmarks of sociopathic manipulation.
• Shellie says she doesn’t know who George Zimmerman is. “I found out that he was lying about a lot of things.” Lying, of course, is the cardinal sign of sociopathy.
• Shellie says Zimmerman “became like a pacing lion, very unpredictable.” At times she was frightened. Many Lovefraud readers have seen their partners acting like a pacing animal, with rage boiling just below the surface.
• Several women filed domestic violence charges against George Zimmerman, including Shellie. She said that each time he turned the charges around and blamed the woman. This is classic sociopathic behavior.
“Unraveled”
Towards the end of the interview, Katie Couric asked if George Zimmerman unraveled. Shellie agreed. “It seems like something snapped in his spirit,” she said. “And made him behave ”¦ like a monster.”
This, of course, is not what happened.
When Shellie Zimmerman first met her husband they married in 2007— he was wearing a mask. I don’t know when the mask started to slip, but further into the relationship, Shellie was experiencing emotional and verbal abuse.
Then Zimmerman was accused in the shooting of Trayvon Martin. He needed to put the mask back on for the duration of the trial. He also needed the image of a supportive wife. Shellie didn’t talk about how Zimmerman treated her during this time. She described herself as a cog in the machine of Zimmerman’s defense.
Zimmerman was acquitted. Now, with the possibility of going to prison for this crime removed, he’s discarded the mask. With this violent, out-of-control behavior, we’re seeing the real George Zimmerman.
By the way, Shellie says Zimmerman left a used shooting target, riddled with bullet holes, nailed to the wall of the home they once shared. Here’s the story:
George Zimmerman’s estranged wife told cops he left bullet-riddled marksman tartet nailed to the wall in their home after divorce dispute, on RadarOnline.com.
Yes, I have seen Zimmerman as a sociopath for a long time. I believe he wanted to shoot someone, and poor Trayvon was unfortunate enough to be in his orbit.
The most telling thing is the perjury charge against Shellie. Like so many of us, she was pulled into his criminal entanglements. They ensnare us, which makes it even harder to escape. I was particularly struck when she said she was “selfish” and should have sacrificed herself in order to report Zimmerman for domestic violence. That is EXACTLY how they set it up. They manipulate us to collude with them–our welfare is then tied to theirs. In my case, my ex–an embezzler–threatened to take me to court to reduce child support, if I reported him for embezzlement. I did, and he did. It took a lot of strength on my part, because most people don’t understand his level of manipulation–and don’t see what lies beneath the mask.
I feel for this woman. I believe she will come to understand exactly what Zimmerman is, and that he is guilty of murder. I also think she will be an advocate for victims of sociopaths, when she comes to terms with her experience.
George left his message for Shellie.But it will not reach as many homes and hearts,as Shellie’s message will.Because Shellie is a victim advocating for other victims who need the strength and validation to get out!
From the moment I saw Zimmerman on the news, I spotted a sociopath. He reeked. He was totally without conscience…He showed no remorse from the moment he went to the jailhouse. You see that in the video’s.
I knew he was guilty of lying from the start and as you looked into his cold, predator eyes, you knew he pulled that trigger in cold blooded murder.
I can’t wait until he gets what is coming to him, not my words, but Karma’s…….
While I agree that Zimmerman is likely a sociopath, I am careful not to call him a “murderer” – because (unlike the case of OJ Simpson) both the FACTS of the case and a jury found otherwise.
Being a sociopath does not automatically equal guilt of murder. I watched the trial – there was a reason Zimmerman was accquited.
Let us not confuse our own opinions with FACTS. THE EVIDENCE shows Zimmerman to be an abuser, a sociopath and a cad. But a murderer, he is not.
Keeping a clear mind and focusing on what is REAL is part of my growth and resolve after being victimized by a sociopath. None of us can afford to have our reality clouded by our emotions. To stray from facts into the land of maybe and make-believe is very dangerous. Especially for us.
You have your truth and other people are entitled to their own. It’s not for you to decide what my truth is, and it’s deeply offensive to me that you use phrases like “None of us can afford to have our reality clouded” and “to stray from facts into the land of maybe and make-believe”. Deeply. Offensive.
I stand by what I said. He is a murderer. Sociopaths ALWAYS throw up a smoke screen. His subsequent actions show how he rewrites history to put the blame on the other person. He isn’t the first sociopath to fool a jury.
George Zimmerman might be a sociopath but he’s also a very stupid criminal, and that’s why he can’t seem to keep himself out of trouble. If it weren’t for being propped up as the poster boy for the 2nd amendment by zealots and racists he’d be sitting in prison now.
I don’t give a damn what people say about the outcome of that trial. It was a farce with inept prosecution, a judge who allowed evidence that should not have been allowed (George’s interview videotape allowed him to bear false witness without ever having to take the stand and be cross-examined), a juror who was talking “book deal” before the trial even started, George himself who lied like a rug, and his attorneys who have to live with the enormity of what they did if they have any conscience at all. If it had been my kid, who happens to be white, that George Zimmerman stalked and murdered he would have been convicted.
As for Shellie, a part of me definitely feels sorry for her. A part of me is also very angry at her for her role in all of this. Make amends Shellie, and tell the truth and nothing but the truth.
I think Shellie is where a lot of us have been. Yes, she is in denial (though I believe she is coming out of it) and her ex-spath committed a worse infraction than most of ours. He killed someone. But I believe she was manipulated and lied to–and had fallen in love with “the mask.” She couldn’t reconcile the person she THOUGHT she knew, with the evil that is the REAL Zimmerman. So she tried to make the facts fit her reality. (He was a “good guy who snapped” rather than a bad guy who perpetuated a false persona.) I believe she will eventually come to understand the truth. I know that in my case–though I have understood my ex is a sociopath for quite a while now–I am still figuring out the extent of his lies and manipulations, and just realizing that pretty much ALL of my assumptions about him have been wrong.
There’s no doubt in my mind that Shellie was lied to and manipulated. All of us have been lied to and manipulated. I know that I also blatantly ignored things that pricked my conscience and my own sense of morality. I have no excuse for aiding and abetting a fraud – I negotiated myself right into accepting things I never would have accepted before. Yes, he lied, but it didn’t take very long to know that things didn’t really add up. I chose to accept it. And after it was over, I had choices to make. I could try to live with a guilty conscience for the rest of my life or I could try to make things right by exposing the truth. I chose the truth, though many didn’t care to hear it. Unburdening myself set me free and I can live in peace.
Shellie has choices too. The criminal portion of the Trayvon Martin case is over, but his family still has civil remedies available. Shellie knows things. I’m hoping for her sake that she realizes she doesn’t owe George any loyalty, especially since he used her and was cheating on her with an old recycled girlfriend. Even if George never has to face additional repercussions for what he did, Shellie can help satisfy the Martin family’s need to know the truth of what happened to their son.
kcwoman,
Well, you might be careful not to call him a murderer but I will call him one. The facts in the case were Zimmerman’s lies, no one saw him pull the trigger, all here say. Justice was not served. The trial was a joke. The jury was a joke. He is a cold blooded killer.
Facts? or Fiction is more like it. So lets be clear and not confuse your opinions. A cad? Just a cad? What you call evidence was lies….
I am sure Zimmerman was very REAL to Trayvon and I am sure Trayvon’s “reality wasn’t clouded” when Zimmerman shot him to death. I am sure he didn’t think he was in the “land of make believe” when he knew he was shot and dying. And it sure was “very dangerous.” Especially for Trayvon……
We do all have our own truth. I told you mine. Having worked in the legal field for over 20 years, I value fact and evidence highly. The injuries that Zimmerman sustained were well documented. Do I think he could have reacted differently before the situation became so dire? Absolutely. Do I think Trayvon was an innocent youth? Certainly not.
It distresses me that some would find my words hurtful or threatening to their own views. Or offensive. I have benefited greatly from the advice and information I have found on this site over the years. I have never witnessed the level of intense dislike and disgust targeted toward one person as I am seeing from posters on here regarding my comments. That I refuse to label a sociopath as a murderer is so highly offensive to some that they resort to what can only be described as bullying.
And I didn’t “just” call him a cad, now did I? I stated clearly that he is an abuser and a sociopath. But I do not believe that Zimmerman is a murderer any more than I believe that Trayvon is a victim. My views, my opinion. I am just as entitled to those as you are. Every abuser is not a sociopath – and every sociopath is not a murderer. Truth and facts are paramount – even when they fly in the face of one’s preconceived notions.
It isn’t that you refuse to label him a murderer that is offensive, its that you used some fairly atrocious phrases to invalidate people who don’t believe what you believe. You literally insinuated that the poster you responded to had a clouded reality because of her emotions, and that people were straying into “make believe”. And that’s just awful.
None of us can afford to have our reality clouded by our emotions. To stray from facts into the land of maybe and make-believe is very dangerous.
In short, you appointed yourself the arbiter of truth in this matter in the worst possible way. And you got called on it.
I couldn’t have said it any better… Amen…
I stand by my statements. To value emotion over evidence IS dangerous. Having done that in a relationship placed me in a position to be taken advantage of by a spath in ways I have not shared. It is my belief that we, as current or past victims of spaths, MUST be able to look at facts (evidence, if you will), and be prepared to see those for what they are, whether we like what they tell us or not.
Zimmerman shows himself to be a despicable human being. But I know the difference between being acquitted and being found innocent. Zimmerman was certainly not innocent – but the term “murderer” is a legal (and biblical) term. He is not, under the law, a murderer. No matter how angry his actions make me or how much I would like to see him behind bars for the rest of his life. I HAVE to look at facts. That is what will save me from the next sociopath who thinks of me as an easy mark. I was only trying to make the point that this can help save all of us.
I certainly did not mean to inspire anger or defensiveness or pettiness. I regret that my insistence on trying to see clearly has caused such vitriol. You are correct. I have no right to insist that anyone but me resist the urge to wallow in an emotional muddle. It is enough for me that I choose to look beyond popular opinion to find facts – even when they are “inconvenient”.
So I’ve read and re-read the essay the gentleman wrote about George being a sociopath. It’s very good, but I have some issues with it.
George didn’t hate the police. George wanted to be the police! He applied for police jobs and was rejected. So he did the next best thing; he went to citizen’s police academy for 14 weeks and became the neighborhood watch captain. I’ve heard cops talk about people like him – unbalanced individuals desperate for the power and attention of wearing a uniform. I think we have to consider the very strong possibility that, in George’s mind, he *was* the law.
George himself brought politics and race into the equation. We have to talk about why it is someone like George could have access to guns. We have to talk about why the laws of the land make it possible for George to disregard a police dispatcher who told him to stand down, shoot an unarmed teenager, and walk away with his freedom. George targeted black men as neighborhood watch captain and that is fact. Am I blinded by race and politics to take note of these things, or are my eyes wide open?
Yes, it appears that Zimmerman lives in his “land of make believe” and has a very “clouded reality” masked by his lack of conscience and remorse. He lied to everyone and was believed by many the same way we believed our sp’s lies. Look at the way he sat there during the trial with cold eyes and no emotion. When he was taken into custody, he showed no emotion although he had just killed a young man. Nothing…just a sense of entitlement. He thought he was above the law….
He has been taken again into custody and charged. He has abused his so called love relationships. He waved a gun in the face of the girlfriend. Had she fought him off, he might have killed her and claimed self defense….His lies got him off the first time but excuse me, he has had previous assault charges.
It is only a matter of time until he kills again. OJ Simpson was acquitted but he is now in jail for maximum of 33 years. His sociopath thinking thought he was above the law….He also had a jury judge him innocent…..
It is about time for people to come out of their trances and wake up to reality. Thus shows the power of belief….just as we were duped into believing the sociopath lover, boyfriend, girlfriend, wife, husband, son, daughter, whoever, so too have those who believe lies that criminals tell….
Wake up and see the light. Your future is clear and bright.,
If only people would wake up and believe the victims instead of the emotionless actors who wear their masks so well!!!
Vision and Blossom,
You have nailed it. Bam!