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SANFORD From outward appearances George and Shellie Zimmerman were a close and loving couple.

During his second-degree murder trial in 2013, they held hands as they walked down the courthouse hallway.

But shortly after the trial ended, Zimmerman moved out and Shellie Zimmerman filed for divorce.

On Tuesday, a Seminole County judge signed an order, making their divorce final.

"I'm honestly thinking I'm happy," Zimmerman said. "The divorce is concluded, and I can start a new chapter in my life."

It was a long time coming.

She filed for divorce on Sept. 5, 2013, and the next week, Lake Mary police raced to their house after she called 911, saying he had threatened her and her father with a gun and punched her father in the nose.

There was no arrest, but George Zimmerman later counter-sued for divorce.

The legal fight dragged on because the couple could not decide how to split what they hoped would be millions from a defamation lawsuit against NBC Universal Media LLC, according to Howard Iken, George Zimmerman's attorney.

George Zimmerman, 32, sued the network in 2012, accusing it of defaming him by reporting he used a racial slur during a 911 call to Sanford police the night he killed Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black 17-year-old, and by airing an edited version of the recording.

Zimmerman was acquitted of murdering Trayvon in 2013, and the following year a Sanford judge threw out the defamation lawsuit.

Zimmerman tried to revive it with an appeal but that failed, too.

A copy of the divorce settlement was filed this week.

Under its terms, George Zimmerman was to use any windfall from NBC to pay his $2.5 million bill to criminal defense attorney Mark O'Mara.

Zimmerman also was to pay Shellie Zimmerman $166,000.

The rest he would keep.

But there will be no NBC payout, so there were few assets to divide.

George Zimmerman will keep his 2008 Honda pickup and the family dog.

He's responsible for his debts.

Shellie Zimmerman, 28, is responsible for her nursing school loans and other debts.

If he ever gets money for his life story, he gets to keep the proceeds.

The same is true for Shellie Zimmerman.

"The Zimmerman affair has indeed ended in the proverbial whimper, not a bang," Kelly Sims, Shellie Zimmerman's attorney, wrote in an email.

They got married Nov. 17, 2007.

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Shellie Zimmerman filed for divorce in September 2013, two months after George Zimmerman was acquitted in the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin

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George Zimmerman will keep his pickup and the family dog. George and Shellie Zimmerman will each be responsible for their own debts.(Photo: AP)

SANFORD, Fla. (AP) George Zimmerman is officially divorced.

The Orlando Sentinel (http://goo.gl/egEIya) reports that a Seminole County judge signed the divorce order Tuesday, ending his marriage to Shellie Zimmerman.

Shellie Zimmerman filed for divorce in September 2013, two months after George Zimmerman was acquitted in the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. Later in September, Lake Mary police responded to their home after Shellie Zimmerman called 911, saying George Zimmerman had threatened her and her father with a gun. No charges were filed.

Divorce proceedings took so long because the former couple fought over how to split millions expected from a defamation lawsuit against NBC Universal Media LLC. A judge eventually tossed out the suit.

Zimmerman will keep his pickup and the family dog. George and Shellie Zimmerman will each be responsible for their own debts.

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George Zimmerman divorce finalized - wtsp.com

Shellie Zimmerman stuck by her husband after he was charged in the shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, but this week her marriage to George Zimmerman officially ended.

A Seminole County judge granted a divorce to the couple Tuesday, which was initially filed by Shellie Zimmerman on Sept. 5, 2013.

The divorce decree cites irreconcilable differences as the reason for the separation.

George Zimmerman was charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter in Martins Feb. 26, 2012 death.

He was acquitted of the charges on July 13, 2013.

Shellie Zimmerman said her husband only spent a few nights at the home they shared in the days following the trial. She moved out on Aug. 13, 2013.

It was no secret that Shellie Zimmerman was unhappy in her marriage. In an interview on Good Morning America after the trial she said she was going to have to think about staying married to George Zimmerman.

The terms of the finalized divorce give George Zimmerman possession of his 2008 Honda Ridgeline and the family dog.

Other property had already been split up and Shellie and George Zimmerman were awarded whatever was already in their possession.

George Zimmerman is responsible for the legal fees stemming from his murder trial, which total $2.5 million, court documents said.

Concerning a defamation lawsuit George Zimmerman filed against NBC, divorce documents awarded Shellie Zimmerman up to $166,000 after her ex-husbands legal debts were satisfied.

In suit against NBC, which is on appeal, Lawyers claimed that NBC edited Zimmerman's 911 call the night of the shooting to make it sound like the former neighborhood watch volunteer was a racist.

In the call, Zimmerman did not mention Martin's race until a dispatcher asked.

"OK, and this guy, is he white, black or Hispanic?" the dispatcher asked.

"He looks black," Zimmerman replied.

But in a series of reports on NBC in March 2012, the dispatcher's question was edited out, which Zimmerman said made it appear as though he was suspicious of Martin only because the teenager was black.

If either Shellie or George Zimmerman decides to sell their story of the events surrounding Martins death, they will not have to share with each other any of the proceeds, the divorce decree said.

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George Zimmerman divorce finalized | http://www.ajc.com

After more than two years, the divorce between George Zimmerman and his now former wife, Shellie, is final as of Tuesday.

The couple, who married in 2007, filed for divorce shortly after Zimmermans second-degree murder trial ended, but disputes over assets real, imagined and hoped-for dragged the legal battle out for some time.

Apparently the couple was anticipating a hefty payout from a defamation lawsuit Zimmerman, now 32, filed against NBC Universal Media LLC, but the lawsuit was tossed out by a judge and Zimmerman received nothing, after an appeal was also shot down.

In the end, Zimmerman got to keep his 2008 Honda pickup, as well as the couples dog, but he is now responsible for all of his own debts, including the $2.5 million he reportedly still owes Mark OMara, who represented him during his infamous trial and subsequent acquittal.

Zimmerman was also responsible for cutting Shellie a check for $166,000, but as with Zimmerman her own debts, including her loans for nursing school, are now her own problem.

The good news is that if Zimmerman ever sells his life story, the profits from said endeavor all belong to him, but the same goes for his ex-wife, who likely has a story of her own to tell.

The couple seems somewhat satisfied that the divorce is finally over and done with.

The Zimmerman affair has indeed ended in the proverbial whimper, not a bang, said Shellies attorney, Kelly Sims.

Im honestly thinking Im happy, Zimmerman said of the divorce. I can start a new chapter in my life.

[ Orlando Sentinel ]

Originally posted here:
George Zimmerman is finally divorced - Guns.com

The top bidder for a time was one "Racist McShootface," although other bids from a "Tamir Rice" -- the name of a Cleveland child killed by police last year -- also appear in the list of offers for the weapon Zimmerman used in his 2012 Sanford, Florida, confrontation with 17-year-old Martin.

The "Racist McShootface" bids were deleted Friday morning from the United Gun Group auction site, but the trolling prompted one apparently serious bidder to call the trolls "losers" and express hope that their "children get murdered."

"Obviously the jury didn't think it was murder," the bidder identified as Brez Morrell posted of Zimmerman's 2013 acquittal. "He did nothing wrong."

The $65 million bid was later replaced by one from a user named Craig Bryant. It was unclear if that bid was serious.

Zimmerman -- seen by some as a national pariah and by others as a hero -- announced plans to sell the Kel-Tec PF-9 weapon on Wednesday. The 9mm pistol carries a suggested price of $356.36 on the manufacturer's website.

On Friday afternoon, United Gun Group posted a statement to Twitter expressing condolences to Martin's family, but appearing to support the continuation of Zimmerman's auction.

"Unless the law has been violated, it is the intention of United Gun Group to allow its members to use any of the available features," the statement read.

On February 26, 2012, Zimmerman called 911 to report a "suspicious person" in his neighborhood. Police told him not to get out of the car or approach Martin, but he disregarded the instructions and a confrontation ensued.

Zimmerman said Martin attacked him and he shot the unarmed teenager in self-defense. The case shined a spotlight on Florida laws allowing the use of deadly force and on issues of race.

In his post introducing the auction, Zimmerman said he was "honored and humbled to announce the sale of an American Firearm Icon."

He said some of the proceeds would be used to fight Black Lives Matter violence against police, and to "ensure the demise of (State's Attorney) Angela Correy's persecution career and Hillary Clinton's anti-firearm rhetoric."

Zimmerman had first tried to sell the pistol through a site called GunBroker, but the website sent out a message Thursday afternoon saying it had rejected the idea.

"Our site rules state that we reserve the right to reject listings at our sole discretion, and have done so with the Zimmerman listing," a GunBroker statement said. "We want no part in the listing on our web site or in any of the publicity it is receiving."

Zimmerman told CNN he moved the auction to another website, giving a different reason than GunBroker did.

"Unfortunately, (the site) was not prepared for the traffic and publicity surrounding the auction of my firearm," Zimmerman said in a text. "It has now been placed with another auction house."

That site, United Gun Group, put out a statement Thursday night saying the gun would not be sold on its site, but the auction appeared to proceed anyway.

After initially saying the site would not allow the auction, founder Todd Underwood said in an email to CNN that an official response would be released Friday.

"I recently received it back from the Department of Justice," he said. "They took it after my trial, after I was exonerated."

Zimmerman told the station he has had death threats since he put the gun up for sale.

"What I've decided to do is not cower," he said. "I'm a free American. I can do what I want with my possessions."

In posting the weapon for auction, Zimmerman described the weapon as a "piece of American History."

"The firearm for sale is the firearm that was used to defend my life and end the brutal attack from Trayvon Martin on 2/26/2012," Zimmerman apparently wrote in the posts.

"The pistol currently has the case number written on it in silver permanent marker," he wrote.

Zimmerman said museums such as the Smithsonian Institution have "expressed interest in owning and displaying the firearm."

But the Washington-based Smithsonian denied it has any interest in the weapon.

"We have never expressed interest in collecting George Zimmerman's firearm, and have no plans to ever collect or display it in any museums," it said in a statement.

Family attorney Benjamin Crump told CNN's "New Day" Friday that Zimmerman "keeps appearing to reopen the wounds again and again."

"It's like he is shooting and killing Trayvon all over again four years later with this attempt to auction off this gun like it's some kind of trophy," Crump said. "I mean, it's offensive, it's outrageous and it's insulting."

The gun sale is not Zimmerman's first effort at auction.

CNN's Elan Bird, Eliott C. McLaughlin, Shawn Nottingham, Polo Sandoval, Justin Lear and Ralph Ellis contributed to this report.

Excerpt from:
George Zimmerman's gun may still be up for auction - cnn.com