Key Zimmerman Witnesses Change Their Stories

New witness accounts could hurt his case
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted May 23, 2012 1:33 AM CDT
Updated May 23, 2012 3:00 AM CDT
Key Zimmerman Witnesses Change Their Stories
Future growing murkier for George Zimmerman.   (AP Photo/Sanford Police Dept., HO)

At least four key witnesses have changed their stories about what they saw and heard the night George Zimmerman shot Trayvon Martin, the Orlando Sentinel reports. The witnesses, who first spoke to police in Sanford, Florida, were re-interviewed after the case was passed to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and state prosecutors. Among the changes:

  • Witness 2: She initially told police that she saw "two guys running," but later said she only spotted one running figure, and because she had just taken out her contact lenses, she heard him more than saw him.

  • Witness 12: She told an FDLE agent that she saw two people on the ground after the shooting, but wasn't sure if Martin or Zimmerman was on top. She later said she was sure Zimmerman was on top, "after seeing the TV about what's happening, comparing their sizes."
  • Witness 6: On the night of the shooting, he told cops he saw a black man on top of a lighter-skinned man "just throwing down blows on the guy," and the lighter-skinned man was calling for help. Weeks later, he told FDLE agents that he wasn't sure who had been calling for help—or if Martin had really been throwing punches.
  • Witness 13: He spoke to Zimmerman immediately after the shooting and told police Zimmerman asked him to call his wife and told him Trayvon "was beating up on me, so I had to shoot him." In later interviews, the witness described Zimmerman's behavior in greater detail, saying that he acted as if the shooting was no big deal.
(More George Zimmerman stories.)

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