Professor sought in killings found dead

ATHENS, Ga. - A professor wanted for killing his wife and two other people at a community theater two weeks ago was found dead in the north Georgia woods yesterday, his body covered in brush and dirt, officials said.

Two guns were found with the body of marketing professor George Zinkhan, who vanished after the April 25 shootings near the University of Georgia, said Athens-Clarke County Police Chief Joseph Lumpkin.

The guns matched those described by witnesses to the shootings, though police did not say how they believe Zinkhan died. Authorities hoped to have a cause of death by last night.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation crime lab confirmed late yesterday that the body was Zinkhan's.

Cadaver dogs found the body about 10 miles west of Athens in thick woods in Bogart, where Zinkhan lived. Searchers had been scouring the woods since his Jeep was found wrecked and abandoned in a ravine about a mile away a week ago.

Reached by phone at her home in Baltimore, his mother, Mary, said she was aware of the discovery. "I've heard that news," she said. "I have nothing to say about it."

Zinkhan had been missing since police said he left his two young children in the Jeep, then opened fire on a reunion of the Town and Gown Players, a local theater group.

He had argued outside the theater with his wife, Marie Bruce, 47, a lawyer who was the group's president.

Police say he walked away briefly before returning with two handguns and killing her, along with Clemson University economist and actor Tom Tanner, 40, and Ben Teague, 63, a longtime theater-group volunteer who was married to a popular University of Georgia professor. Two people were injured.

The FBI said Bruce may have been considering a divorce.

Zinkhan was last seen dropping the children off at a neighbor's house shortly after the shooting, saying there was an emergency.

Bulletins were issued nationwide, and authorities kept watch on airports in case Zinkhan tried to flee to Amsterdam, where he had taught part time at a university since 2007.

Zinkhan, 57, who graduated from Swarthmore College in 1974, had taught at UGA since the 1990s and was fired after the shootings.

"For two weeks, we have joined in concern expressed by many for those so terribly affected by this awful tragedy," UGA president Michael Adams said yesterday. "As our concern continues, we must reserve further comment pending the outcome of the forensic investigation."

Bob Covington, the neighbor with whom Zinkhan left his children after the shooting, called yesterday's discovery "another sad chapter to the story."

"For the community, the families, his kids and this neighborhood, this last chapter will provide some healing," Covington said. "People can get back to their lives and move on from this horrible tragedy."