Friday, May 15, 2009

Son Claims Body of Professor Accused in Killings

The body of accused triple killer and University of Georgia professor George Zinkhan was claimed by a relative Friday, nearly a week after Zinkhan was found dead, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said.

A mortuary shipping service in Atlanta picked up Zinkhan's body at the request of a son from a previous marriage, GBI spokesman John Bankhead said. Details on plans for the body weren't immediately available.

Earlier Friday, Bankhead had said Zinkhan's body -- found Saturday in a self-dug shallow grave -- could be headed to a pauper's grave if the family didn't claim the body from the Athens-Clarke County coroner's office by Saturday morning.

Such a grave is typically reserved for unidentified bodies, unclaimed bodies or people without family members.

Bankhead said the situation was rare and that it was unclear why the family had taken that long to claim the body of the professor, described by colleagues and acquaintances as aloof and eccentric.

Neighbor Bob Covington remembers a lot of "forced moments" with Zinkhan.

The last such interaction came the afternoon of April 24, the day before witnesses said Zinkhan, 57, killed his wife and two others outside a community theater in Athens.

Covington was walking down the driveway of his Bogart home to check the mail. Zinkhan had just done the same and was walking back to his house. Covington said hello and told Zinkhan that his son, a UGA student who used to mow the Zinkhans' lawn, had recently seen Zinkhan on campus. [read more]

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