A friend who advised George Zimmernan after the Trayvon Martin shooting has written a book defending the former neighborhood watch volunteer, whom he describes as ‘the most hated man in America.”
U.S. air marshal Mark Osterman, 44, the friend of Zimmerman’s wife, Shellie, first called for help after Zimmerman killed the unarmed teenager on Feb. 26 in Sanford, Fla. Osterman accompanied Zimmerman to police interviews and the Ostermans took in the Zimmermans for about a month while controversy first raged about the shooting.
Osterman and his wife, Sondra, appeared Tuesday on the “Dr. Phil” syndicated television show to plug their book, “Defending Our Friend: The Most Hated Man in America.”
Osterman repeated Zimmerman’s assertion that he shot Martin because he believed the 17-year-old was going to kill him.
“From what Geroge told me, he believes he would not be alive today if he had not done that,” Osterman said on the show, according to The Miami Herald. “According to what he told me, there was no time to think.”
He said Zimmerman was “heartbroken and devastated” by the shooting.
Osterman said profits from book sales will be used to help pay for Zimmerman’s defense, the Herald said. However, Zimmerman’s legal team moved to distance itself from the project.
“Osterman’s book and TV spot, although well-intentioned, are ill-timed and done without input and NOT approved by the defense,” the legal team said in a Twitter post.
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