Man wanted for killing his influencer wife found dead in Florida, officials say
Tom Sharkey, the man suspected of killing his wife, influencer Alexis Sharkey, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound on Wednesday, police confirmed to CBS affiliate KHOU-TV. Authorities had recently obtained an arrest warrant for Sharkey after Alexis Sharkey was found dead on a road in Houston, Texas, last year.
The U.S. Marshals Task Force learned Tuesday that Sharkey was at his daughter's home in Fort Meyers, Florida, according to KHOU-TV. When U.S. Marshals knocked on the door Wednesday morning, his daughter and her boyfriend came out. Authorities said they then entered the home and found Sharkey dead with a gunshot wound to his head.
In November 2020, a Houston city worker found 26-year-old Alexis Sharkey's nude body on a road. Seven weeks later, authorities announced an autopsy showed she had been strangled, KHOU-TV reported.
The influencer and her husband had moved to Houston several months prior. She was last seen at their apartment the day after Thanksgiving.
At a press conference Wednesday, police said they had obtained an arrest warrant for Sharkey on September 29. They said he was not honest during their investigation and had a history of being "evasive," according to KHOU-TV. He left the state about two weeks after his wife's death, even as police tried to meet and collect a DNA sample from him.
In August, Tom, who was then living in Georgia, agreed to meet with authorities. But detectives were subsequently not able to find him.
"He came up with a very bizarre story later on about why he essentially disappeared and then a short time after that incident, he relocated to Florida," detectives said, according to KHOU-TV.
In addition to Tom being uncooperative, police learned there was a history of domestic violence between Alexis and Tom Sharkey. They also said Alexis spoke of divorce before she was killed, KHOU-TV reported.
Over time police developed enough evidence to charge Tom with his wife's murder.
"The investigation determined that Thomas Sharkey, her husband, is the only person who had the means, motive and opportunity to have committed the murder," police said Wednesday.