Husband wanted in Instagram Influencer’s killing found dead in Florida

A man suspected in murdering his wife by strangulation last year in Texas was found dead of apparent suicide Wednesday in a Florida home, law enforcement officials said, according to NBC News.

The U.S. Marshals Service discovered Tom Sharkey’s body in the Florida home.  

Sharkey apparently took his own life after discovering that the marshals had come to the Fort Myers home, where Sharkey had been residing with relatives. 

According to police, a warrant was issued for Sharkey’s arrest for the alleged murder on September 29, though that information was not made public until Wednesday. 

Tom Sharkey’s wife, Alexis Sharkey — a 26-year-old Instagram influencer who lived in Texas — was found dead in November 2020 on the side of the road, 17 miles from Houston. The autopsy report determined her death was caused by strangulation.

Alexis Sharkey had more than 87,000 followers on Instagram and had just recently moved to Houston in January 2020 after marrying Tom Sharkey. 

Investigators discovered that Tom Sharkey had previous domestic violence history and that he and Alexis Sharkey were in the midst of separating before her murder.

Alexis had not formally filed any domestic violence charges against her husband, though she had made it known to family and friends that he was abusing her.

Tom Sharkey was apparently interested in making amends with his wife, but Alexis Sharkey was not willing to reconcile, police said. 

Police also have said that Tom Sharkey was untruthful in conversations with police surrounding Alexis’ death and had answered questions evasively before fleeing the state soon thereafter, despite having previously having agreed to a DNA test. 

Tom Sharkey had posted on his social media accounts after Alexis’ death after calling the public’s accusations “crap talk”. 

“I have been assisting the deputies and making phone calls to find out what happened to my wife,” he wrote.