THE husband of murdered influencer Alexis Sharkey is said to have "petrified" his wife who friends say was filing for a divorce at the time of her death.

Tom Sharkey was found dead from a gunshot wound to the head on Wednesday, cops has confirmed.

Authorities had been on their way to arrest him in connection with the murder of social media star Alexis, according to The Daily Beast.

Alexis was found strangled to death and naked by the side of a road shortly after Thanksgiving last year.

ABUSIVE RELATIONSHIP

In the days following her death Tom called his wife his "world" and called for the public's help in finding her when she disappeared.

"My world! My everything! I'm so lost right now! My one and only!" he wrote. Following her death he called her "the most amazing woman."

But a different picture of the couple's marriage soon emerged from friends of Alexis who said she had been in an abusive relationship with Tom.

The Daily Beast reported that Alexis had allegedly told friends during a trip in early November that Tom was abusing her. 

She apparently also claimed she was divorcing him.

A friend told the publication: “Throughout the trip, he was sending really awful, nasty messages to her.

“But one night when she and I were talking alone she said, ‘He strangles me and chokes me out and I blackout and wake up on the bathroom floor every single time.’”

'SCARED FOR HER LIFE'

One friend told ABC13 Alexis has been "petrified" in the weeks before her death. They did not elaborate on why but added: "This girl is scared for her life."

Another two friends claimed that on the day his wife disappeared, Tom had been arguing with her before she "hopped over their patio fence and into a car."

Local reports suggest that Alexis did not leave in her vehicle.

Her husband denied any marital problems, saying he was cooperating with detectives and felt confident police are "going to find everyone that was involved."

Tom denied having an argument with Alexis before she disappeared and claimed he was receiving death threats as her Instagram clout grew.

While denying the fight, Tom told the outlet: "There are always other sides to everything.

"I don't need to set the record straight," he said. "I'll let it play out the way it is. I know what my life was with my wife."

TOM'S CLAIMS

He also claimed that his wife had been unhappy.

"She wasn't happy. She was stressed. I would cuddle her to try to make her strong," Tom told ABC13 on December 2, 2020.

It is unclear when Tom became wanted for the murder and when he moved away from Houston.

He had not been charged.

Alexis' Instagram account, which has now been memorialized, included pictures of her and Tom alongside her influencer pictures.

One photo posted on July 3 last year is captioned: "I love this man."

Tom posted a string of photos on social media after his wife, who he married in December 2019, was found dead, calling her "the most amazing woman."

FAMILY BLOCKED

Alexis' mom also revealed last year it took two weeks before Tom allowed her to see the body.

Stacey Robinault said she told her son-in-law  49, that she wanted to bring Alexis’ body home to Pennsylvania.

She told local news station KRIV: “As her husband, he would have primary custody of what determined what happened with her, and he had said all along that he was willing to let her come home.”

Robinault said Tom cut off communication and eventually, the medical examiner made her the next of kin. 

“I didn’t think I was gonna get her, and I had actually given up hope, when all of the sudden the forensics lab called me,” Robinault said.

“It just was a very strange – I’d almost call it ‘fight’ to get her.”

LAST SEEN

The couple had moved to Houston in January 2020 after marrying the month before.

Alexis was last seen the day after Thanksgiving in their apartment.

Friends had last heard from her at around 6pm that day, and after that phone calls began going straight to her voicemail.

A city worker found Alexis' body dumped at the side of a road in Houston on November 28 last year.

The influencer – who had 21,000 followers on Instagram – had no visible injuries.

TOM FOUND DEAD

The Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences ruled the death a homicide in January.

Tom's body was found at a home he was staying at in Fort Myers, Florida, on Wednesday morning, according to KHOU.

He was reportedly staying with his daughter and her boyfriend.

When US Marshals knocked on the door and identified themselves, the daughter and boyfriend came out from the house.

Tom's body was found inside when Marshals searched the home.

Officials said Tom’s death was an “apparent suicide.”

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