When asked if anyone at Today had lost their job or had been reassigned as a result of the investigation, an NBC spokeswoman said: "We will not be commenting on our course of action."

This looks much more like a deliberate smear.  NBC owes an apology to all the viewers it mislead in addition to the one to Zimmerman.

How about some investigative reporting.  How was the decision made to edit the tape?  Who amde the decision?  Why was the edited rather than the unedited posted on the web site?

"The guy on the bottom, who had a red sweater on, was yelling to me, 'Help! Help!' and I told him to stop, and I was calling 911," said the witness, who asked to be identified only by his first name, John.

John said he locked his patio door, ran upstairs and heard at least one gun shot.

"And then, when I got upstairs and looked down, the guy who was on the top beating up the other guy, was the one laying in the grass, and I believe he was dead at that point."

There are no witnesses witnesses claiming that Martin was trying to "open his skull on the pavement".  There are no witnesses claiming Martin was bashing Zimmerman's head on the pavement.  He didn't even say he saw Martin hit Zimmerman.  There is one witness who has stated he saw Martin on top of Zimmerman and Zimmerman yelling for help.

See the difference?

The blood coagulated very quickly because of my hair it was noticeable, but it didn't look near as bad as it felt.  It was pretty close to the same area as Zimmerman's.  I had a white jacket/shirt and there was barely any blood on it.

And I was extremely drunk,so my blood was thin.  This is actually a hilarious story ofter referred to by my friends as the "Hit in the head with a brick story". Patron

The real dumb part is I didn't go to the hospital because i knew they would shave it, and a couple days later I was throwing a huge New Years Eve bash.  I'm not that vein, but sort of.  I wrapped a pillow case around my head and hoped that I would wake-up, I did, and the party was awesome.  There was some blood on the pillow case, maybe a cup, but even then when I looked in the mirror, my dark hair hid it well.

Last time I shaved my head, there is a huge scar, big enough to have me rethinking my vanity that day.  I just don't think the head bleeds as much as one thinks it would.

Since it's still here, I'll point out the only video I've seen of the witness you mention is here. Perhaps you're aware of testimony he gave later that I am not; if so, I'd appreciate a link. But here at least, he doesn't claim to have seen how the fight started. He doesn't claim that Martin initially "clocked" Zimmerman, as you  put it. He doesn't say that Martin was trying to "open Zimmerman's skull on the pavement" as you put it. He only saw a portion of the fight, he did not see how it began, and he did not see the actual gun shot.

And even if he did say all the things you're claiming, witnesses do sometimes get things wrong, and if there's a trial his testimony will have to be weighed alongside all the other evidence in the case.

Of course his testimony is important, because he testifies that at least during the portion of the struggle he saw Martin was on top, and because he seems to be the only person in a position to testify as to who was screaming for help. But you've gone way beyond that in your account.

1. some commented that Trayvon was walking about in the rain looking suspiciously or looking as though he was acting in a manner that was suspicious -- yet the only person we have who has made that allegation is Zimmerman himself. Perhaps Martin did act that way; or perhaps, Zimmerman needed his remarks to the 911 folks to reflect that idea in order to get police to respond.

2. Over the past few weeks after watching many newscasts on this subject and after reading many articles/posts/blogs, I recall that it is noteworthy that Zimmerman does not actually live in the immediate area where he saw Trayvon walking, suspiciously or otherwise, but in fact, lives on the far side of the complex from where he was when he saw and chased after Trayvon. It is doubtful, with all due respect to the lengthy discussion about neighbors recognizing one another and/or noting unfamiliar people in their neighborhood, that if Zimmerman lived on the other side of this sizable gated community that he would have recognized few, if any, of the people who might actually live in that area of the complex.

the videotape: taken roughly 30-45 minutes subsequent to mr. zimmerman's initial 911 call. it shows a casual scene, no readily apparent injuries to mr. zimmerman, no obvious blood stains on his clothing. none of what a reasonable person would expect to see, based on the vicious, violent encounter describe by mr. zimmerman.

the police report: first official documented account of the event, based on mr. zimmerman's own statements to police at the scene, within roughly minutes of the shooting itself. mr. zimmerman describes the events leading up to the fatal shot, including the attack from behind, the broken nose, and the pounding of the back of his head, repeatedly, against the concrete sidewalk, all by mr. martin, leaving mr. zimmerman in fear for his life. it includes conflicting (and questionable) eyewitness statements, which appear to conflict, to some degree, with mr. zimmerman's description of events.

combined with the video tape, questions as to mr. zimmerman's credibility do arise, compounded by the amazing correlation of his statement, to the requirements of FL's "Stand Your Ground" law. one does get to wondering....................

actually, i stopped,

Do you still beat your wife?

The key point in the deleted audio is it shows the basis for suspicion was Martin's apparently odd behavior.  One would think that in the rain, a pedestrian would take a direct route to cover rather than scoping out the neighborhood.

The other thing it shows is that in response to the dispatcher's question Zimmerman's answer showed that he was not certain of Martin's race.  That should be no surprise given the lack of light at that hour, the hoodie, and the rain.

He is a public figure not by choice.  What's more, the altered tape was used as part of a broader narrative to present him before the public as the racial profiling villain.   This is far worse than using the prejudicial mugshot where he is heavier than he currently is (while using dated photos to show a "younger" victim of middle-school age).