Husband Told Ex-Wife He Killed Her Divorce Attorney: Cops

CARTERSVILLE, GA — The man who shot and killed a prominent attorney before taking his own life admitted to committing the crime to his ex-wife, who used the lawyer to divorce him. That's according to the Cartersville Police Department, which has released new details in Wednesday's events that shocked the Bartow County community.

Antonio Mari was found dead inside his office on Tennessee Street Wednesday afternoon. The suspected shooter, identified as Walter Radford, was found dead later in the day from a self-inflicted gunshot wound at a home on Willow Bend Drive in unincorporated Cartersville.

Officers with the Cartersville Police Department were dispatched to Mari's office at 605 North Tennessee Street around 1:37 p.m. June 20. They arrived to find the attorney had been shot several times. He was pronounced dead at the scene by Bartow County Coroner Joel Guyton.

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Cartersville police spokesperson Lt. Mike Bettikofer said the initial call to the Bartow County 9-1-1 dispatch center came from Radford's recently divorced wife.

"Mr. Radford called his ex-wife to notify her of the homicide immediately after while fleeing the scene," Bettikofer added.

Cartersville police detectives continued the investigation and with the help of the Bartow County Sheriff's Office, located a pickup truck Radford used as a getaway vehicle at a home at 68 Willow Bend Drive.

Officers and sheriff's deputies forced entry into the house around 2:40 p.m. Wednesday and found Radford dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, police told Patch. Bettikofer added the home on Willow Bend Drive belonged to Radford's ex-wife, and it appeared the house was "forcibly entered through the back door."

Mari represented Redford's ex-wife in her petition for divorce from the accused gunman, according to Bartow County Superior Court records. The case was heard Wednesday morning before Superior Court Judge Suzanne Smith.

According to the law office's website, Mari graduated from the University of Georgia and taught high school history for several years before establishing his law practice. The Bartow County School System said Mari began his teaching career at Cass High School in 2000 and wrapped up his tenure in education in 2011 to pursue law degree and open a private practice. He also taught advanced placement European history to Cass students.

The system, which said some students described him as "inspirational," a "favorite teacher" and a Georgia Bulldog fan, said its thoughts are with the Mari family.

"We share the community’s grief and extend our deepest sympathies to the Mari family, as well as the BCSS family," it added.

News of the attorney's death has rocked the community. On its Facebook page, Cass High School said its "deepest sympathies go out to the Mari family."

Many people commented on the Cass High School post, with one resident stating Mari was "truly one of the greatest teachers of all time."

"So heartbreaking," another resident wrote in respose to the Cass High School post. "He will be missed. He made an impact on many students, myself included."

Lester Tate, an attorney with Akin & Tate, PC, said Wednesday was one of the saddest days in the history of the Bartow County legal community. In a Facebook status updated shared by his law office, Tate said Mari was a "great credit to the legal profession" and a former teacher who was as "fine a human being as anyone could imagine."

"Just a few weeks ago I sat with him in the jury box down in Cobb while we waited for a calendar call, and it's hard to imagine his life prematurely snuffed out in such a senseless fashion," Tate said Wednesday evening. "The practice of law is a high calling and, lest we forget, a sometimes dangerous one. Tonight, I ask (for your) prayers for the family of this man who worked for justice, for my brothers and sisters at the bar, and for all of those in our legal community."

Another Cartersville attorney, Brad Stephens, noted Mari was a gentle soul who cared about his clients, which is the norm for 99 percent of the lawyers he knows. The Bartow County bar, he notes, is a tight-knit group where fellow legal minds can call each other and talk about their cases. Mari, he notes, was "most definitely on that list."

"Antonio Mari, your death is not in vain, friend," Stephens said on his Facebook page. "We are galvanized more than ever, and we will keep on fighting the good fight. Fear will not rule anything for us. You were a teacher and became a family law attorney....you clearly had a calling to service. I’ll miss you and your laptop bag at calendar calls. Rest in peace."

Photo: Antonio Mari. Image via Cass High School