Mark Barton and the 1999 Atlanta Day-Trading Massacre
Overview
Mark Orrin Barton was responsible for a three-day sequence of murders that ended with mass shootings at two day-trading businesses in Atlanta, Georgia. Between July 27 and July 29, 1999, Barton murdered his wife and two children at their home in Stockbridge before killing nine people and wounding 13 others at Momentum Securities and the All-Tech Investment Group. He fled Atlanta after the shootings and died by suicide when police surrounded him later that evening.
The crimes combined familicide, workplace violence and a public shooting rampage. Twelve victims were murdered in total. Barton became the thirteenth person to die when he shot himself during the police confrontation. Investigators believed that severe financial losses, deteriorating personal relationships, depression and a growing sense of persecution contributed to his actions, although none of those circumstances explained or excused the deliberate murders.
Background of Mark Barton
Mark Orrin Barton was born on April 2, 1955. He was raised in a military family and spent part of his childhood in South Carolina. He attended Clemson University and the University of South Carolina before beginning a career that included work in chemistry and business-related positions.
Barton married Debra Spivey, and they had two children, Matthew David Barton and Mychelle Elizabeth Barton. The marriage deteriorated as Barton experienced employment problems, suspicious behavior and increasing hostility. In 1993, Debra and her mother, Eloise Spivey, were found beaten to death in Alabama. Barton was investigated as a suspect but was never charged because authorities said there was insufficient evidence to prosecute him. He repeatedly denied killing them.
Barton later received a substantial life-insurance settlement following Debra's death. In 1995, he married Leigh Ann Vandiver, with whom he had previously been involved. Barton eventually became heavily interested in day trading, particularly volatile technology and Internet-related stocks. Day traders attempted to make profits by buying and selling stocks during the same trading session, but the practice could also produce enormous losses within short periods.
During portions of his trading career, Barton reportedly earned significant profits. His financial position later collapsed. In the weeks before the murders, he lost approximately $105,000, and his account at Momentum Securities was closed. Barton appeared to blame trading-company employees and other people around him for his losses. Notes discovered after the murders demonstrated that he viewed himself as having been destroyed by the greed or actions of others.
The Murder of Leigh Ann Barton
The first confirmed murder occurred during the early morning of July 27, 1999, at the Barton family home in Stockbridge, Georgia. Barton killed his 27-year-old wife, Leigh Ann Vandiver Barton, while she was sleeping. Investigators determined that she had been struck repeatedly with a hammer.
Barton concealed Leigh Ann's body in the house and continued behaving in a manner intended to delay discovery of the crime. He later wrote that he blamed her, at least partly, for what he described as his personal and financial downfall. His written statements also contained declarations of love for his family, illustrating the disturbing contradiction between his words and his deliberate actions.
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