Background
Barton was born on April 2, 1955 in Stockbridge, Georgia to an Air Force family and was raised in South Carolina. Barton attended Clemson University and the University of South Carolina, where he earned a degree in chemistry despite his ongoing drug habit. Back in Atlanta, Georgia, he married Debra Spivey, and had two children, Matthew and Mychelle.
The family moved to Arkansas due to Barton's job. He became paranoid and started distrusting his wife. He lost his job when his performance started to slack. In retaliation, he sabotaged company data. He served a small time in jail for it.
Back in Georgia, Barton got a new job and a secret girlfriend, Leigh Ann Vandiver, whom his wife knew. In 1993, Debra Spivey and her mother Eloise were bludgeoned to death. Barton was the prime suspect, but was not charged due to lack of evidence.
He married Leigh Ann in 1995. After a while, he started acting strange again, devolving into deep depressions and paranoid delusions.
He lost a large settlement from his wife's death through day trading. He ended up owing money instead of receiving it. After losing $105,000 in a single month, Barton decided that he couldn't go on living.
Read more about this topic: Mark O. Barton
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