Atlanta drug lawyer Fred Tokars who had his wife shot point-blank in front of their kids dies in prison
Atlanta lawyer Fred Tokars who was responsible for the killing of his wife Sara in 1992, died in prison.
Tokars had been a targetted man while behind bars given he had testified in murder trials against fellow prisoners. However, he died due to natural causes. His attorney Jerry Froelich said that Tokars had died in the prison hospital in Pennsylvania after having a fever for a couple of days.
67-year-old Tokars had suffered from a series of health issues which included a serious neurological disease that had destroyed his body, AJC reports. Froelich had shared, "He hadn’t walked in 10 years." Tokars had been held in secret custody and was not even listed in the federal prison system.
In the year 1997, Tokars had been convicted of plotting to murder his wife and had been sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. His wife Sara had been kidnapped along with her two young sons while returning from their East Marietta home to Florida.
The hitman Curtis Rower shot Sara point-blank in the head in front of her boys Ricky, 6, and Mike, 4. As the family was entering the house, a gunman forced his way into their car and ordered Sara to drive out. After she pulled over, she was shot in the head with her boys in the back seat.
One of the sons, Mike, died last month after suffering from major depression over the last couple of years. The horrific crime had left the community shocked and saw Tokars transform from a 'grieving husband' to a suspect to a convicted killer.
Tokars had been a former prosecutor who had become a self-promoting lawyer who later started to work with drug dealers. He had also helped them with some illegal activities including hiding their gains in nightclubs. One day, after snooping in his office, Sara had found out about this secret life. She had asked for a divorce, desperate to get out of the marriage but he had threatened her saying he would take the kids. Sara had threatened Tokars and said that she would expose them and his activities. Eventually, when it got too much, he decided to get her out of the way so he could continue his lifestyle. Former Assistant US Attorney Buddy Parker said, "I called Tokars evil in my closing argument and he was."
"I don’t think there’s any way you can think otherwise having the mother of your sons killed in front of them. I don’t know if he ever changed."
Tokars' attorney Froelich had attempted to have his sentence reduced for his testimony in other murder cases. He had reportedly helped federal authorities solve around six murders while in prison. Froelich said, "I’m not condoning what (Tokars) did, but he deserved consideration."
One of Sara's sisters, Joni Ambrusko shared, "He should have died in the electric chair 28 years ago. The pain and suffering that he caused those little boys and our family was and continues to be immeasurable."
In recent years, Tokars had been put in witness protection inside the federal prison system and has also been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.