CARTERSVILLE, Ga. — It was a devastating day in Bartow County on Wednesday when a popular family law attorney was shot and killed by a client's ex-husband who later killed himself.
A wreath lies in front of the law office of Antonio Mari, who was killed right after finalizing his client's divorce.
Anthony Perata, a good friend of his and fellow attorney, said the last thing Mari told him was that he was in fear for his life. But Perata said his friend and protegee was well loved by all his clients stating he was the nicest guy you'll meet.
Many in Cartersville are in shock following the shooting, and police said Walter Radford killed Mari at his office right after his divorce was finalized.
Radford later killed himself at his ex-wife’s home. It was his ex-wife who called the police.
In a 911 call obtained by 11Alive, you can hear her say Radford called her.
"I just got a divorce from my husband, my ex-husband, who just called me and said he just went and shot my lawyer Antonio Mari and he's going to go kill himself," she told dispatch. "I'm not sure how true that is but I wanted to know if someone could go and check on [Mari]."
This murder-suicide also sheds light on a national problem. Stephen Kelson, who studies violence against attorneys, just conducted a survey for the Georgia Bar. He found out of the 1,670 lawyers who took the survey, 790 of them said they experienced threats and of violence.
Kelson said the majority of them practice family law.
