Mass Murderer Mark Barton
by Ten years ago mass murderer Mark Barton walked in the Security Buildings in Atlanta Ga and shot down 22 people, killing nine of them, and that wasn’t the end of the story.
It’s been ten years since mass murderer Mark Barton calmly walked in the Security Buildings in Atlanta and began shooting his colleagues down. Barton entered into the All-Tech Investment Group and said, “I hope I’m not upsetting your trading day” then opened fire. He had started his killing spree minutes earlier at Momentum Securities on Piedmont Road, another firm where he had traded and lost thousands of dollars.
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At that time high speed computer connections rarely existed outside of these firms. Investors came to open accounts to get access to the tools they needed for the stock market. It was a time when initial public offerings of dot com stocks commonly shot up to one day gains of 500%. Many people were day traders hoping to make millions. Times like these have not been seen before or since. It was a piece of history that will never to be repeated.
Barton was a chemist and a schemer who the traders called” the Rocket” because he was so explosive when his trades paid off. None of the day traders were good friends or knew each other very well. They were focused on their own screen and frenzied day trading. It was an emotional financial game that could mean fortunes or ruin.
Mark Barton had lost more than $500,000 in day trading. The money was from an insurance policy collected on his wife when she and her mother were hacked to death at Weiss Lake in 1993. Barton was a suspect in their murders but he was given an alibi by his girlfriend whom he later married.
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On this day in history Mark Barton murdered nine people in both offices and left thirteen wounded. It was Georgia’s worst mass murder. After leaving the Security Building he slipped away in spite of the police covering the area They frantically searched for four hours for Mark Barton, and finely spotted him at a BP Station on highway 92 in Acworth Ga. When State Patrols approached him Mark Barton shot himself in the head. Officers went to his home in Henry County and found he had killed his wife and two children with a hammer two days before. He left a note saying, ” I don’t plan to live very much longer, just long enough to kill as many of the people that greedily sought my destruction.”
In the note he left Mark Barton asked to be buried near his children, Matthew 11,and Mychelle 7, but their grandfather, Bill Spivey refused. He would not allow Barton to be buried anywhere near the grassy plot overlooking a duck pond. The children were buried with their mother, Debra Spivey Barton, and grandmother, Eloise Spivey, who Bill Spivey believed had been hacked to death by Mark Barton, in Alabama where they were on a camping trip, Mark Barton was buried in his home town of Sumter, S.C. The children’s step mother was buried in her home town of Macon Ga.
I watched the Mark Barton scene play out on the TV in my home at Acworth, I wrote a poem about the episode while I was waiting for the conclusion, and finished the last verse when they found Mark Barton dead. I lived just off highway 92 not far from where he was found.
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Post Commentchitragopi
On July 28, 2009 at 11:40 am
A psychopath, no doubt.
ken bultman
On July 28, 2009 at 11:58 am
Fascinating story.
CHAN LEE PENG
On July 28, 2009 at 12:07 pm
This was such a sad new..hmmm…thanks and liked it.
Jenny Heart
On July 28, 2009 at 2:05 pm
Well written! How sad life can be sometimes.
deep blue
On July 28, 2009 at 3:20 pm
Isn’t that part of the suicide chronicles? Ow sorry, well written Ruby, thanks for sharing. To play it safe, however tricky life goes, just don’t put your heart on it.
Will
RS Wing
On July 28, 2009 at 4:10 pm
Wow! That was pretty explosive. I remeber a bit of that but your article definately put this tragedy in a better perspective. A very chilling article of truth and sadness. Very well put together in the journalistic style of your work. A+ Ruby
George W Whitehead
On July 28, 2009 at 4:39 pm
Great, informative article, Ruby.
I Have Had Enough
On July 28, 2009 at 4:44 pm
I remember this, well written and very informative.
Tanya Wallace
On July 28, 2009 at 5:14 pm
what a complete lunatic!I can see why the grandfather didn’t allow him to be buried by his kids!!Phenominal work yet again Ruby!
Lostash
On July 28, 2009 at 5:50 pm
I was not aware of this particular case, so an interesting and tragic story for all concerned. What a waste of innocent lives.
Ruby Hawk
On July 28, 2009 at 6:48 pm
Thank you my good friends for your comments. I appreciate your feed back. This is just one of the mass murderers we have in this country but the thought of that poor grandfather, Mark barton took the man’s wife and daughter then a few years later killed his grandchildren. That poor man’s sorrow is hard to imagine.
Judy Sheldon
On July 28, 2009 at 9:19 pm
I remember this in the news. It is still depressing, violent and senseless.
PR Mace
On July 28, 2009 at 10:16 pm
I may have heard or read about this but I just don’t remember. Anyway it was a senseless loss of lives by a very mentally ill man. It is so sad that so many had to die because of him.
Uma Shankari
On July 28, 2009 at 10:44 pm
Interesting commentary on life.
R.B. Parsley
On July 29, 2009 at 2:25 am
Ruby,
I remember when this happened. What a tragedy. It’s so unbelievable that people could be this heartless. I think anyone who kills their own children or family should have to suffer the same way their family members did. Excellent article Ruby.
Randy
Sheila M
On July 29, 2009 at 11:34 am
I don’t think anyone will ever understand what goes through these people’s heads
OhSugar
On July 29, 2009 at 11:37 am
This rememberance gave shivers. What happens in the mind of a person like this one? This is a great article, Ruby.
Daisy Peasblossom
On July 29, 2009 at 5:14 pm
Talk about your real life chiller thriller! Well written horrific story.