The convicted mastermind of a notorious murder case in East Cobb nearly three decades ago has died in prison, according to a published report.
Fred Tokars, an attorney convicted of conspiring to kill his wife, Sara Tokars in 1992, died in a federal prison in Pennsylvania last week, according to a story published Wednesday at Law.com.
The report said the cause of death was not specified, and said Tokars’ attorney had been told his client had developed a fever and had been hospitalized.
In 1997, Tokars was convicted of plotting to kill his wife and was sentenced to life without parole for that and other crimes. According to trial testimony, Tokars planned the murder because she had become aware of her husband’s business dealings that involved laundering drug money and racketeering.
Sara Tokars was 39 years old on Nov. 29, 1992, when she and her sons, then ages 4 and 6, returned to their home in the Kings Cove neighborhood after visiting her relatives in Florida.
Before they could enter the house, a gunman forced his way into their vehicle and kidnapped the Tokars family, ordering Sara Tokars to drive out onto a residential street. After she pulled over, she was shot in the head, her boys witnessing in the back seat.
The killing was initially investigated a possible robbery gone wrong.
Curtis Rower, the gunman, and Eddie Lawrence, a real estate developer who had done some business with Tokars, later were indicted for the murder and identified Tokars as orchestrating the scheme to have her killed.
Because of pretrial publicity, Tokars’ murder trial was moved to LaFayette, Ga. A former prosector, he was an acclaimed defense attorney in the metro Atlanta area, and frequently appeared in television commercials advertising his services.
The murder gained nationwide attention and tabloid fare, and was the subject of an episode of the cable program “City Confidential” entitled “Devil Down in Georgia,” which aired in 2002 and was narrated by the late actor Paul Winfield.
During the trial, testimony was revealed that Sara Tokars was seeking a divorce and had information that would have incriminated him on money-laundering activities. In 1994, Tokars was sentenced to life without parole after being convicted on federal racketeering charges.
Rower was later convicted and got life without parole, and after a mistrial, Lawrence pleaded guilty to his role in the killing and served 12 years for testifying against Rower and Tokars.
In more recent years, Tokars had been placed in witness-protection inside the federal prison system and had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.
R. Robin McDonald, who wrote the story of Tokars’ death for Law.com, covered his murder trial for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and wrote a book about the case, “Secrets Never Lie,” that was published in 1998.
In her story Wednesday, McDonald said Sara Tokars’ sisters issued a statement saying Fred Tokars “should have died in the electric chair 28 years ago.”
While in prison, Tokars helped federal authorities solve six murders, according to his attorney.
The Tokars sons were raised by Sara Tokars’ family in Florida. Last month, Michael Tokars, an aspiring writer who had gone through health and other issues, died of a pulmonary embolism at the age of 31. He was four years old when his mother was killed.
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