The ex-wife of a Tucson fire captain said he was upset about their divorce and had recently threatened to kill anyone she was with in the months leading up to shootings April 14 inside a crowded restaurant at La Encantada shopping center, according to just-released sheriffโs reports.
Mary Jo Bair, who was shot in her left leg by Frederick Bair, told investigators she felt her ex-husband was stalking her because he had confronted her about information she had posted on her account at an online dating website.
A friend of Frederick Bair’s told investigators Bair had hacked into his ex-wife’s account on Match.com to monitor her activity after their divorce in September.
Authorities said Frederick Bair, a 24-year veteran of the Tucson Fire Department, shot and killed Eliot Cobb, a friend of Mary Jo’s, shortly after he showed up at Firebirds Wood Fired Grill where they were celebrating the recent sale of Cobb’s online business eBags.com to Samsonite for $105 million.
Frederick Bair, 60, then dragged Mary Jo into the restaurantโs bathroom, where he shot her in the leg before killing himself, the Pima County Sheriffโs Department said. The department released about 150 pages of reports on Tuesday.
The shootings sent patrons and workers in the popular restaurant running for the exits or huddled underneath tables.
Mary Jo, 57, told detectives that on April 14 she and Cobb went first to North restaurant at the Foothills center and she saw Frederick there.
Frederick Bair had words with Mary Jo and Cobb at North. She said her ex-husband had mentioned how he โdressed niceโ for Mary Jo.
โShe was uncomfortable and was wondering how Fred knew that she was there,โ a report said. โShe felt he was stalking her and was worried.โ
Mary Jo and Cobb decided to leave North and went to Firebirds in the same shopping center.
Mary Jo told investigators she and Frederick divorced last September after 25 years of marriage because Frederick had cheated on her. They had two grown daughters, and they remained on friendly terms, but Mary Jo did not want to get back with her ex-husband, according to documents.
In February, Frederick bought Mary Jo earrings during the gem show and insisted she take them even though she did not want the gift. A warning came with the earrings. Mary Jo told investigators that Frederick told her that if she ever was with anybody, โhe would have to kill the person she was with,โ states a sheriffโs investigative report.
When Mary Jo and Cobb arrived at Firebirds, they went to sit at the bar. Eventually, Frederick arrived and went up to Mary Jo and conveyed what he told her months ago.
โDo you remember what I told you when I bought you the earrings?โ referring that he would have to kill the person that he saw was with her, reports said. Thatโs when Frederick pulled out a gun, Mary Jo told investigators.
Others in the restaurant said they saw both men begin to struggle with Frederick apparently putting Cobb in a headlock, according to an employee.
One restaurant server said he saw the men โwrestling and knocking tables overโ at the end of the bar and the fireplace at the back of the room. The server, who did not know a gun was involved, attempted to break up the struggle by grabbing Frederickโs upper arm and pulling him away from Cobb.
The server saw Frederickโs right arm extend and he pointed a pistol and shot Cobb in the head, according to documents. Cobb died at the scene, in front of the restaurantโs fireplace.
As patrons and employees scrambled out of the restaurant, Frederick then forced Mary Jo to go with him into a hallway that led into the womenโs bathroom. She pleaded with her ex-husband that he not kill her, witnesses told investigators.
Inside a bathroom stall, Frederick shot her in the left leg. Mary Jo said she was on the floor, and then she heard a gunshot and Frederick fell on her, pinning her while she screamed for help, state documents. In addition to her wounded left leg, her right leg suffered a fracture.
An employee hiding in the stall next door said she heard the man say, โGoodbye, Mary Jo,โ just before he shot himself, the reports said. Frederick Bair died in the handicap stall inside the bathroom.
Investigators recovered 9 mm shell casings from the bathroom and from the bar area, near where Cobb was shot.
While at the hospital during the interview, Mary Jo told investigators that she believed Frederick was getting information about her from her Match.com dating site account. It was through that site that she met Cobb in December, and that they had gone out on some dates, but nothing came of it and they were only friends. She hadn’t seen him for a while but contacted him recently to congratulate him about the sale of his Colorado-based company.
Mary Jo told investigators that she deleted her profile on the dating website and no longer went to the site.
Investigators also spoke to a friend of Frederickโs. The friend said he spoke to Frederick about twice a week and said Frederick was distraught over the divorce. He said Mary Jo and Frederick stayed in contact and would go hiking.
The friend also said he learned that Frederick would monitor her activity. The friend, who was shocked by Frederickโs actions, told him to stop, reports state.
Investigators learned Frederick bought the gun recently before the shootings and went target-shooting the day of the shootings, the reports state.
โShe said she was feeling a bit afraid of him because of the way he was acting lately, being obsessive and possessive,โ according to a report. โAfter they divorced, he wanted to get back together with her.โ
