Rowland Barnes

Rowland W. Barnes (b. 1941? – March 11, 2005), a Fulton County, Georgia Superior Court Judge who oversaw the 2003 trial of hockey star Dany Heatley, who killed his teammate Dan Snyder in a car accident.

Barnes was shot and killed on March 11, 2005 in his courtroom allegedly by murder and rape suspect, Brian Nichols. According to reports, Nichols wrestled a gun from a sheriff's deputy present and shot her along with Judge Barnes and his court reporter. Nicholas was caught at an apartment complex in Duluth, Georgia the next day.

Rowland Barnes graduated from Emory University School of Law in Atlanta, Georgia in 1972, and at the time of his death still held the title of adjunct professor at the University. He was named to the Superior Court bench in 1988, and had previously been a city court judge in Georgia.

His wife, Claudia, was working in the Fulton County Superior Court as a judicial assistant at the time of his murder.

Sources

"Judge, 2 others killed at Atlanta courthouse" MSNBC. March 11, 2005. [1]

"Profile: Rowland Barnes" WXIA-TV Atlanta. March 12, 2005 [2]