The Pima County Sheriff's Department has released reports and recordings of 911 calls related to the deadly shooting at Firebirds Wood Fired Grill at La Encantada mall on April 14.
The documents include accounts from witnesses and from the victim Mary Jo Bair. Detectives say Mary Jo's ex-husband, Fred Bair, shot and killed 65-year-old Eliot Cobb before shooting Mary Jo then himself.
Mary Jo told investigators she and Bair divorced in September 2016 after 25 years of marriage. She said she was worried about Bair after the divorce, and felt like he kind of stalked her and had confronted her about some information she posted on the dating website Match.com.
According to police reports, Mary Jo said she had remained friends with Bair but did not want to get back together with him.
While at North Italia at La Encantada with Cobb on April 14, Mary Jo said she saw Bair at the restaurant and felt worried.
Below is a portion of the incident report from PCSD. It is a summary from an investigator who spoke to Mary Jo after the shooting:
Mary Jo conveyed to me that the person who shot her and the subject who she was with was her ex-husband Fred Bair. She advised that she and her ex-husband had been divorced since September. She also mentioned that in February when he bought her earrings at the gem show, he made a comment that if she was ever with anybody he would have to kill the person she was with. She advised that she met Eliot for drinks at North and her ex-husband was there. He came up and made a few remarks to Eliot reference dressing nice for Mary Jo.
Mary Jo and Eliot went to Firebirds and got to the bar. She advised that she only had one glass of wine. They were at the end of the bar when her husband came up and said something to the effect of: Remember what I told you when I bought you those earrings. She replied something about: You are going to kill the person I am with or something to that effect. She stated he pulled out a pistol, it was black, shot Eliot, and then told her they needed to talk. He took her in the women's bathroom and shot her in the leg. She believed she heard two to three gunshots. He told her now he was going to have to do this, at which point she heard a gunshot and he fell on top of her. She realized that he had shot himself in the head.
Mary Jo told detectives she met Cobb on Match.com in December and they went on a few dates but the relationship didn't go anywhere. When Mary Jo heard on Facebook that Cobb may have sold his company, she contacted him to get together to celebrate as she was anticipating retiring from her job. The two reportedly had not seen each other in quite some time.
Mary Jo also said she had deleted her Match.com profile.
Bair had reportedly sent a text to his daughter on April 14th telling her that he ran into Mary Jo and Cobb and was going to congratulate Cobb on a business deal. Mary Jo told police Bair made a comment at North like he may have been congratulating Cobb.
MORE: family remembers victim of La Encantada shooting.
Police reports show Bair had purchased the gun in the weeks before the shooting.
Investigators spoke to a friend of Bair who would talk to him a few times a week. The man said Bair was distraught over his divorce and continued to have contact with his ex-wife. The two would go on hikes, he said.
The friend also said Bair "hacked" his ex-wife's Match.com account and monitored her activity. The man said he was shocked when he found out and told Bair to stop.
Witnesses that were at Firebirds at the time of the shooting also spoke to detectives. A hostess that worked in the bar area said she saw the incident happen. Below is a summary of what the woman said to investigators:
"...she saw these two guys struggling and one Caucasian male had a gun to the other one's head. She described the gun being held to the left temple of the other man's head and she stated just about the time she turned and saw the situation, that's when she saw the guy actually pull the trigger, and she stated that she saw the bullet go into the guy's head. She described him as being almost face to face and he held the gun to the guy's left temple."
