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He argued his case by talking about his life, appearing to discuss candidly the rootlessness of his life, the deterioration of his marriage to first wife Debra Spivey and his affair with Leigh Ann Lang. The only child of parents in the Air Force, Barton worked as a manual laborer and drifted briefly through one college before settling at the University of South Carolina, where he graduated with a chemistry degree in 1979. That same year, he married Spivey, a fellow student he had met while working as night auditor at a local hotel. After living in Atlanta, where Barton tested cleaning compounds, they moved to Texarkana, Texas. In 1988 he became president of TLC Manufacturing, a company he founded with some friends. He made about $86,000 a year.
Then, in 1990, he had a mysterious parting of ways with his company. "Officially, I was fired," Barton said in his deposition, explaining that it was a way for the company to save face and not scare off suppliers. But after his last day at TLC, someone broke into the offices, stole secret formulas and erased computer files. Police went to Barton's home and arrested him on a burglary charge. However, according to a report at the time, a detective investigating the case believed the burglary "was not intended for the theft of the product formula but to hide kickbacks, discrepancies in inventory or the possible sale of chemicals for drug activity." The same day a TLC board member called the police to say, without elaboration, that the company had reached an agreement with Barton. The charges were dropped.
Barton moved to Georgia with his wife and, after starting up a firm he compared with a "paper route," he took a job as a salesman for a chemical company. In his new position, he got to know a young receptionist named Leigh Ann Lang. She was married at the time, but apparently not happily. "She liked older guys," Barton said. "She made that known to everybody." By May 1993, Barton and Lang were having an affair. He bought a new wardrobe and began keeping up a tan. Debra grew suspicious. "The key to the whole thing was I started going to the tanning bed, and she didn't like that," he said. She was jealous, he added, "all throughout the relationship...because I was in outside sales. She found her own dog's hair on me one time...and she asked me if it was another lady's hair... I just denied it." At the same time, Barton took out the life-insurance policy on Debra. He had wanted to take out $1 million, couldn't afford the premiums and settled for $600,000. It was her idea, he rationalized to the insurer. Debra had enjoyed being the wife of a company president. "She felt as time went on that she was just as important as I was ... And she developed an extreme sense of self-worth."
In June 1993, Barton and Leigh Ann took a trip to Charlotte, N.C., where they had dinner with friends of hers. Over dinner, Barton said he had never loved anyone more than Leigh Ann, and that he would be free to marry her by Oct. 1. At the end of August, Leigh Ann was ready to end her own marriage. She found an apartment and moved in with her sister.