Fred Tokars died in a Pennsylvania prison hospital in early May 2020 while serving concurrent federal life sentences and a separate state murder sentence for the 1992 killing of his wife, Sara Tokars. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that Tokars’s attorney, Jerry Froelich, attributed the death to natural causes after several days of fever and serious health problems. No official death certificate or prison notice was located to independently confirm the precise date or cause.
What was reported about Tokars’s death
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported on May 14, 2020, that Tokars had died over the preceding weekend in a prison hospital in Pennsylvania. The newspaper attributed the account of natural causes to his attorney, Jerry Froelich, rather than to an official correctional or vital-records announcement. Froelich said Tokars had experienced a fever for several days and had significant health problems, adding: “He hadn’t walked in 10 years.”
Because an official death record was not located, the exact date and medical cause should be understood as reported information, not independently confirmed findings.
Why Tokars was imprisoned
The case arose from the November 29, 1992, murder of Sara Tokars. Federal prosecutors presented the crime within a broader prosecution involving drugs, money laundering, torture, kidnapping and murder-for-hire. The Eleventh Circuit’s 1996 opinion in United States v. Tokars, 95 F.3d 1520, records the evidence considered at trial and the jury’s convictions.
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The federal jury convicted Tokars on four counts and imposed life sentences to run concurrently. “Concurrent” means the sentences were served at the same time, so the federal judgment produced one effective life term rather than four consecutive life terms.
The federal case and the later Georgia case were separate
Federal prosecution
The federal case was decided first. The Eleventh Circuit’s opinion is the appropriate source for the federal convictions and sentences: four counts, each carrying a life sentence, with the terms concurrent.
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Georgia murder prosecution
In 1997, a Georgia state jury separately convicted Tokars of murder. The Washington Post reported that jurors acquitted him of several other charges in that proceeding. During the later penalty phase, the court did not impose the death penalty, leaving the state murder conviction in place without a capital sentence.
These were not two descriptions of one trial. The federal racketeering-related prosecution and the later Georgia murder case had different charges, verdicts and sentencing proceedings.
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A 1993 order from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia described the government’s pretrial theory that Sara was killed because she knew too much about alleged criminal activity. The same order recorded Tokars’s denial of involvement. Those statements were litigation positions at that stage, not a final judicial finding. The eventual federal convictions and sentence are documented in the Eleventh Circuit’s appellate opinion.
Quick Recap
Case timeline
| Date | Event | Source and qualification |
|---|---|---|
| November 29, 1992 | Sara Tokars was murdered. | Described in the Eleventh Circuit’s 1996 opinion. |
| 1993 | A federal district-court order summarized the prosecution’s allegations and Tokars’s denial. | United States v. Tokars, 839 F. Supp. 1578; pretrial positions, not the final verdict. |
| 1996 | The Eleventh Circuit upheld the federal case record showing convictions on four counts and concurrent life sentences. | United States v. Tokars, 95 F.3d 1520. |
| 1997 | A Georgia jury convicted Tokars of murder; the death penalty was not imposed. | Reported by The Washington Post on March 14, 1997. |
| May 2020 | Tokars died in a Pennsylvania prison hospital, according to a report published May 14. | The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, quoting attorney Jerry Froelich; exact date and cause were not independently confirmed by an official record located for this account. |
What can be stated with confidence
- Sara Tokars was killed on November 29, 1992.
- Tokars received four concurrent federal life sentences, according to the Eleventh Circuit’s opinion.
- A later Georgia state jury separately convicted him of murder.
- The death penalty was not imposed in the state case.
- The 2020 death report placed him in a Pennsylvania prison hospital and attributed natural causes to his attorney’s account, rather than to an independently located official record.
Sources
- Atlanta Journal-Constitution, May 14, 2020, reporting Tokars’s death and quoting attorney Jerry Froelich.
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, United States v. Tokars, 95 F.3d 1520 (1996).
- The Washington Post, March 14, 1997, reporting the Georgia murder-trial and penalty outcome.
- U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, United States v. Tokars, 839 F. Supp. 1578 (1993).
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