Thomas W. Barb

Thomas William "Tom" Barb was born on January 7, 1948, in Elkins, West Virginia. Following his graduation from Elkins High School in 1965, he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps, serving as a helicopter mechanic stationed in Vietnam and Japan. After his military service he attended West Virginia University and went on to earn his law degree from the University of Wyoming College of Law.

Tom built a long career as a prosecutor, serving as a deputy prosecuting attorney in Casper and Douglas, Wyoming, before continuing his work in Reno, Nevada, where he was admitted to the Nevada bar in 1992 and rose to Chief Deputy District Attorney. He devoted the bulk of his professional life - from the early 1980s until his retirement in 2008 - to public prosecution on behalf of the communities he served.

In 2006 he gained national attention as lead prosecutor in a prominent Nevada murder case involving the death of a state official, a matter that was later featured on the television program "48 Hours" and documented in multiple books. Tom passed away on March 23, 2021, at his home in Reno, Nevada.