A packed Toledo restaurant on opening night turned into the scene of an attempted killing that was stopped by a quick-moving waiter, prosecutors say. A Lucas County jury on Friday convicted 43-year-old ex-attorney Matthew Exton of attempted murder, two counts of felonious assault, and firearm charges after he tried to shoot his ex-wife at the Sabira restaurant in April 2025, WTOL reports. Prosecutors say Exton first spotted his ex with her family at the restaurant while drinking next door, then sent a drink, spat toward the table, and later came back with a handgun.
Witnesses testified he pointed the gun at her and pulled the trigger, but the safety was on. Waiter Tracy Cole Jr. tackled him before he could try again. Restaurant patrons and other employees helped disarm Exton and restrain him until police arrived. The weapon was loaded with eight rounds. Exton, who was removed from the courtroom after repeated outbursts during prosecutors' remarks, claimed he only pointed the gun at her to pressure her to speed up the sale of their former home, the Toledo Blade reports. Prosecutors said Cole saved multiple lives, noting that Exton had ensured the gun had enough bullets to kill both his ex-wife and her parents.
"Nothing in their training and soft openings at the restaurant could have prepared the staff for what walked through that door," Lucas County Prosecutor Julia Bates said after the verdict. "The defendant did not come with the intention of having a meal. He came with anger in him and with the intention to commit a public execution of his ex-wife at the restaurant that day." Exton, whose law license has been suspended by Ohio's top court, will face up to 25 years in prison when he is sentenced later this month.
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