Census worker's body found gagged, bound, nude

[EnigmaticCat]

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/09/26/national/main5343131.shtml


Terror in Kentucky: Census Worker's Murder
Body Found Naked, Hanging From Tree in Cemetery; Had Been Gagged, Duct Taped, 'Fed' Scrawled on Chest

      Police patrols have increased in the Daniel Boone National Forest in eastern Kentucky, since the discovery of a census worker's body found hanging from a tree.  (WKYT)

(CBS/AP)  It was a bizarre and gruesome discovery in a remote section of eastern Kentucky: Bill Sparkman, a 51-year-old teacher and part-time worker for the United States Census, was found two weeks ago hanging from a tree with the word "Fed" scrawled on his chest in felt tip pen.

A man who said he was among those who found the body told tells the Associated Press that Sparkman was naked, bound at the hands and feet with duct tape and gagged - details that have not yet been confirmed by authorities.

Jerry Weaver of Ohio told the Associated Press he was visiting a cemetery in rural Kentucky with family members on Sept. 12 when he, his wife and daughter saw the body.

"The only thing he had on was a pair of socks," Weaver said. "And they had duct-taped his hands, his wrists. He had duct tape over his eyes, and they gagged him with a red rag or something.

"He was murdered," Weaver said. "There's no doubt."

Weaver said the body was about 50 yards from a 2003 Chevrolet S-10 pickup truck.

Friends: Hanging Victim Devoted to Kids

Two people briefed on the investigation said various details of Weaver's account matched the details of the crime scene, though both people said they were not informed who found the body. The two spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case.

Authorities have said a preliminary cause of death was asphyxiation, pending a full medical examination. According to a Kentucky State Police statement, the body was hanging from a tree with a rope around the neck, yet it was in contact with the ground.

"And they even had duct tape around his neck," Weaver said. "And they had like his identification tag on his neck. They had it duct-taped to the side of his neck, on the right side, almost on his right shoulder."

Both of the people briefed on the investigation confirmed that Sparkman's Census Bureau ID was found taped to his head and shoulder area. Weaver said he couldn't tell if the tag was a Census ID because he didn't get close enough to read it. He could see writing on Sparkman's chest, but could not read that it said "fed."

A retired state trooper who worked with Sparkman at Johnson Elementary School, some 30 miles from where the body was found, said he warned Sparkman that some people in the rural area are hostile.

"I said, 'Bill you be careful when you go over to eastern Kentucky to do your census work. Some of the people over there may not understand that you're just collecting statistics,'" friend Gilbert Acciardo told CBS News.

Clay County Sheriff Kevin Johnson declined to comment on the investigation because the department is only playing a supporting role but said patrols have increased in the Daniel Boone National Forest since the body was found.

State Trooper Don Trosper said it was clear this wasn't a natural death but said all other possibilities were being considered.

"We are not able to rule out many scenarios at this time, and that's what makes this a difficult case," he said.

According to the sheriff, there's only been one murder in Clay County in three years, reports CBS News correspondent Dave Browde.

Although anti-government sentiment was one possibility in the death, some in law enforcement also cited the prevalence of drug activity in the area - including meth labs and marijuana fields - although they had no reason to believe there was a link to Sparkman's death.

After Sparkman's body was found, the Census Bureau suspended door-to-door interviews in Clay County until the investigation is complete.

© MMIX, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

[HyperU2]

You left out dead.  I suspect Dale Gribble.

[snowfallsoon]

Published: September 30, 2009 09:24 am       
http://www.thetimestribune.com/local/local_story_273092532.html

Suspicious fax sent to FBI

Police still haven’t ruled census worker’s death as homicide

By Samantha Swindler and Adam S. Sulfridge / Times-Tribune Staff

The Times-Tribune received a suspicious fax Friday night, which staff immediately turned over to the FBI. The fax came with the “RE” headline of “I Did It” and referenced the death investigation of Bill Sparkman, a census worker whose body was found hanged in Clay County on Sept. 12.

“I must state the truth,” the fax read, “Bill Sparkman personally didn’t have any enemies, but the Federal government certainly does. So it’s unfortunate that he was representing them when he was out in Clay County. The only good thing to come of this is that the Fed’s (sic) have stopped the census being taken, for now at least.”

The FBI agent handling the Sparkman case said the fax appears to have been sent from an e-mail account. It was signed “Me, Too” but also contained a name that the Times-Tribune has been unable to verify. It was also unclear from where the fax had been sent.

“Having reviewed the contents, we’re not taking it as a serious admission,” the agent said. “...There’s no way to immediately validate the source, and there’s nothing necessarily in it that you couldn’t get from the news.”

The fax comes after a wave of national media attention, focused on the possibility that Sparkman’s death was fueled by anti-government sentiment in the rural hills of Eastern Kentucky.
According to reports from the Associated Press, the word “fed” appeared to be written on Sparkman’s body with a felt-tip pen. The AP reported that Sparkman had been hanged, gagged, had his hands bound by duct tape and was found nude. 

Kentucky State Police Public Affairs Officer Don Trosper had previously said that parts of the AP report dealing with “evidentiary” aspects of the case were inaccurate, but declined to specify which reports were incorrect.

“There’s a lot of rumors and innuendo and speculation out there, and sometimes I would just love to sit down and have said, OK, I could clear it all up,” Trosper said.

But police aren’t releasing any more details in the case and say they haven’t been able to determine if Sparkman’s death by asphyxiation was a homicide.

“Detectives are working on it daily, it’s still under investigation, and it’s still classified as a death investigation,” Trosper said on Tuesday. “It’s kind of a strange case due to the fact that we cannot rule out anything... usually in an investigation, you can rule out things... and that gives you the opportunity to focus your investigation. With this one, it’s a little perplexing because you can’t rule out one of the three types of death that we’re looking at” — suicide, accidental death or homicide.

An unusually vague police response to the media has left some questioning how Sparkman’s death could be anything other than murder.
FBI spokesman David Beyer told reporters, “Our job is to determine if there was foul play involved.” One police investigator, who asked to remain anonymous, told the Times-Tribune that Beyer’s statement indicated law enforcement officials were apparently still entertaining the notions of accidental death or suicide.

One press report indicated that Sparkman’s feet were touching the ground when police found his body. “If his feet were touching and he was hanging from a limb, you’d want to know if it was a broken limb or if the rope slipped,” the investigator continued, saying, “if it appeared his feet were touching when he was tied, it would make you start to think.”

The investigator suggested reporters research the death of David Carradine, an actor whose body was found bound in a closet following death by apparent autoerotic asphyxiation.

At Johnson Elementary, the school where Sparkman often worked as a substitute teacher, family resource director Gilbert Accairdo said staff “have kind of shielded ourselves from those wild rumors. “
He said any suggestion that Sparkman was doing something inappropriate in the woods where he was found would be very “out of character.”

Accairdo said he’d known Sparkman for 12 years, after Sparkman moved to Laurel County from Florida to take a position with the Boy Scouts. He lived in London and was substitute teaching for Laurel County schools while waiting for a full-time position to become available. Sparkman had adopted a son, now age 19, as a single parent.

The students at Johnson Elementary haven’t asked many questions about Sparkman’s death, although Accairdo said “we deal with it if they ask.” Students wrote cards to Sparkman and his family as a memorial to him following his death.

“Bill’s mom came up to Kentucky and had never been to the school. She toured the facility, there was some healing there for his mother. She’s a retired high school principal, so she’s well acquainted with education. There was a lot of healing whenever she came over to the school because she had never met Bill’s friends, and Bill’s friends were Johnson staff.”

Accairdo, himself a retired state trooper, said he had warned Sparkman about the dangers of working in rural areas after Sparkman began his census work.

“I expressed safety to him because you’re going into rural areas... he wasn’t a bit concerned,” Accairdo said.  “I do home visits as a matter of my job. I do them regularly and I’m cautious on everything that I go to.”

[Yomalex3]

Wow, marking my spot. I wanna know what happened. That's so freakin weird. 

[beli]

this is crazy!  :-o

[wickedgirl]

You have no idea how hard I am trying not to make a distasteful crack about fava beans and a nice Chianti.

[lulupop]

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/09/sparkmans_son_he_didnt_do_this_to_himself.php

The Associated Press has tracked down the son of the Bill Sparkman, the Census Bureau worker found dead earlier this month in rural Kentucky. And Josh Sparkman, 19, has no doubt his father was murdered.

"I look at it as disrespectful to be still throwing suicide and accident around," he said. "He didn't do this to himself. That's dishonorable. My dad was a good man. No person on this planet is going to fight cancer like he did, then turn around and kill himself a year or so later."

Josh Sparkman was Bill Sparkman's only known child. Bill Sparkman's mother, Henrie Sparkman, lives in Inverness, Florida.

Investigators have still not officially designated Sparkman's death as a homicide. They have said that he died from asphyxiation.

When Sparkman was found September 12, he had the word "Fed" scrawled across his chest -- setting off speculation that he may have been killed in an act of anti-government sentiment. In addition, his census worker ID was duct taped to his head and neck, his mouth was gagged, and his hands and feet were bound. He was naked and blindfolded.

The younger Sparkman's comments may add to the pressure on state and federal authorities to offer more information on their investigation, which is now well into its third week.

A spokesman for the state's governor, Democrat Steve Beshear, told the AP:


The governor certainly understands the concerns and feelings of the family during a terrible tragedy like this one. But at the same time he's very sensitive to the fact that there's an ongoing investigation and that while it needs to proceed expeditiously, it also needs to be done the right way and comprehensively.

[snowfallsoon]

Official cause of death in Census worker case
By Bill Estep - bestep@herald-leader.com
The state medical examiner's office has confirmed asphyxiation as the official cause of death of a part-time Census worker found dead at a Clay County cemetery, a spokeswoman said.
The office had listed asphyxiation as the cause of death earlier based on preliminary autopsy results.
William Sparkman, 51, was found Sept. 12 with a rope around his neck tied to a tree in southern Clay County.
State police are still trying to determine whether Sparkman died as a result of an accident, homicide or suicide.

Gee, I wonder which one it was :|

http://www.kentucky.com/latest_news/story/958257.html

[Yomalex3]

[quote author=snowfallsoon link=topic=22551.msg1400922#msg1400922 date=1254348162]
Official cause of death in Census worker case
By Bill Estep - bestep@herald-leader.com
The state medical examiner's office has confirmed asphyxiation as the official cause of death of a part-time Census worker found dead at a Clay County cemetery, a spokeswoman said.
The office had listed asphyxiation as the cause of death earlier based on preliminary autopsy results.
William Sparkman, 51, was found Sept. 12 with a rope around his neck tied to a tree in southern Clay County.
State police are still trying to determine whether Sparkman died as a result of an accident, homicide or suicide.

Gee, I wonder which one it was :|

http://www.kentucky.com/latest_news/story/958257.html
[/quote]

:roll: It was obviously suicide! I mean who hasn't heard of the common way to kill yourself? First you get naked and without the help of anyone you tie and gag yourself with tape but not before taking a sharpie and writing "FED" on ur chest for extra drama. Then you slip one hand from the tape and hang urself and just before u passout u slip ur hand back into the tape. It is so much easier than just drinking a bottle of sleeping pills. Omg, did I really just write all that?... My soul is leaving my body I'm now an official MDS member!!! YAY! :2tongue:

RIP Bill. Im sorry it happened this way. You deserved much better.

[snowfallsoon]

[quote author=Yomalex3 link=topic=22551.msg1401939#msg1401939 date=1254430249]
:roll: It was obviously suicide! I mean who hasn't heard of the common way to kill yourself? First you get naked and without the help of anyone you tie and gag yourself with tape but not before taking a sharpie and writing "FED" on ur chest for extra drama. Then you slip one hand from the tape and hang urself and just before u passout u slip ur hand back into the tape. It is so much easier than just drinking a bottle of sleeping pills. Omg, did I really just write all that?... My soul is leaving my body I'm now an official MDS member!!! YAY! :2tongue:

RIP Bill. Im sorry it happened this way. You deserved much better.
[/quote]

Exactly!
From what I've been reading, there's a lot of covering up, and a lot of nasty rumors going around about this poor man. There's a bunch
there that HATE anyone who works for the govt. I feel really bad for his son, as if his dad's death wasn't hard enough to deal with.

[Yomalex3]

I can totally see someone who hates feds killing a REAL fed but someone who works doing census  Not like the guys was dressed up in a suit wearing dark shades and with that little wirey ear piece thingy feds use. It's not like he was doing anything fedsy (I made up a word  :2smiley: ) anyway it totally makes no sense at all. Why would a whole area of ppl just randomly hate the feds so much they had to kill a random teacher doing census in the way they did?

[snowfallsoon]

[quote author=Yomalex3 link=topic=22551.msg1403698#msg1403698 date=1254644989]
I can totally see someone who hates feds killing a REAL fed but someone who works doing census  Not like the guys was dressed up in a suit wearing dark shades and with that little wirey ear piece thingy feds use. It's not like he was doing anything fedsy (I made up a word  :2smiley: ) anyway it totally makes no sense at all. Why would a whole area of ppl just randomly hate the feds so much they had to kill a random teacher doing census in the way they did?
[/quote]

http://gawker.com/5366498/census-workers-death-the-next-generation-of-lynching

"On September 12, the same day as those wacky protests, Sparkman was found hanging from a tree with the word "fed" carved into his chest. The 51-year old single father and substitute teacher had been canvassing Kentucky's rural, poor Clay County for the Census Bureau. That sounds like a pretty safe job, yes, but locals warned Sparkman of hidden dangers lurking in the blue grass. Recalled former state trooper Gilbert Acciardo:
I told him on more than one occasion, based on my years in the state police, 'Mr. Sparkman, when you go into those counties, be careful because people are going to perceive you different than they do elsewhere.
Even though he was with the Census Bureau, sometimes people can view someone with any government agency as 'the government.' I just was afraid that he might meet the wrong character along the way up there."


the protests on the same day
http://gawker.com/5358099/teabagged-912-project-protest-brings-out-american-psychos/gallery/

"As you may or may not have heard, Glenn Beck and others came out in full force to protest our government's handling of health care, arguing against "the over-expansion of the federal government." Naturally, the crazies came out, too.
"Check out that fucking teabagger," writes in tipster Stefan, referencing "Look At This Fucking Hipster," the blog chronicling hipsters looking ridiculous. Unfortunately, while hipsters have to be sought out within the pseudo-bohemian enclaves of their respective parishes, people who can't have any kind of normal, rational discussion about politics—or even a rational, agenda-based protest—are easily found at protests like the one going on today in Washington D.C."
These creatures are to conservatism what globalization protesters are to liberalism: irrational, screaming without aim, intent on burning the system down for the sake of doing so, with talk of a revolution they couldn't conceive or execute without being worse off than before.

[snowfallsoon]

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jbzG_BlkG2Hfc818EPRRn1bBlP6gD9B5PF5G3
Officials release body of hanged Ky. census worker
By JEFFREY McMURRAY (AP) – 2 days ago
LONDON, Ky. — Authorities have released the body of a part-time census worker found in a remote Appalachian forest nearly a month ago with a rope around his neck and "fed" scrawled across his chest, but they still will not say if someone killed him.
Josh Sparkman told The Associated Press on Tuesday that investigators released his father's body Monday to the Cremation Society of Kentucky.
Bill Sparkman, a substitute teacher, had wanted his body either donated to science or cremated. Authorities advised Josh Sparkman to choose the latter option and not have the family view the body because of its condition.
A family visiting a Clay County cemetery found Bill Sparkman on Sept. 12 with a rope around his neck and his hands and feet duct-taped. The coroner confirmed the word "fed" was written on his chest, apparently in felt-tip pen.
The state medical examiner's office has established the cause of death as asphyxiation but has not determined whether it was a homicide, accident or suicide.
Mike Wilder, executive director of the State Medical Examiner's Office, said the investigation continues, with "bits and pieces of information" still coming to light.
There were "circumstances" that made the Sparkman case particularly difficult to resolve, but Wilder declined to elaborate.
"The cause of death was pretty well determined. The manner of death is still what is under investigation," Wilder said.
Josh Sparkman said police had released his father's pickup truck, which was found at the scene, and he is now driving it. Although he says police have told him nothing, he remains certain the death was a homicide.
He said many things, including a census laptop and personal items like his grandfather's wedding ring, were missing from the truck and were not on a list of potential evidence that investigators kept. State police Capt. Lisa Rudzinski confirmed the laptop was not found in the truck but declined to comment on the other items.
"They ransacked that truck," Josh Sparkman said. "That's more evidence this is not an accident or suicide. This is a homicide."
Sparkman said he was working on organizing a memorial service for his father but hadn't scheduled it because he is broke and hasn't found a funeral home to host it. He said he would like to do it soon.
Associated Press Writer Roger Alford in Frankfort, Ky., contributed to this report.
Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Related articles
Body of a census worker released to family
WYMT - 1 day ago
Body of Bill Sparkman released, cod is ruled asphyxiation
DigitalJournal.com - 1 day ago
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WYMT - 2 days ago
More coverage (7) »

[Clockworx]

It took them having to realize that shit was missing from the truck to think that its a homicide???  Regular Joe Fridays out there in the KY boonies.

[snowfallsoon]

[quote author=Clockworx link=topic=22551.msg1407749#msg1407749 date=1255035439]
It took them having to realize that shit was missing from the truck to think that its a homicide???  Regular Joe Fridays out there in the KY boonies.
[/quote]

Ha, LE still isn't saying it was homicide. Unbelievable.

[Yomalex3]

[quote author=Clockworx link=topic=22551.msg1407749#msg1407749 date=1255035439]
It took them having to realize that shit was missing from the truck to think that its a homicide???  Regular Joe Fridays out there in the KY boonies.
[/quote]

I'm sticking to my theory;

  It was obviously suicide! I mean who hasn't heard of the common way to kill yourself? First you get naked and without the help of anyone you tie and gag yourself with tape but not before taking a sharpie and writing "FED" on ur chest for extra drama. Then you slip one hand from the tape and hang urself and just before u passout u slip ur hand back into the tape.

[snowfallsoon]

Census Worker's Son Speaks Out

It's been almost a month since the body Bill Sparkman a U.S. Census worker was found dead in the Daniel Boone National Forest in Clay County.
His 20-year-old son believes his father was murdered.
Josh Sparkman is a soft spoken young man dealing with the hard reality of losing his only parent.
"He taught me everything I know really. I wouldn't be who I am if it wasn't for him," says Josh Sparkman.
The death of Bill Sparkman appears to have been a savage attack .
It made national news when the U.S. Census worker and substitute teacher was found dead in the Daniel Boone National Forest.
"I couldn't believe it had happened. I couldn't believe that anyone would hurt my father especially in such a brutal manner," says Sparkman.
Investigators say he had a rope around his neck and the word "Fed" scrawled across his chest and was bound and gagged but they have not yet said they believe he was murdered.
"You can't do it how do you accidentally end up that way, you don't so I don't see how they haven't straight ruled it a homicide," says Sparkman.
While he struggles to keep keep up with the details of a headline grabbing case allowing him little time to grieve privately he remembers a father who adopted him at the age of two, volunteered at his school, enrolled him in Boy Scouts, and turned him into a math whiz.
"From a young age he was always teaching me more advanced math. How does he know this, he's three grades ahead," says Sparkman.
His father's life taken and his now on hold.
Josh Sparkman has inherited a home, a sense of responsibility and a sense that it will be some time before his life anywhere near normal
"I want to see justice. I would hate to have my dad's case end up as a cold case and never find out exactly what happened or who did this," says Sparkman.
Josh Sparkman says if there's anything good that has come from his father's death it's that perhaps that the Census Bureau will come up with ways to make the job safer.

there is also a video.
http://www.wbko.com/news/headlines/64327947.html#

[Jenna_N]

Maybe the person that killed him was paraniod and too fucking stupid to know the difference between a census worker and a fed. Seriously some people really are that stupid.

R.I.P. Bill

[ZoMyGoddess!]

what IS taking so long to say that this a homicide???
if i was the son, i would have shot up everyone in the neighborhood by now.  i would have lost it. 
a whole month.  to hell with that, street justice would have taken over by now.

[snowfallsoon]

I don't know. What could they have to lose? It seems obvious to everyone that he was murdered...How could it hurt the investigation?
Very strange case. Unless the FBI is involved and don't want ANYTHING said?

[Cremation]

.Investigators call it suicide.. :?

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-11-24-census-worker-suicide_N.htm
Police: Census worker staged death to conceal suicide
 


FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Authorities are saying a Kentucky census worker found hanging from a tree with "fed" scrawled on his chest committed suicide and staged his death to look like a homicide.
A news release from Kentucky State Police said Tuesday that Bill Sparkman died at the same location where his body was found Sept. 12 near a cemetery in a heavily wooded area of southeastern Kentucky.

A man who found the body in the Daniel Boone National Forest said the 51-year-old was bound with duct tape, gagged and had an identification badge taped to his neck.

Investigators say Sparkman acted alone in manipulating the scene to conceal the suicide.

The news release says Sparkman had recently taken out two life insurance policies that would not pay out for suicide.

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

[nerysinci]

:roll:  Yeah, I believe that. 

Ridiculous.  I mean, mayyyyybe, but it's just hard for me to believe this.  At least the insurance companies get to keep their hard-earned money, though right?....Right??? 

[Trahnse]

CNN article has more specifics. It sounds like it could be true, but I dunno. Very bizarre..

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/11/24/kentucky.census.worker.death/index.html

Police: Kentucky census worker committed suicide, staged scene
November 24, 2009 4:21 p.m. EST

(CNN) -- A Kentucky census worker who was found dead in September committed suicide and staged the scene to look like a homicide, authorities said Tuesday.

The body of William E. Sparkman Jr., 51, was found September 12 near a cemetery in southeastern Kentucky's Clay County. He was wearing only socks.

"A thorough examination of evidence from the scene, to include DNA testing, as well as examination of his vehicle and his residence, resulted in the determination that Mr. Sparkman, alone, handled the key pieces of evidence with no indications of any other persons involved," Kentucky State Police said.

Sparkman's wrists were bound with duct tape, and a rope around his neck was tied to a tree, but his body was touching the ground, authorities said. He had "Fed" written on his chest in black ink.

However, Sparkman's wrists were loosely bound in front of his body at shoulder width apart, allowing for "considerable mobility," said Kentucky State Police Capt. Lisa Rudzinski.

He was also in contact with the ground, "almost on his knees," she said.

"To survive, all Mr. Sparkman had to do was stand up."

Lividity on the body -- marks made as blood stops pumping and settles in areas of the body -- showed that Sparkman died in the same position, Rudzinski said.

His glasses were taped to his head, and that tape was underneath tape that held a rag in his mouth, she said.

"Mr. Sparkman had extremely poor eyesight" and so would have needed his glasses secured, Rudzinski said.

But the most compelling evidence came from the fact that Sparkman had obtained $600,000 in accidental-death insurance, which would not have paid in the event of a suicide, as late as May, she said.

In addition, he told a "credible witness" of his plans to commit suicide and stage the scene to make it look like he was slain because he worked for the federal government. The details were consistent with how Sparkman died and was found, Rudzinski said.

The witness did not take action after Sparkman shared his plans out of a belief that he would not follow through, authorities said.

"It was learned that Mr. Sparkman had discussed recent federal investigations and the perceived negative attitudes toward federal entities by some residents of Clay County," Kentucky state police said in a statement.

Police believe that Sparkman's primary motive in staging the scene was to ensure that the insurance would be paid, Rudzinski said. His motive for committing suicide or any secondary motives might never be known, she said, as Sparkman left no note.

"We don't know what Mr. Sparkman was thinking or why he ultimately committed this act," she said.

Autopsy results showed no evidence of any cancer or terminal illness, officials said, although it was reported that Sparkman had previously had lymphoma. Police would not say who the beneficiary of the insurance was.

Forensic analysis of the writing on Sparkman's chest showed that he had written it himself, Rudzinski said. Analysts found ink dots, made by writers on completing a letter, at the top of the letters, rather than at the bottom -- as would be expected if someone had made the writing on Sparkman. Despite a search by authorities, the black felt pen used for the writing has not been found.

Police do not believe that anyone assisted Sparkman, she said.

Sparkman had told the witness, whom police declined to name, that he intended to dispose of some of his personal effects, including his laptop computer and other items. Police have not found those items, Rudzinski said.

Toxicology tests showed that Sparkman was not drugged or under the influence of any substance, she said. The red rag removed from his mouth was similar to those found in his pocket and at the scene.

DNA testing of the rags and the rope used in creating a ligature on Sparkman's neck, as well as 7 feet of discarded rope discarded near his body, found only Sparkman's DNA, she said.

The police investigation is still open, and additional test results are expected in the next two to three weeks, authorities said.

Authorities met with Sparkman's son and told him of their findings before publicly releasing them.

"Our hearts go out to him," Rudzinski said. "He still lost his father at the end of the day."

She would not say whether his son accepted the findings, saying she did not want to speak for the family.

[nerysinci]

Weird.  Wonder where the pen is though?  I would say that someone could have staged his suicide since none of that shit seems totally concrete to me, but then I remembered what part of the country this took place in.

[Trahnse]

[quote author=nerysinci link=topic=22551.msg1456208#msg1456208 date=1259099565]
Weird.  Wonder where the pen is though?  I would say that someone could have staged his suicide since none of that shit seems totally concrete to me, but then I remembered what part of the country this took place in.
[/quote]

I wondered about the pen too, but I figure he probably wrote on himself before he even went out there and ditched the pen then.  Now that has me wondering about the remaining tape.. the article says there was 7' of rope, but there would have to be discarded tape too. You would think..