BIG CREEK, Ky. (September 26, 2009)–The man who found the body of part-time U.S. Census worker Bill Sparkman hanging in a rural Kentucky cemetery two weeks ago says he has no doubt that Sparkman was murdered.
Jerry Weaver of Fairfield, Ohio, told The Associated Press the gruesome scene haunts him.
Weaver said he, his wife, and his daughter were visiting family graves at the cemetery when they discovered the body.
Sparkman was naked but for a pair of socks, with his hands, wrists and eyes duct-taped and a gag in his mouth, he said… [an] identification tag had been duct-taped to the side of his neck, he said. The word “fed” was written in felt-tip pen on the 51-year-old’s chest.
Authorities have released few details of their investigation and have not yet said whether they think it was an accident, suicide or homicide.
A state trooper says the case has “many facets” and investigators have not yet been able to rule out many scenarios.
…the victim… believed he had cancer.
“Curiouser and curiouser!” Cried Alice… apparently, a murder it wasn’t.
Police: Ky. census worked staged [his] death…
He taped his ankles and wrists, but his wrists were bound so loosely that he had considerable mobility, leaving investigators to believe he could have done the taping himself, authorities said. He scrawled the word “fed” upside down on his chest, taped his Census Bureau ID to his head, stuck a red cloth into his mouth and placed another piece of tape over it.
Sparkman then strung a rope from a tree, placed a noose around his neck, and leaned forward, using his own body weight to cut off oxygen to his brain, investigators said.
He likely became lightheaded from lack of oxygen, then lost consciousness. “It would not be an excruciating death,” said Mike Wilder, executive director of the state medical examiner’s office.
Sparkman was found touching the ground, almost at his knees, and the man who discovered him was convinced Sparkman had been killed.
“To survive, all Mr. Sparkman had to do at any time was stand up,” said Kentucky State Police Capt. Lisa Rudzinski.
…the autopsy found no signs of a recurrence of Sparkman’s cancer, so his cancer fears were unfounded.
see also: Terror in Kentucky: Census Worker’s Murder, Meaning of the Hanged Man, Police: Ky. census worked staged death…
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