Thread: Census worker hanged with 'fed' on body UPDATED

AP: Census worker hanged with 'fed' on body

Posted 2m ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — The FBI is investigating whether anti-government sentiment led to the hanging death of a U.S. Census worker near a Kentucky cemetery. A law enforcement official told The Associated Press the word 'fed" was scrawled on the dead man's chest.

The body of Bill Sparkman, a 51-year-old part-time Census field worker and teacher, was found Sept. 12 in a remote patch of the Daniel Boone National Forest in rural southeast Kentucky. The Census has suspended door-to-door interviews in rural Clay County, where the body was found, pending the outcome of the investigation.

Investigators are still trying to determine whether the death was a killing or a suicide, and if a killing, whether the motive was related to his government job or to anti-government sentiment. An autopsy report is pending.

Investigators have said little about the case. The law enforcement official, who was not authorized to discuss the case and requested anonymity, said Wednesday the man was found hanging from a tree and the word "fed" was written on the dead man's chest. The official did not say what type of instrument was used to write the word.

FBI spokesman David Beyer said the bureau is helping state police with the case.

"Our job is to determine if there was foul play involved — and that's part of the investigation — and if there was foul play involved, whether that is related to his employment as a census worker," said Beyer.

Beyer declined to confirm or discuss any details about the crime scene.

Lucindia Scurry-Johnson, assistant director of the Census Bureau's southern office in Charlotte, said law enforcement officers have told the agency the matter is "an apparent homicide" but nothing else.

Census employees were told Sparkman's truck was found nearby, and a computer he was using for work was found inside it, she said. He worked part-time for the Census, usually conducting interviews once or twice a month.

Sparkman has worked for the Census since 2003, spanning five counties in the surrounding area. Much of his recent work had been in Clay County, officials said.

Door-to-door operations have been suspended in Clay County pending a resolution of the investigation, Scurry-Johnson said.

The U.S. Census Bureau is overseen by the Commerce Department.

"We are deeply saddened by the loss of our co-worker," Commerce Secretary Gary Locke said in a statement. "Our thoughts and prayers are with William Sparkman's son, other family and friends."

Locke called him "a shining example of the hardworking men and women employed by the Census Bureau."

The most deadly attack on federal workers came in 1995 when the federal building in Oklahoma City was devastated by a truck bomb, killing 168 and injuring more than 680. Tim McVeigh, who was executed for the bombing, carried literature by modern, ultra-right-wing anti-government authors.

A private group called PEER, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, tracks violence against employees who enforce environmental regulations, but the group's executive director, Jeff Ruch, said it's hard to know about all of the cases because some agencies don't share data on instances of violence against employees.

Ruch said that after the 1995 bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City, "we kept getting reports from employees that attacks and intimidation against federal employees had not diminished, and that's why we've been tracking them."

"Even as illustrated in town hall meetings today, there is a distinct hostility in a large segment of the population toward people who work for their government," Ruch said.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/200 ... rker_N.htm

Sounds suspicious to me... could the Dems be killing off census workers to blame and frame Reps or Patriotic Americans???? Guess it will come out soon!!!!

It sounds like he may have been killed by people who suspected him of being from the DEA.

Originally Posted by American-ized

Sounds suspicious to me... could the Dems be killing off census workers to blame and frame Reps or Patriotic Americans???? Guess it will come out soon!!!!

You beat me to it American-ized, exactly what I was thinking. It's been done before.

This was meant to be a message to the Fed.

This guy was found in a remote part of a national forest that is noted for being used by drug dealers and meth labs. I suspect he stumbled on something that drug dealers did not want known, especially by someone who was employed by the federal government.

Whoever did it - whatever motive - is deranged. Writing on the chest to send a message is crazy. Expect investigators to come flocking.

Originally Posted by TexasBorn

This was meant to be a message to the Fed.

So killing someone is an acceptable way of sending a message? Really?

I do not believe TexasBorn was in any way condoning the killing, but rather, suggesting a possible motive for the killing.

Originally Posted by jshhmr

Originally Posted by TexasBorn

This was meant to be a message to the Fed.

So killing someone is an acceptable way of sending a message? Really?

Nice try js...