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

"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."


Who is going to commit suicide and write "FED" on their own chest? This was a killing...fgs.

Witness: Census worker's hanging body naked, bound

By ROGER ALFORD and JEFFREY McMURRAY, The Associated Press
4:59 p.m. September 25, 2009

BIG CREEK, Ky. — One of the witnesses who found a part-time census worker's body hanging in a Kentucky cemetery says the man was naked and his hands and feet were bound with duct tape.

Jerry Weaver of Fairfield, Ohio, told The Associated Press on Friday that he was among a group of relatives who discovered the body of Bill Sparkman on Sept. 12.

Sparkman was a substitute teacher who worked part-time for the census.

Law enforcement officials have released very few details on his death, only saying he died from asphyxiation.

Weaver says the man also was gagged and had duct tape over his eyes and neck. He says something that looked like an identification tag was taped to the side of his neck.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

BIG CREEK, Ky. (AP) – Authorities said a U.S. Census worker died by asphyxiation but were releasing few other details about the mysterious case nearly two weeks after Bill Sparkman's body – with the word "fed" scrawled on the chest – was found hanging from a tree near a family cemetery secluded by Appalachian forest.

The word appeared to have been written with a felt-tip pen, Clay County Coroner Jim Trosper said Friday. He did not elaborate.

The substitute teacher, 51, was discovered Sept. 12 in a remote patch of Daniel Boone National Forest in Clay County where he was working part-time for the government. Still, law enforcement officials weren't saying Thursday whether he was working at the time of his death or whether they believed it had anything to do with his job. Authorities have so far been unable to determine if it was an accidental death, homicide, or suicide.

Mary Hibbard, a teacher in Manchester, recalled Sparkman visiting her over the summer to ask typical Census questions, such as the size of her house and the average monthly utility bills. After she answered, she turned the questioning on him – quizzing him about his faith and learning he had a strong belief in God.

She said she was shocked when she saw his picture on the news.

"I think the negative publicity of it is a stigma on our county," she said. "It makes people think less of us, even though this is an isolated incident. When it happens here, it seems like it's emphasized."

Authorities for the first time Thursday said the preliminary cause of death was asphyxiation, but even the details behind that were murky. According to a Kentucky State Police statement, the body was hanging from a tree with a noose around the neck, yet it was in contact with the ground.

The word "fed" had been scrawled on his chest, according to a law enforcement official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to discuss the case.

There was no visual evidence of any crime – or even any police investigation – at the Hoskins family cemetery, which includes dozens of tombstones, many bearing the Hoskins name. It sits on a steep hill less than 200 yards from the narrow road that cuts through the forest.

At the entrance to the path leading there were two white rubber gloves, and there was other litter on the ground, including discarded soda cans and a children's toy.

Lucy Wagers, who owns a grocery store in the area, said her husband delivers mail around the cemetery, and she often goes with him. Never had she seen any strange activity there, nor noticed any police traffic, even after the body was found.

"Who would have done it like that around here?" she said. "I've been here 32 years and never had nobody bother me."

Although anti-government sentiment was one possibility, 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.

"Now they're taking their meth lab operations into the rural, secluded areas," Clay County Sheriff Kevin Johnson said. "We've had complaints in the area, but not that particular location."

On one day last week, law enforcement in the county rounded up 40 drug suspects, most of them traffickers, Johnson said.

Dee Davis, president of the Center for Rural Strategies in nearby Whitesburg, said the federal government has done "precious little" in Clay County other than building a federal prison in Manchester in the 1990s. But he is not aware of any deep-seated hatred of the government.

"Government is not seen as the enemy, except for people who might fear getting caught for what they're doing," he said.

University of Pittsburgh sociologist Kathleen Blee, co-author of a book about Clay County, says that when she heard of Sparkman's death, she initially wondered whether he had stumbled across a marijuana plot.

Pot growers seeking to avoid federal forfeiture statutes often plant their crops on national forest land and have even been known to booby-trap plots with explosives and rattlesnakes.

"Like any poor county, people are engaged in a variety of revenue sources," she said. "Not all of them legal."

Army retiree George Robinson did door-to-door census work in Clay County in 2000. No one ever threatened him, but some people questioned why the government needed to know some of the information, especially income, requested on the census form.

"You meet some strange people," he said. "Nothing is a surprise in Clay County."
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Breed reported from Raleigh, N.C. Associated Press writers Roger Alford and Joe Biesk in Frankfort, Ky., Bruce Schreiner in Louisville, Ky., and Devlin Barrett in Washington also contributed to this report.

http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/ ... dex=171947

Yeah. It was cold-blooded murder. How can they say that "investigators are trying to determine if it was a killing or suicide....for crying out loud. This is why our country is in such a big mess.

We have "experts" who see a body hanging from a tree...naked no less....AND BOUND...with "FED" written on his chest, and they are trying to determine if it was a killing or suicide....geez.

Those investigators should be fired immediately and new ones hired, because they are incompetent....not just as investigators, but as humans with a brain.

Friends: Hanged census worker was devoted dad

Updated 10m ago

LONDON, Ky. (AP) — Even while fighting cancer and undergoing chemotherapy, Bill Sparkman would show up for work wearing his customary smile and a toboggan cap to cover his balding head.

The substitute teacher and part-time census worker cherished the values he learned in his youth as he worked toward becoming an Eagle Scout. Above all, he was punctual and dependable.


WITNESS: Census worker's hanging body bound

So when he didn't show up for his job at Johnson Elementary School two weeks ago, colleagues knew something had to be wrong.

Three days later, a man's body was found hanging from a tree at a rural cemetery in nearby Clay County. A rope was around his neck, the word "fed" scrawled on him with what appeared to the coroner to be a felt marker.

It was Sparkman, dead of asphyxiation.

State and federal investigators still have not determined whether someone may have killed Sparkman because of anti-government sentiment. State police Capt. Lisa Rudzinski said investigators haven't ruled anything out, including whether the death that has so shocked his friends and colleagues was a homicide, suicide or accidental.

Friends remembered Sparkman as a quiet and kind man who had devoted his life to children as a Scout leader and educator who, despite a battle with lymphoma, went back to college to get his teaching certification.

His perseverance won him special honors at his commencement ceremony last year at Western Governors University in Salt Lake City. The bespectacled scholar, wearing a black cap and gown, delivered an uplifting speech to fellow graduates, telling them that they, too, can overcome "brick walls" in life.

"I was knocked down, but I refused to be knocked out," he said in a witty speech that drew chuckles from faculty and classmates.

Sparkman, who had studied math and Spanish in college, turned to WGU to earn a degree in education so he could teach middle school math.

His sense of humor was one of the things that endeared Sparkman to colleagues, said Kelly Hodges, a teacher at Johnson Elementary School.

"He always had a smile," she said.

The son of a high school principal, Sparkman moved to London more than a decade ago when he was working for Boy Scouts of America. An Eagle scout, he had previously been on the organization's staff in Florida and Texas, said his mother, Henrie Sparkman of Inverness, Fla.

"He was always helping others," she said. "He was a very gentle person."

Growing up, Sparkman was an altar server at his Episcopal church. In high school, his mother said Sparkman wrote sports stories for the local weekly newspaper in Florida, The Mulberry Press and was the football team manager. During and after college, he served as the sports editor, covering high school athletics.

"We were a small paper, so he wasn't doing it necessarily for the money," said former publisher Virgil Davis. "He just liked being involved with youth activities."

Soon after arriving in Kentucky more than 12 years ago, Sparkman's adopted son, Josh, enrolled at Johnson Elementary. That's when Sparkman began serving as a classroom volunteer. He later joined the staff as a teacher's aide and as a substitute teacher.

Even after completing his teaching degree, Sparkman chose to stay in Kentucky, even though his now-adult son had moved to Tennessee.

"My home, my life is here in Laurel County, and this is where I want to stay," Sparkman told The Times-Tribune of Corbin in a profile last year.

Sparkman, who described himself as a single father in his commencement speech, was a member of First United Methodist Church in London and a vocal Christian. Mary Hibbard, a teacher in Manchester, recalled Sparkman visiting her home over the summer on behalf of the Census Bureau. She quizzed him about his faith and found out quickly that he had a strong belief in God.

Sparkman lived on the outskirts of London on Sherwood Lane in a single-story white house with black shutters. A rutted gravel driveway lead up to the tidy lawn surrounded by bushes and trees.

Neighbor Eileen Bass said Sparkman was loved by children in the neighborhood. She said her grandson used to go to Sparkman's house to play with Josh.

"He was a quiet man," Bass said. "He was always friendly. Always kind."

Johnson Elementary music teacher Tracey Evans said children excitedly anticipated Sparkman's classroom appearances.

"He respected the children. He respected everyone," Evans said. "He took time to notice children."

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

This is creepy scary and so very sad. I hope they can get to the bottom of this.