Investigators: Kentucky Census Worker Killed Himself

Investigators: Kentucky Census Worker Killed Himself

www.foxnews.com

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.

(visit the link for the full news article)

I find it hard to believe that this guy acted alone on this and was a suicide. Granted it might have been a suicide, but to go through all this trouble just to have insurance money pay out to the surviving family members is disturbing to say the least.

I remember hearing about this story some time ago, but while it was under investigation... there wasn't much in the MSM.

www.foxnews.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

No, it didn't have anything to do with the paranoia started up by Beck, and Malkin and all these other "the census workers are marking your front door with a GPS so they can come get you in the middle of the night" crowd. No it had nothing to do with crazed extreme right winger mountain people types who don't want Obamas government people in their neck of the woods. No, he killed himself and really went all out to make it look like a murder. Even tied, gagged himself, FED across the chest.
Yeah, right. I call Shenanigans. It just does not add up.
Occam's Razor: All other things being equal, the simplest solution is the best.

Everyone was quick to blame anti-government right wing nuts for killing this man. It is amazing how fast people jump on the bandwagon to lay blame.

I have to question why he chose to write Fed on his chest. I guess he wanted people to blame the anti-government crowd. Too bad he felt his life was not worth living but I am happy that the truth came out.

The guy just took out 2 life insurance policies on himself and was undergoing chemo. An "unidentified wittness" said he had discussed the scenario with him previously.

Still, it is from Faux news...
It would have been a lot of hard work to duct tape himself up and then hang himself. And there are those paranoid anti-government hillbillies in that backwoods area.
Mayby he took out the insurance policies because he had been threatened on the job and wanted to take precautions.
And who really trusts a Kentucky Trooper, they look out for their own...

I guess we'll never know in this case.

I think the state troopers are just trying to cover up for one or more of their own.

I know that part of Kentucky and it is entirely possible that some would hate the government enough to do something like that.

Even on ATS we've had threads with paranoid fantasies about census takers.

I have no doubt the hanging was a warning to all government agents to stay away.

It worked. Who would take a census job, or other federal position there now? Would you?

reply to post by x2Strongx


The evidence for their conclusion seems pretty circumstantial, but the bottom to top writing and the witness who he spoke to of the idea seem to make it a reasonable assessment at least. I mean writing from bottom to top is most like what one would do to oneself, and a murderer with that kind of foresight is a little bit unbelievable.
Maybe the guy's cancer bills were a burden on his family.
I don't see what taping his glasses has anything to do with it though. And a 51 year old cancer survivor who can hang himself from a tree while bound, without leaving evidence of him helping himself get elevated while bound, is quite impressive.
I wonder if they found slivers on his frontside and forarms. Or if he carried the tape up found them in his hands. Or dna on the branch he hung himself from. Don't think it mentions it.



[edit on 24-11-2009 by heyo]

Originally posted by Erasurehead
Everyone was quick to blame anti-government right wing nuts for killing this man. It is amazing how fast people jump on the bandwagon to lay blame.

I have to question why he chose to write Fed on his chest. I guess he wanted people to blame the anti-government crowd. Too bad he felt his life was not worth living but I am happy that the truth came out.

You are kidding right? He was duct taped, bound, and gagged found hanging in a tree. Wanna explain to me how he did that?

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.

This is a comedy sketch done in bad taste- right? I want to see someone re- enact this suicide EXACTLY. Shoot raw, unedited footage. As far as I am concerned, no one can bind themselves up in duct tape. The man had to have an extra set of hands to pull this off- so... either he had a co conspirator to help him (who received a % of the insurance $$, no doubt), or this is a murder and investigators are covering it up.

Acted alone my left *foot*.

[edit on 24-11-2009 by wylekat]

This man was the husband of the regional director of the Census bureau. The 2 insurance policies (from the info I get from someone who works in that Census office) were the optional ones that are offered to .gov employees, he took one out on himself and his wife also added him as a rider.

Lucky the .gov policies don't disqualify you for pre-existing conditions, huh?

This was not a suicide, I don't give a rat's arse what the official report says.

This man would NEVER have purposely put his wife through this.

i'm on board with figuring out how he could have done this to himself.

maybe it was an insurance fraud case...and they are trying to coax out the other person/people...but that he hung himself on his own while bound...that doesn't add up.

he couldve climbed into the tree, made the noose, taped himself up, then jumped...but that's a whole lot of work to go thru, when he could've..i dont know...driven off a cliff...into a tree..malfunction in his vehicle that could've blown it up killing him....getting more money for the family because of lawsuits and settlements.

just to kill the whole "Fox News made this up" arguement, Link to Yahoo/AP source now back to the the discussion without the liberal rhetoric.

Originally posted by FortAnthem
The guy just took out 2 life insurance policies on himself and was undergoing chemo. An "unidentified wittness" said he had discussed the scenario with him previously.

Still, it is from Faux news...
It would have been a lot of hard work to duct tape himself up and then hang himself. And there are those paranoid anti-government hillbillies in that backwoods area.
Mayby he took out the insurance policies because he had been threatened on the job and wanted to take precautions.
And who really trusts a Kentucky Trooper, they look out for their own...

I guess we'll never know in this case.

I find your generalizations offensive. I was born and raised in eastern Kentucky. "Those paranoid anti-government hillbillies in that backwoods area." are down to earth people that would give you their last morsel of food if you needed it. And you wouldn't have to ask. If you were in need they would volunteer to bring you that food, help you mend your fence or cut you firewood. A real sense of community.
They will also shoot you as soon as look at you if you don't belong. There are some entrepreneurial sorts that take care of their own (no welfare) by growing and selling a cash crop.
I've had many a run in with Kentucky State Troopers when I was a teenager and was treated with consideration and respect. Being from Philly you're one to talk. (see what I mean about generalizations?)

One person cound't bind themselves with duct tape, gag himself and stick a note to himself ( as well as scrawl "fed" on his chest) as well as hang himself? Put up noose, scrawl fed on your chest,insert gag,stick note on self,put tape to hands or body and twirl around, put head in noose and slump (don't forget his feet were touching the ground).End of story.

Originally posted by IMA_1

Originally posted by Erasurehead
Everyone was quick to blame anti-government right wing nuts for killing this man. It is amazing how fast people jump on the bandwagon to lay blame.

I have to question why he chose to write Fed on his chest. I guess he wanted people to blame the anti-government crowd. Too bad he felt his life was not worth living but I am happy that the truth came out.

You are kidding right? He was duct taped, bound, and gagged found hanging in a tree. Wanna explain to me how he did that?

I don't have to explain how he did it. There was a two month long investigation that came to this conclusion. Are the investigators lying?
My question to you is why would they lie?

Harry Houdini or David Blane could easily do such a thing.

Sure it could be murder but its pretty rediculous to say its right wing extremists.

That's moonshine country. Plain and simple, a Fed is a Fed is a Fed in moonshine country and while you or I might say yeah but he was just a Census Worker lets be honest in the reality that undercover law enforcement officers attempt to pass themselves off as all kinds of things.

It likely was murder, a murder to keep a criminal enterprise from being unearthed. Someone growing pot or running a still or both killed the guy to keep the location secret.

What is the first thing sleazy politicians look to do? Make political capital our of a tragedy. Who cares about the truth when you can make yourself look better by accusing someone else you want to look bad all for the sake of politics.

The only political extremism in this case is left wing political extremists refusing to let any opportunity to bash their opposites go to waste even if it means ignoring every reality involved. That reality being that the man got to close to someone's criminal backwoods enterprise, and was murdered for it.

Some of you people involved in left/right politics ought to be ashamed of yourselves. No facts what so ever just plenty of hate to dole out and go around.

This reminds me of a case I read about a couple of years ago. A reporter supposedly killed himself in a hotel room. His notes that were ALWAYS with him have never been found, his room was spotless and the bed made (friends said he was a bit of a slob), he cut his wrists so deeply the coroner wondered how he didn`t pass out after cutting the first wrist, and the best part, after cutting his wrists he apparently picked up a towel and started wiping blood off the floor before throwing the towel under the sink, climbing in the tub and dying. Police ruled that suicide too. Makes me wonder if they are trying to protect someone (not speculating on who, just if they are).

Right wing, Left wing, backwoods hillbillies, liberals, faux news...
Wow, this thread has it all!



How does it feel to be so manipulated that we can get into polarizing arguments about a fishy story? Let's leave all the "wing"isms out of it for a second and look at the facts:

A very interesting death surrounding a controversial topic and an unusual ruling that it was suicide. Reeks of conspiracy and is the type of story perfect for this forum.

What do I think happened? I think Obama appointed a socialist task force to pose as census double agents to go into the backwoods of Kentucky and stage a murder to draw out Hannity as a secret spy for the confederacy because The War is not over. Once investigators got too close to the secret plot of the norther aggressors, a crooked state trooper who bears an uncanny resemblance to Uncle Jesse and doubles as a moonshine and marijuana trafficer pulls a mask off his face (a-la Scooby Doo) and is actually Rahm Emanual. He convinces the brass of the KY state police to rule the case a suicide so the entire story will just go away. Or something.

Don't any of you Kentuckians get your panties in a wad. Just because we question the findings of the investigation doesn't mean we are all left wing lunatics. I grew up in the south and they don't call it a "good ol boys network" for nuthin. This guy probably stumbled upon a lucrative business operation and they made sure that he didn't reveal any trade secrets. Depending how big and far reaching this operation was, you don't think that a few State cops could get pressure to wrap it up quick and tidy?

This insurance fraud explanation makes little or no sense.

Most life insurance policies have a suicide clause which states they will not pay for a suicide related death if the suicide is within two years of the purchase of the policy. If the suicide is after the two year period, the insurance carrier will cover the suicide death.

wiki.answers.com...

It seems like this guy went through a whole lot of trouble to commit unnecessary insurance fraud. He could have just purchased a standard life insurance policy with the suicide clause, wait two years and one day and just proceed to down a bottle of pills to off himself. His family would then have been entitled to collect, regardless if the death would be ruled a suicide or not.

Sorry, but this one does not add up.