KY - Bill Sparkman, census worker, found dead in Clay County cemetery

[Kat]

I can accept those theories. I'm just scratching my head though because I'm wondering why in the world would someone that was trying to keep their illicit activities unknown (when he possibly stumbled onto them) by using methods that would more than likely draw far more attention.

Instead of such a clear and loud message (with the victim found naked, the word fed scrawled across his chest, and hanging from a rope) I would have expected for us to be looking at a missing person case that probably would have never been solved.

It would have made far more sense, to have commited a homicide in a very quick way and then to remove and dispose of the body so that no one was the wiser.

Now whoever did this has the FBI in their knickers. The only message it sent was here we are come and find us. Very odd...that's why I'm trying to puzzle it out.

OT
I know all about illegal production of alcohol in dry counties. I grew up there.

 

[STEADFAST]

I can accept those theories. I'm just scratching my head though because I'm wondering why in the world would someone that was trying to keep their illicit activities unknown (when he possibly stumbled onto them) by using methods that would more than likely draw far more attention.

Instead of such a clear and loud message (with the victim found naked, the word fed scrawled across his chest, and hanging from a rope) I would have expected for us to be looking at a missing person case that probably would have never been solved.

It would have made far more sense, to have commited a homicide in a very quick way and then to remove and dispose of the body so that no one was the wiser.

Now whoever did this has the FBI in their knickers. The only message it sent was here we are come and find us. Very odd...that's why I'm trying to puzzle it out.

OT
I know all about illegal production of alcohol in dry counties. I grew up there.

I don't know why they would not try to cover up the murder, but I know there are people who are defiant, arrogant, and who think they can intimidate the government. We don't know that he was found anywhere near an illegal operation. They could have driven him and his truck to where they hanged him and driven away in another vehicle.

Of course, we have no idea at this time who or how many people were involved. I just hope LE does.

 

[wolfscratch]

Hello sleuths,
Been reading the many ideas and theories on the Census Worker's abductors and murderers. They are very thorough and thought provoking, indicating obvious thinking out of the box.
The Census Worker: Bill Sparkman, was discovered by family members hanged in the DB National Forest on 09/12/09, over two weeks ago.

Duct Taped hands and feet, fed scrolled on his chest, ID taped to his neck, naked except for socks, with a red rag stuffed in his mouth, hanged from a tree near a cemetery in the 'Daniel Boone National Forest.'
Haven't ruled out suicide? What's up with that?

The article doesn't state the day he vanished, only that he was discovered by a group of family members. The date of disappearance is very important.

One could conclude that if the suspects are from one of the census locations that Bill Sparkman, had interviewed, the Feds(National Forest & Federal Worker) and other LE would have rapidly located and apprehended the suspects.

Below is a link for the route of travel from Blairsville, Union Co, GA to Gray Co, Kentucky, adhering to three different National Forests: Chatahoochee, Nantahala, and Daniel Boone National Forests


I hope and pray that this tragic torture and murder of Mr. Sparkman, is unrelated to Kristi Cornwell's abduction.

I have been closely following the Abduction of Kristi Cornwell, since 08/12.09; Blairsville, GA.
Below are my thoughts:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&sou...6.182225,-84.418945&spn=4.114129,7.064209&z=7

My intention is not to associate Kristi's Cornwell abduction with an individual serial killer, but a crew of violent criminals intent on wreaking havoc on normally safe and peaceful communities where awareness and LE resources aren't adequately equipped to handle the magnitude of this type violence. Their victims are random and due to their rage, I feel that they are on a drug induced rampage, transient, utilizing National Forests as their safe havens, similar to the Gaffney, SC Serial Killer...JMHO

 

[Kat]

Hi wolfscratch
I haven't seen the exact date that he went missing published yet but when I do I'll bring it here.

Not directed at Wolfscratch~

About the county he was found in, that's not an area that you normally find an anti-authority sentiment. It might appear to be geographically but it's not really.

Before I posted this:
I had to delete a rant about a Huffington Post blogger that made my blood boil...LOL

 

[i.b.nora]

It seems like Sparkman did not show up for school on or about Wednesday September 9, and three days later, on Saturday September 12, his body was found by Mr. Weaver and his family while they were visiting some family graves at their family cemetery, Hoskins Cemetery in the Daniel Boone National Forest in rural Clay County, Kentucky.

37.11833, -83.5875

 

[wolfscratch]

There is a county here in PA I've always known wasn't safe since I was a child. If you are wanted by the law, it is the best place to live. It is a very mountainous region and these people HATE the government. Many are living off the grid and they keep loaded guns in EVERY corner. I can totally see this happening there.
One of my grandmother's sisters married into a family that lived (lives) up there. We used to hear from her about once a year, but now we don't even know if she's alive. When a cousin was born severely disabled, the child lived w/ my grandparents for about four years for medical treatment, but then they took her back.
(You don't go up there unless you want to die.)

It seems like Sparkman did not show up for school on or about Wednesday September 9, and three days later, on Saturday September 12, his body was found by Mr. Weaver and his family while they were visiting some family graves at their family cemetery, Hoskins Cemetery in the Daniel Boone National Forest in rural Clay County, Kentucky.

37.11833, -83.5875

So he was hanged near his families cemetery? Coincidence? This gets stranger and stranger...

 

[i.b.nora]

So he was hanged near his families cemetery? Coincidence? This gets stranger and stranger...

No, no, no. I tried to write it as clearly as possible. Please read again.
The man who found Sparkman (Mr. Weaver) was visiting his own family graves at Hoskins Cemetery.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090926/ap_on_re_us/us_census_worker_hanged

"Weaver said he was in rural Clay County, Ky., for a family reunion and was visiting some family graves at the cemetery on Sept. 12 along with his wife and daughter when they saw the body."

 

[Soulmagent]

Anybody know if he was one of the census workers that are doing the GPS mapping of the "front doors" . http://http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5590541 There are alot of conspiracy theories about the census. The red flag in the mouth could elude to communism ,or could of been red flagged by the killers. This murder appears very symbolic. Red flags can signify martial law.

 

[Kat]

Found another article that sheds more light on the crime scene:

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jbzG_BlkG2Hfc818EPRRn1bBlP6gD9AUTE6G0

19 hours ago

...the body was about 50 yards from a 2003 Chevrolet S-10 pickup truck. He said Sparkman's clothes were in the bed of the truck.

"His tailgate was down," Weaver said. "I thought he could have been killed somewhere else and brought there and hanged up for display, or they actually could have killed him right there. It was a bad, bad scene.

(Weaver talking)

 

[Kat]

This gives you an idea of the terrain of where the cemetery is in which he was found:

http://www.histopolis.com/Place/US/KY/Clay_County/Hoskins_Cemetery/

to the left you can see the towns and etc.. nearby.

 

[wolfscratch]

No, no, no. I tried to write it as clearly as possible. Please read again.
The man who found Sparkman (Mr. Weaver) was visiting his own family graves at Hoskins Cemetery.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090926/ap_on_re_us/us_census_worker_hanged

"Weaver said he was in rural Clay County, Ky., for a family reunion and was visiting some family graves at the cemetery on Sept. 12 along with his wife and daughter when they saw the body."

thanks i.b.nora. One of the previous articles.stated that Mr Sparkman was found by family members near a cemetery in the DB National Forest.
Thanks for clearing that up.

 

[tater]

I want to know if he did or did not have socks on when he was found. Was there any residue on these socks like leaves, grass, etc.? Who strips off everything but socks? He either drove his truck to that place or someone else did.

 

[tater]

Has there been any news about what he was doing in Florida before taking this Boy Scout job in KY? He was also around kids at the school. Never married? What is known about this guy other than that he ended up dead.

 

[wolfscratch]

I want to know if he did or did not have socks on when he was found. Was there any residue on these socks like leaves, grass, etc.? Who strips off everything but socks? He either drove his truck to that place or someone else did.

This link is very thorough:

http://www.comcast.net/articles/news-general/20090923/US.Census.Worker.Hanged/
"He was murdered," Weaver said. "There's no doubt."

Weaver said he was in rural Clay County, Ky., for a family reunion and was visiting some family graves at the cemetery on Sept. 12 along with his wife and daughter when they 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."

 

[oceanblueeyes]

I cant remember if it was on this site or another one but they put up a link to the Southern Poverty Law Center that keeps up with all the militia hate based groups and when I looked at the area where Mr. Sparksman was in it lit up like a neon light.

I think someone murdered this man simply because they may have not like him prying into their business and were anti-government extremists.

Even if he told them he was only a census taker they may have thought the FBI was snooping around and sending in snitches to spy on them.

I think they left his body hanging there as a message.

imo

 

[wolfscratch]

The earliest article date that I could locate on Mr. Sparkman was almost 2 weeks after his discovery in the DB National Forest. I find this very unusual.

 

[tater]

Even with all this talk about pot farms and meth labs, revenuers and white lighnin' and just out right back country hillbillies, it still doesn't make sense that just him walking onto property ended like this. Seems more likely he would be chased off their property with a few shotgun blasts. They wouldn't let him in their house to begin with and if you can just drive up and find illegal activity on property, it means it isn't hidden. I am not sure I buy into him finding something. Why even answer the door for a stranger either if there was something going on?

The truck and computer were left, what else was left? Cell phone? Truck keys? Shoes? I hope LE has checked the last house he was at. Tail gate down, clothes tossed in bed. Did the killers throw them in the bed on the way back from staging that hanging?

Let me ask again if anybody has read if his socks were clean or did they have grass or dirt on them. Any duct tape found in the truck? Tire marks? Did the killer walk away?

 

[Kat]

Hi tater, I haven't seen any published reports on the condition of his socks yet. I haven't looked today for media coverage.

I haven't see anything on what was left in the truck other than there was a computer, and his clothes being in the bed of the truck (unconfirmed by LE, related by the man who found him).

I agree, very strange circumstances.

 

[tater]

Big Creek KY had a population of 3,747 in 2007. The US Census has been reported for that whole county as scheduled in the past so this guy would not be asking questions they hadn't heard before. With such a small population, considered low density why can't they do a simple chain and ask all the households what they know. In 2000 Clay County was the poorest county in the US that was non-Hispanic. He should have been driving up into people's driveways not some pot fields. His friend that ran the afterschool program that he worked at, and failed to show up at for two days, said the victim was innocent, naive really, to the ways of the world. Saw only the good he said.

 

[Kat]

Amidst the vitriolic blogger postings that are shamelessly exploiting Mr. Sparkman in order to further their political rantings....(IMHO)

I found an article that gives us a bit more insight about Mr. Sparkman's activities:

http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20090927/ARTICLE/909271043/-1/NEWSSITEMAP

Last Modified: Saturday, September 26, 2009 at 8:38 p.m.

...On Sept. 8, a Tuesday, Sparkman, 51, left a note at a school office saying he could not substitute-teach the next day because he would be canvassing residents for the Census Bureau. When he did not show up on Thursday to oversee an after-school day-care program, a co-worker swung by his hilltop home. Alarmed at finding neither Sparkman nor his red pickup, Gilbert Acciardo reported Sparkman missing...

...

I have greatest sympathy for Mr. Sparkman's family and friends who must endure their loved one's death and the insult of having their loved one's murder used to make political stances by bloggers and others. He was not a public figure. He was by all accounts a loving, giving man who was working three part time jobs and undergoing chemo at the same time. My deepest condolences for his family and my deepest sympathy that they must endure this in their greatest time of grief.

ETA: You wouldn't believe the carp I'm seeing when I look for Mr. Sparkman