The Associated Press has tracked down the son of the Bill Sparkman, the Census Bureau worker found dead earlier this month in rural Kentucky. And Josh Sparkman, 19, has no doubt his father was murdered.
“I look at it as disrespectful to be still throwing suicide and accident around,” he said. “He didn’t do this to himself. That’s dishonorable. My dad was a good man. No person on this planet is going to fight cancer like he did, then turn around and kill himself a year or so later.”
Josh Sparkman was Bill Sparkman’s only known child. Bill Sparkman’s mother, Henrie Sparkman, lives in Inverness, Florida.
Investigators have still not officially designated Sparkman’s death as a homicide. They have said that he died from asphyxiation.
When Sparkman was found September 12, he had the word “Fed” scrawled across his chest — setting off speculation that he may have been killed in an act of anti-government sentiment. In addition, his census worker ID was duct taped to his head and neck, his mouth was gagged, and his hands and feet were bound. He was naked and blindfolded.
The younger Sparkman’s comments may add to the pressure on state and federal authorities to offer more information on their investigation, which is now well into its third week.
A spokesman for the state’s governor, Democrat Steve Beshear, told the AP:
The governor certainly understands the concerns and feelings of the family during a terrible tragedy like this one. But at the same time he’s very sensitive to the fact that there’s an ongoing investigation and that while it needs to proceed expeditiously, it also needs to be done the right way and comprehensively.