I'm of two minds here.

On one hand, I really want to think that things haven't gotten so bad that we have people murdering census workers because they work for the gubmint. (And then, just that this scenario is believable is scary in itself.)

On the other hand, I am not sure I can believe a local police investigation concluding that a man managed to bound his feet and hands and then hang himself in a suicide. I hope they have something other than the insurance policies as basis for their conclusion.

This theory would be more plausible if the dead man was not previously reported as a very happy man, content with his life, and who enjoyed both his jobs. Suicide would not typically be a very likely option for someone like that. did he recently find out he had a terminal disease or something? Why would an insurance fraud scheme be believable without some underlying need for the scheme such as desperate economic circumstances, etc... I never saw any report that would indicate any such thing was going on.

I must say that TPM staff emerges with only traces of an egg on its collective face after this news, because unlike most of the unhinged left-wing blogosphere they didn't openly blame GOP and Fox News for this, only via innuendo.

Investigators had said earlier this month that they were eyeing the insurance scam scenario. That prompted right-wing pundits like Michelle Malkin to slam those who had speculated that Sparkman had been killed in an act of anti-government sentiment.

Of course, it's not as though Michelle Malkin has ever jumped to any conclusions based on even less evidence:

http://crooksandliars.com/david-neiwert/yet-another-intrepid-malkin-investig

I notice how you intolerant idiots are insulting the state of KY and its state police, and evidently ignoring the fact the FBI investigated as well. Of course you can't accept the findings because that would mean admitting you hyperpartisan assholes were wrong when you claimed Tea Party protesters and conservative activists were as responsible for this murder that never happened as the person who didn't commit this murder. I won't be holding my breath waiting for Keith "My ratings are laughable" Olbermann, Rachel "My Ratings are even more pathetic and laughable" Maddow and Ed "Nobody bothers to even act like they watch my show" Schulz to apologize for their smears, nor do I expect anyone here to either. Instead we will get morons searching through the archives at Michelle Malkin's website, oh, somebody has already done it, as if what she said in the past is relevant to the fact almost the entire left-wing was wrong in their attempt to call those with whom they disagree accomplices to murder. You people are fucking pathetic.

Isn't it funny how the militia right gets a pass; the "loony libs" (us) who had the audacity to suspect foul play get slapped again; AND the insurance companies get off without paying his family a red cent (because whenever someone buys a life insurance policy... that alone always seems to be grounds to claim "insurance fraud"?)

Life is good, when all interested parties act in sync. About that duct tape..???

p.s. to massanf: FUCK Kentucky. You drooling gomers shoved Mitch McConnell up our collective national ass.

The FBI said it, I believe it, and that's that.

As i said at the time, the speculation here about Mr. Sparkman being killed by right wingers fueld by listening to Hannity and Beck was reprehensible. So was the initial speculation at Crooks and Liars and other left wing sites tha the Fort Hood killings were done by right wing Beck and Limbaugh followers. That said, the right far outdoes the left in baseless and disgraceable speculation (e.g. Malkin, Red State, Beck, etc, etc, etc).

Why would an insurance fraud scheme be believable without some underlying need for the scheme such as desperate economic circumstances, etc... I never saw any report that would indicate any such thing was going on.

You're not reading the full report. He had cancer and was undergoing chemotherapy. He was going to die anyway. He took out two "accidental" life insurance policies which would not pay off he committed suicide or died of cancer but would have paid off if he was murdered or died in an accident.

Kentucky + Police = No truth

I called this suicide when it happened. It's fairly sad that some in this thread are as bat shit conspiratorial crazy as Red State. Yes, of course, the Obama administration FBI is involved (nay, directing !) a gigantic right wing conspiracy to cover up politically motivated murders of government employees. That makes so much sense.

The AP does a better job of explaining the details that led the investigators to conclude that it was a suicide, including that Sparkman told someone what he was planning to do:

"About a week before his death, Sparkman talked about his plan to someone who didn't take him seriously, authorities said. They would not identify the person."

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-ap-us-census-worker-hanged,0,144060.story

I don't believe it for a minute. For one thing -- if the whole thing was true, why would he be naked? He could still have put the "FED" on his chest and left his clothes on. I worked for many years in emergency rooms and have been told by more than one coroner that men do not commit suicide naked.

Lack of DNA? Are you kidding me? Ever heard of latex gloves?

This thing stinks to high heaven. I don't believe it and I think it is a travesty.

If he was planning a suicide/insurance scam, why would he TELL people about it and then go to such extremes? He could have staged a car accident -- going off a bridge; plowing into a tree -- this is such a load of bull!

If that was what he was doing he would have kept quiet about it, and done any number of things that would have been ruled as an accident. Regardless of all the above, he would not have left himself naked, and not knowing when he would be found.

What's wrong with fact checking? Fact checking seems to me to be the most reliable way to assess the veracity of politicians and pundits. I guess you have to trust the fact checkers and have to believe there is an actual truth to a given event. It seems to me that spin has become more important than truth.I'm new to blogging, but many of the bloggers on this site have admitted the possibility that they were wrong about the Sparkman hanging. I find it admirable. You don't see that a lot these days.

How many genuine suicides by hanging employ a method where the feet are in touch with the ground? I would think someone seriously intent upon suicide by hanging would leave no chance for panic to over ride the act. I still think this all sounds questionable. And the Constitution allows me to voice that doubt.

What's most amazing is the willingness of people to accept what the FBI and the police offer as "evidence" leading to their conclusion. Until forced to prove their evidence in a court of law, there is no evidence, only their word.

This is the same FBI that was caught trying to frame a man for the anthrax attacks. Said attacks have yet to be solved.

If, for whatever reason, they have decided that this needs to be a suicide, of course they are only going to offer evidence that supports that conclusion. They are under zero obligation to offer any exculpatory evidence that may exist to contradict their conclusion. Thus in their press release - and notice, this isn't a news story, it's a press release - they only tell you those things that support their theory.

Plus, the FBI only reviews the evidence given them by the Kentucky police. The Kentucky police would certainly have a vested interest is not handing over exculpatory evidence if they had already decided what outcome they wanted to achieve. Local police are often some of the most conservative, right-wing members of society. In Mississippi back in the day, they made up a good proportion of the KKK and other organizations and worked very hard to protect their brothers from prosecution for racially motivated crimes.

If this event were a murder and if it were motivated by anti-Federal sentiment, there is a fair chance that the perp was either a cop or a friend/relative/lodge-brother of a cop or group of cops. This as true in Main as in Mississippi, Canada as well as Kentucky. If this is a murder and the police conclude it is a suicide and offer selected evidence to prove it while hiding evidence that calls their theory into question, that fair chance becomes an almost certainty.

I maintain that I don't know what happened. I maintain that neither does the FBI. Somebody knows. But in general, when the police say to me, nothing to see here, move along, that's a pretty good indication that there damn well is something to see.