TPMMuckraker
Bill Sparkman: September 2009

Bill Sparkman: October 2009 »

Bill Sparkman

Sparkman's Son: "He Didn't Do This To Himself"

Zachary Roth | September 29, 2009, 3:33PM


Bill Sparkman

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."

Read more »

PERMALINK | COMMENTS (13) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (4)
Topics: Bill Sparkman, FBI, Right-wing extremism

Bill Sparkman

Witness: Sparkman Was Bound, Gagged, And Naked When Found

Zachary Roth | September 28, 2009, 2:25PM


Bill Sparkman

When Census worker Bill Sparkman was found dead earlier this month, he was naked and gagged, with duct tape over his eyes. Duct tape also bound Sparkman's hands and feet.

That's according to the man who found him, Jerry Weaver, who spoke to the AP over the weekend. Weaver, who lives in Ohio, was in Clay County, Kentucky for a family reunion, and was visiting some family graves with his wife and daughter when he found Sparkman's body on September 12th.

Read more »

PERMALINK | COMMENTS (44) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (3)
Topics: Bill Sparkman, Census Bureau, Right-wing extremism

FBI

Coroner Confirms "Fed" Written On Sparkman's Chest

Zachary Roth | September 25, 2009, 9:28AM


Bill Sparkman

The local coroner has confirmed that the word "Fed" had been written on Bill Sparkman's chest when he was found dead earlier this month.

Jim Trosper, the Clay County coroner, confirmed the information to TPMmuckraker moments ago, adding that the word appeared to have been written in felt tip marker. He declined to give additional details.

Read more »

PERMALINK | COMMENTS (34) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (2)
Topics: Bill Sparkman, FBI, Right-wing extremism

FBI

FBI: Sparkman Was Found Touching Ground, Not Hanging From Tree

Zachary Roth | September 24, 2009, 5:48PM


Bill Sparkman

Bill Sparkman, the Census worker found dead in Kentucky recently was not found hanging from a tree, according to an FBI spokesman. Rather, David Beyer told TPMmuckraker, Sparkman's feet were planted on the ground. A rope around Sparkman's neck was attached to a tree.

An anonymously sourced AP report said that Sparkman was hanging from a tree, and that he had the word "Fed" scrawled on his chest.

Read more »

PERMALINK | COMMENTS (49) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (6)
Topics: Bill Sparkman, FBI, Kentucky, Right-wing extremism

Census Bureau

Dead Census Worker Was Warned To "Be Careful" In Rural Kentucky

Zachary Roth | September 24, 2009, 4:48PM

Bill Sparkman was warned about the danger of going into rural parts of Kentucky to conduct Census interviews, a retired state trooper who knew him told TPMmuckraker.

Gilbert Acciardo, who ran an after-school program at a southeastern Kentucky high-school where Sparkman was a substitute teacher, said that when Sparkman -- a Florida native -- first started doing the Census work, "I said, you're going into rural Kentucky, isolated areas. Be careful over there -- people may not understand that you're there to gather statistics."

Read more »

PERMALINK | COMMENTS (8) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (2)
Topics: Bill Sparkman, Census Bureau, FBI, Kentucky, Right-wing extremism

Bill Sparkman

Census Worker Found Dead In Kentucky -- What Do We Know?

Zachary Roth | September 24, 2009, 2:54PM

Over the last 24 hours, we've been tracking a gruesome story developing involving the death of a Kentucky Census Bureau worker. The potential political implications of what happened are already generating a lot of attention around the internet -- so it's worth taking a moment to lay out what we know.

On September 12th, the body of Bill Sparkman, a 51-year old part-time Census worker and teacher was found in a remote area of the Daniel Boone National Forest, in Clay County, in rural southeast Kentucky. Sparkman reportedly had died on the morning of the day before.

Read more »

PERMALINK | COMMENTS (35) | RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (5)
Topics: Bill Sparkman, Census Bureau, FBI, Michelle Bachmann, Right-wing extremism

Bill Sparkman: October 2009 »

Featured at TPMMuckraker

Masthead

Recommended Reader Posts

Follow us!

Most Popular

TPM Stories Now Surging on

TPM Top News