AP sources: Suicide eyed in Ky. census worker case

[majamay]

Source: AP

WASHINGTON – Investigators probing the death of a Kentucky census worker found hanging from a tree with the word "fed" scrawled on his chest increasingly doubt he was killed because of his government job and are pursuing the possibility he committed suicide, law enforcement officials told The Associated Press.

Two officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case, said no final conclusions have been made in the case. In recent weeks, however, investigators have grown more skeptical that 51-year-old Bill Sparkman died at the hands of someone angry at the federal government.

The officials said investigators continue to look closely at suicide as a possible cause of Sparkman's death for a number of reasons. There were no defensive wounds on Sparkman's body, and while his hands were bound with duct-tape, they were still somewhat mobile, suggesting he could have manipulated the rope, the officials said.

Sparkman's naked body was found Sept. 12 hanging from a tree yet in contact with the ground in a remote patch of the Daniel Boone National Forest near Manchester, Ky.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091105/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/u...

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I would point out that The FBI has blamed 3 different people for the Anthrax mailings so far, including one who "committed suicide" (Bruce Ivins). That should tell you how honest and effective they are.

My advice: ALWAYS be skeptical about what your Government tells you.

[EFerrari]

1. The FBI has been shown to be blatantly lying in the Bruce Ivins case.

They have a record.

[hlthe2b]

4. This is local law enforcement and state police "speaking"--not FBI

FBI is NOT leading the investigation and will not be involved to any major degree unless they determine it is murder.

[EFerrari]

7. Louisville FBI field office is not commenting.

I doubt this is local any more.

/grammar from hell

[barbtries]

2. this guy was murdered

his hands were bound! frustrating

[movonne]

+1

[hlthe2b]

5. I tend to agree...

[berni_mccoy]

11. +infinity. Someone must be paying the cops to cover this up.

[TheWraith]

3. Yeah, he stripped himself naked, wrote "Fed" on his chest, tied himself up, and hanged himself.

Sure. All suicides do that.

Sounds to me like some "law enforcement officials" are trying to fog up the issue. Notice they don't say "FBI" sources, and the Kentucky LEOs were the ones pushing the "suicide" theory in the first place.

[Pab Sungenis]

8. That's okay. A longtime online friend of mine was declared a suicide

because the coroner was convinced that he shot himself in the back of the head after tying himself to a chair and before he set fire to his house.

They're scrambling desperately to cover up what this is: a teabagger bound on armed insurrection taking it out on the first government employee he could find.

[EFerrari]

18. Exactly. Because they can't have the public perception

that there is discontrol.

[bergie321]

13. Don't forget

that he taped his ID tag to the side of his neck...

[SnakeEyes]

16. Outside of "Fed"..

the details are actually not that uncommon for suicide by hanging. It's not a majority but a good number of cases do involve the person who committed suicide being naked. Being tied up is not uncommon either. This is especially true if the person will hang near or drop from something they might be able to grab on to and save themselves (not saying that is the case here). They've often tried it before and done exactly that. If the hands were indeed still mobile then tying himself up is a possible scenario.

[daleo]

22. What makes you an expert?

I have known half a dozen suicides. Not a one did anything remotely like this.

[No Elephants]

26. First, you left out stripping naked and taping his work ID to his neck.

Second, you are pulling out one fact at a time and saying that one fact has happened before in a suicide. This case does not involve any one fact, but a totality of all the elements. And, you yourself admit that "Fed" is not usual for a suicide.

If your point is that this guy did not kill himself, you need to do a lot better.

[No Elephants]

27. Whenever I see a post like that by someone with 67 posts since February 2006, I have to ask myself

a few questions.

[Mr. Sparkle]

6. If you believe that, then i have a bridge to sell you! n/t

[Cant trust em]

9. That's totally how I would kill myself.

Scrawl something into my own chest. Bind my hands and hang myself.

Makes total sense.

[Cass]

10. He had FED written on his chest. Was it upside down?

If it was right side up, it would be kind of hard for him to have done that to himself. Also why would he even write that on his chest if he was committing suicide? The suicide theory seems pretty far out to me.

[logosoco]

12. Maybe I don't watch enough of those CSI shows on tv...

it doesn't seem possible to hang yourself while your hands are tied (even with wiggle room)and while your feet have contact with the ground.
And I think I would pay more attention to what his kid is saying.

[Mari333]

14. wtf!wtf??? WTF?

BULLSHIT.

[wroberts189]

15. Oh yes ..that's totally believable. Case closed. /sarc nt

[Odin2005]

17. Anyone who thinks that was suicude is a moron.

[bergie321]

19. Or even a Moran

[Tempest]

20. I want to know the family's reaction to this

Mine is that it's ludicrous and I'm betting the family agrees.

If this is the direction the local cops are going with the case, the FBI needs to step in now.

[era veteran]

21. Car FBI where are you??

Clay County plus KSP =B.S. // Mr. Sparkman, a federal employee, doing his job, is murdered on the job, FED written on his chest on the job, hate crime torture victim on the job; good looking out FBI.

[JohnyCanuck]

23. "My advice: ALWAYS be skeptical about what your Government tells you."

Good advice. See my sig line.

[blackspade]

24. As a Kentukian

I call bullshit on this.
The fact that it has taken this long to even make a determination about the cause of death in this case tells me that there is an effort to redirect attention from the rampant corruption and right-wing hatred in Clay County.
A suicide determination in this case is a white-wash.

[sybylla]

25. WTF? I saw this on M$nBC yesterday and couldn't believe it.

As someone who's had a suicide in the family, I call bullshit. Because anyone who wants to commit suicide would drive miles away into a national forest, spend an hour if not more preparing the scene, stripping down, drawing on themselves, trying to tape themselves up so carefully that they can still throw a rope around their neck and hang themselves. Did he climb the flipping tree with his hands taped together and jump? Weeping Jesus on the Cross!

And the "no defensive wounds" is just as ridiculous. If someone was holding a gun to your head, wouldn't you hold perfectly still while they taped you up?

[fascisthunter]

28. which means elements within our government are the enemies

[No Elephants]

29. "His hands were still somewhat mobile?" Wasn't he dead when they found him?

Well, it's obvious. The decedent was desperate to flash people without being found out.