Theresa Parker 41, Missing 911 Dispatcher , GA 3/21/07(Remains Found)

[NickandNora]

Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2009
Chaffin: Parker told me he shot his wife in the head
By: Chloé Morrison
http://www.**/news/2009/aug/18/chaffin-parker-told-me-he-shot-his-wife-head/

LaFayette, GA. — Former LaFayette, Ga., police officer Ben Chaffin testified this morning in Walker County Superior Court that former Officer Sam Parker told him he shot his wife Theresa Parker in the head.

Mr. Chaffin said Mr. Parker threatened to kill him if he told anyone about the phone call at about 4 a.m. on the night Mrs. Parker disappeared. He and Mr. Parker were co-workers and close friends.

Mr. Parker is on trial, accused of killing his wife in March 2007.

The prosecution was questioning Mr. Chaffin when Judge Jon “Bo” Wood called for a lunch break. Mr. Chaffin, who also had been charged with three felonies relating to the investigation of Mrs. Parker’s disappearance, has been given immunity for his testimony.

Mr. Chaffin also testified that he helped Mr. Parker break into Mrs. Parker’s e-mail.

Before Mr. Chaffin testified, the 15-member jury heard videotaped testimony from Virginia Cordell, who now is deceased.

In her videotaped testimony, she said she had witnessed threats and drunken behavior by Mr. Parker. The elderly, sick woman seemed confused at times as public defender David Dunn questioned her on the video.

[NickandNora]

http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_157025.asp
Chaffin Says Sam Parker Told Him He Shot Theresa In The Head
Said He Put Her "Where She Could Not Be Found"
posted August 18, 2009

A former LaFayette Police officer testified Tuesday that Sam Parker told him in an early-morning phone call that he had just shot his wife, Theresa, in the head.

Ben Chaffin also told the jury in LaFayette that Parker said he had put her body "in a place that would be hard to find or they would never find it."

He said Parker then called him right back and said, "He would have to kill me, too, if I told anybody."

Chaffin is the government's star witness in the trial of Parker for the slaying of his wife, a 911 dispatcher for Walker County whose body has never been found.

Chaffin said he worked with Parker for 10 years and Parker was his supervisor most of the time. He said, "I considered him like a big brother."

He said he got a call from Parker in March of 2007 asking him to check Theresa's computer to see who she had been talking to. He said he had set up the computer for Ms. Parker.

Chaffin, who has moved away from LaFayette, said he went to the Parkers' trailer home and got into her email since she had not changed the password he set up. He said she had been emailing family and friends and no one else.

He said he did find the receipt from the lodge in Gatlinburg where she had recently stayed. He said the Parkers did not have a printer so he forwarded the email to his computer. He said he and Parker went to his home and he printed it out there.

He said Parker was upset about the receipt, believing his wife was having an affair. He said Parker left without speaking. He said he heard a noise in the kitchen and then saw where Parker had slammed down a bottle of vodka on the counter.

He said Parker posted a copy of the motel receipt on a wall at police headquarters.

The 40-year-old Chaffin said on the night that Theresa disappeared - March 21, 2007 - he went to Bud's Sports Bar in Brainerd with a state trooper. He said he had four or five beers before driving back to LaFayette. He said he watched TV with the trooper, then went home around midnight. He said he had a couple of shots of Jim Beam whiskey before going to sleep.

The witness said he was awakened by a call from Parker shortly after 4 a.m. He said Parker said he was calling from the home of Christy Bellflower. He said Parker was joking that he was with "a blonde with big boobs and a nice rear end."

Chaffin said, "It sounded like they were having a party."

He said Parker put Ms. Bellflower on the line briefly. Chaffin said he put the phone down. "I was hoping they would hang up and let me go back to sleep."

He said Parker then asked Ms. Bellflower to go to the other side of the room. He said Parker then began talking in a lower voice.

Chaffin said Parker told him "he'd really done it this time."

He said Parker then proceeded to say he had shot Theresa and disposed of her body.

Chaffin said after that call and the second short one "I broke down. I sat in the middle of the bed and was bellowing like a baby."

He said before going to bed for the night he went to the front door and looked out. He acknowledged he was scared of Sam Parker.

Bue he told the jury from Bartow County that when he woke up the next morning he had completely forgotten about the calls from Parker.

"I didn't recall anything about the phone calls," he maintained.

He said the first time it came back to him was when he was being interviewed by agents on the case.

Chaffin said he had gone out to eat with the Parkers several times and also had dinner at their home. He said he had seen them fighting several times and once had to step between them.

Chaffin, who faces several minor charges in the case, including tampering with Theresa Parker's computer, said he has been promised immunity from prosecution in exchange for his "truthful" testimony. He said he was just told about that last week.

Ms. Bellflower told the jury she was formerly married to a policeman and was acquainted with Parker and Chaffin. She said she had heard that Parker's father had died so she called the home number of the father, Logan Parker. She said, "Logan was the sweetest guy in the world."

She said she left a message for Sam Parker saying she was sorry to hear about his father and that he could call her sometime.

She said Parker returned the call and also asked where she lived and if he could come over. She said she told him he could.

Ms. Bellflower said he first stopped by her house on a Saturday night a short time before Theresa disappeared. She said he came one other night and then showed up on March 22, 2007, around 1:30 a.m.
According to prosecutors, that would have been just after he allegedly killed Theresa Parker and dumped her body.

Ms. Bellflower said Parker acted normally. "He was just being silly. He was just being Sam."

She said he had a plastic water bottle with him with vodka in it. She said she made a mixed drink for him, but he called it "a girl's drink" and said he preferred the vodka straight.

She said they flirted and she kissed him, but they did not have sex though he stayed several hours.

He said after 4 a.m., Parker asked her to dial the number of Ben Chaffin for him on her cell phone. She said when Chaffin answered, Parker told him, "I'm here with this big-boobed blonde."

She said that embarrassed her and she went into the kitchen.

Under cross-examination, she said she was less than 15 feet from where Parker was sitting. She said he did not drop his voice and she could hear him talking to Chaffin. But she said she was not paying attention to what he was saying.

She said she wanted Parker to leave before 6 a.m. when her 13-year-old son would be waking up, and he did. She said her young twins were staying with her mother that night.

The witness said Parker later visited her and said concerning Theresa that he "heard she was with her niece in Florida."

Earlier Tuesday, a neighbor of Parker said he was threatening to shoot his estranged wife the night she disappeared.

The deposition of Virginia Cordell was played to the jury.. Mrs. Cordell was very ill at the time her deposition was taken, and she has since died.

Mrs. Cordell also said that in a previous conversation about two weeks earlier Parker told her "he could dispose of bodies where they will never be found."

She said at the time he was referring to anyone who ever burglarized his home.

She said on that occasion he was drunk and she told him, "Sam, get out, you're drunk."

Mrs. Cordell said, "Sam could do anything when he got a buzz." She said he once hopped over the banister and jumped to the ground off her front porch, though it was about 10 feet down.

Mrs. Cordell said the night Parker allegedly talked about shooting Theresa, he was upset after getting a receipt from a motel where his wife had stayed in Gatlinburg. He said it showed there were two guests.

She said he was also talking about Theresa moving to Fort Oglethorpe, saying he did not know how she was going to afford the rent.

Mrs. Cordell said Parker said he had given Theresa $1,000 to go shopping on the trip to Gatlinburg.

The witness said the Parkers were good neighbors and she loved them both.

Asked why she did not call police or anyone else after hearing the threat, she said, "I always loved Sam. I didn't want to get Sam in trouble. Sam's always been good to me."

She added, "I thought Sam would go home and go to bed really."

[NickandNora]

Caureathers said that a picture was posted on the Sam’s office door of a woman who had been beaten in family violence and he said that he saw it and took it down.

He said that, by him removing the picture, it upset Sam, but Sam never said anything about it.

The above is snipped from a previous article. The picture mentioned should be in this post. I cleaned up the profanity in it. Hope this works. This is my first time trying to post an image here. I applaud Caureathers for not being scared of sam and taking the picture down.

[Nut44x4]

Theresa Parker's Mother Says Sam Parker Threatened Her LIfe

The prosecution today continued laying a time-line of events leading up to the disappearance of Theresa Parker in March of 2007. Her 53 year old husband Sam Parker is on trial for murder although no body has been found. On the stand Thursday was Theresa's mother, Clair Carruthers, who testified about her sometimes stormy relationship with Parker.

She then told of an incident in 1994 when Parker had Greg Carruthers, Clair's companion, arrested for driving without a license. She said Parker called her a day later.

CLAIR CARRUTHERS, THERESA'S MOTHER "He said if me or Greg crossed the property line between between me and Theresa he was going to kill us and bury us and they'd never find us."

The Parkers lived next door to her mother at that time.

Former Lafayette police officer, Ben Chaffin has testified that Sam said something similar to that in telling him by phone that he had killed Theresa, and would kill Ben if he told anyone. Ms. Carruthers also testified that she criticized Sam for not reporting his wife missing.

 It was Ms. Carruthers who made the first call to 9-1-1 on Friday night, three days after anyone had heard from Theresa. This was day four of a trial that is expected tom last about three weeks.
http://www.wdef.com/news/theresa_parkers_mother_says_sam_parker_threatened_her_life/08/2009

[Edward]

sounds like terresa is buried.

[NickandNora]

Sam Parker murder trial: Defense questions former deputy about his relationship with victim
http://www.walkermessenger.com/pages/full_story/push?article-Sam+Parker+murder+trial-+Defense+questions+former+deputy+about+his+relationship+with+victim%20&id=3219221&instance=home_Most_popular


The prosecution in the Sam Parker murder trial this morning questioned former Walker County Sheriff’s Office road deputy Shane Green about phone calls between he and Theresa Parker.

Green, who was one of the first law enforcement on the scene at the Parker residence after Theresa’s disappearance on March 21, 2007, testified he had several phone calls with Theresa before and after her trip to Gatlinburg, Tenn. a few days earlier.

Green said they discussed his then-girlfriend’s upcoming birthday, which occurred during the weekend Theresa was in Gatlinburg.

Green said he met with Theresa after leaving the girlfriend’s residence on Shallowford Road in Chattanooga, Tenn., while Theresa was heading north on I-75. They met at a truck stop and chatted for about 20 minutes, he said.

Green said they discussed his girlfriend's birthday and Theresa's plan to get away for a few days and go shopping.

Asked if he went to Gatlinburg with Theresa, Green said “no.”

Green said that before Theresa left, she invited several people — including him — from 911 dispatch to go to Gatlinburg with her. Green said he did not go.

Green said that on April 12, 2007, he talked by phone with Sam, who sounded upset and slurred. He said asked him, “Do you love her?”, “Where are you?” and “Where do you work?”

Green said Sam told him to “lawyer up” and “to come clean.”

___


After a short mid-morning recess, Green re-took the stand with questioning from public defender David Dunn.

Dunn asked him how phone calls are recorded into the 911-dispatch system.

He asked Green if all communications at 911 are recorded and placed on a disc and Green said “yes, sir.”

Dunn said that now police officers have cell phones and that, when a 911 dispatcher calls from his or her independent cell phone to an officer’s cell phone, that conversation is un-able to be recorded into the system.

Green agreed.

Green said he had frequent conversations with 911 dispatchers.

Dunn asked, “Why use a cell phone?”

Green said that due to his moving back to Georgia from south Florida, he called his phone company to change his prefix, but was given a long-distance prefix from Benton, Tenn., and that everyone who would call him on a landline, would be calling long distance, including his own mother.

Green said that is why the employees at the 911 dispatch would call him on their cell phones.

Dunn asked Green if the phone conversations on March 22, during the welfare check of the Parker residence, were recorded and Green said, “No, sir.”

“As far as the police knew, you were on patrol,” Dunn asked.

Green said, “Yes, sir.”

“So, they had no way to tell where you were,” Dunn asked, and Green said, “Yes, sir.”

Dunn pointed out that Green’s mileage log posted around 300 miles for the time between March 21 and 22 and that was unusually high and double the amount, compared to the ear-lier part of the month and that Green filled his patrol unit up with gasoline twice on that shift.

Dunn asked Green if he made a report on the “welfare check” conducted at the Parker residence around 7 a.m. on March 22 and Green said that he did not. Dunn pointed out that Green finally made the report after the investigation was started into Theresa’s disappear-ance and when the GBI was involved.

Dunn then began to question whom Green had cell phone conversations with at the dis-patch, before Theresa went missing.

“Would you argue that there is not a single one (that you called that worked at dispatch, other than Theresa?) “Do you agree,” Dunn asked.

“I would agree,” Green said.

Dunn then began to question the numerous calls, back and forth, between Green and Theresa, including a 91-minute call between the two while she was heading to Gatlinburg.

“On Thursday, she is calling you a bunch,” Dunn asked, and Green said, “Yes, sir.”

Green said he spent that Thursday and Friday shopping for birthday gifts for his then-girlfriend.

Dunn pointed out that Green called in sick on Friday, March 16, and that Green had a long phone conversation with Theresa on Sunday, March 17.

“Did you know Sam had been aware of the two-guest reservation (at this time),” Dunn asked, and Green said, “It is possible.”

“Would you say that this is what that call was about,” Dunn asked, and Green said he and Theresa talked about many different things and that could have been one of them.

Dunn then pointed out that on March 20 Theresa had called Green repeatedly to no avail and that Rhonda Knox had once told authorities that Theresa had been upset about that.

Dunn asked Green, “Did you know Theresa was upset that she had called repeatedly, to you not answering,” and Green said, “No, sir.”

“After March 19, you never called Theresa Parker ever again, did you,” Dunn asked, and Green said, “Yes, sir.”

Green changed the location where he and Theresa had met on her way to Gatlinburg and said that it was at a rest stop with many truckers, instead of a truck stop, due to Dunn point-ing out that there was no truck stop in the vicinity that Green had described.

Dunn then began to question Theresa’s invitation to Gatlinburg, and Green said, “She asked everyone (to go).”

“Are you saying that Theresa didn’t ask you to go to Gatlinburg (during the rest stop con-versation),” Dunn asked, and Green said, “I don’t recall her (doing so).”

Dunn then began to question Green about a transcript that was made by investigators on Green in April 2007.

Dunn pointed out that Green said in the transcript that Theresa would reserve guests for two if he changed his mind about joining her in Gatlinburg.

“Did she ask you at the truck stop,” Dunn asked, and Green said, “Yes, she was reiterat-ing (her previous invitation to everyone she had asked).”

Dunn said that in the transcript Green said that his accidental meeting with Theresa on her way back from Gatlinburg on Rossville Boulevard was actually a week and a half before her trip to Gatlinburg and not the day she was looking for a new apartment, as was in the report.

“You told the GBI that that meeting happened a week and a half before she left for Gat-linburg,” Dunn said.

“I don’t recall saying that,” Green said.

The court adjourned for lunch.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Attorney Bill Slack, who has represented Sam on numerous occasions, including a previous divorce from another woman, took the stand after lunch.

District attorney Leigh Patterson asked about a fishing trip he and Sam took on March 22, 2007, the day after Theresa was last seen, at a lake in Subligna, about 30-45 minutes from LaFayette.

Slack said it was his idea to go fishing and that he called two other people, whose boats he was familiar with, but could not reach them.

Slack said he had learned that Sam had a boat and gave Sam a call to go fishing that day.

A week prior to the fishing trip, Slack said Sam called him and asked him if Theresa is entitled to receive some of his inheritance. Slack told it would not be a marital asset, so no, she would not.

Slack said Sam was always specific about time schedules, so when Sam asked him what time he wanted to go fishing, Slack said jokingly “7:36 a.m.” to Sam.

Slack said he wanted to go early, because the fishing would be better.

Slack said Sam arrived at Slack’s residence at 8 a.m.

Slack said the two men took U.S. 27 to Subligna and arrived around 9 a.m., after getting some snacks for fishing.

He said Sam fell asleep about 12:30 p.m. in the boat.

Slack said they finished fishing about 1:30 p.m.

As Sam awoke, he told Slack that working third shift was messing with his sleeping life.

The two men left and went to eat at Armstrong Barbeque.

Patterson asked Slack if Sam talked about the divorce and he said he did.

Slack said Sam talked about the money his late father left him and that he gave Theresa $3,000 of it for her Gatlinburg trip, moving expenses and so fourth.

Slack said Sam told him he did not know where she was moving.

Slack said Sam told him he believed Theresa went to Gatlinburg with another man and did so using the money he gave her that came from his late father.

Slack said Sam was upset that it was his father’s money she used to go on a trip with an-other man.

Slack said that Sam did not appear upset and that he did not see any physical damage on Sam.

Dunn showed photos of the two men on the fishing trip, from a camera that Slack brought with him.

After the photo display, Dunn asked Slack about Sam’s reputation before Theresa’s dis-appearance and Slack said that Sam’s reputation was good.

“Would you trust Sam on his oath,” Dunn asked, and Slack said, “Absolutely.”

[NickandNora]

Sam Parker murder trial, day 4: Victim’s mother testifies
by Josh O'Bryant
Aug 20, 2009
http://www.walkermessenger.com/pages/full_story/push?article-Sam+Parker+murder+trial-+day+4-+Victim%E2%80%99s+mother+testifies%20&id=3226948-Sam+Parker+murder+trial-+day+4-+Victim%E2%80%99s+mother+testifies&instance=home_news_1st_left

Theresa Parker’s mother testified Thursday morning that her daughter said Sam Parker was visibly upset about Theresa’s trip to Gatlinburg, Tenn.

Claire Careathers, 70, said her daughter called her when she arrived home from the trip and said Sam was drunk and “jumped on her (verbally),” making accusations.

Careathers, who lived next door to the Parkers, said her daughter was so upset she said she might spend the night with her.

Sam Parker’s trial began Monday in Walker County Superior Court in downtown LaFay-ette before Judge Jon “Bo” Wood. It is expected to last three weeks.

The jury, consisting of nine women and six men (including three alternates), was picked last week from Bartow County. It is not being sequestered. The jurors are being bused daily to and from Bartow.

Sam is accused of killing Theresa, who was last seen on March 21, 2007. Her body has never been found.

The couple were in the process of getting a divorce and moving out of their house on Cor-dell Road in LaFayette. Theresa was in the process of moving to an apartment in Fort Ogle-thorpe. Sam was staying in the house of his recently deceased father; the house was in Trion. At the time Sam was a sergeant with the LaFayette Police Department.

Careathers said Theresa called her on Wednesday, March 14, when she arrived at her trip’s destination in Gatlinburg. She said Theresa said she was tired and ready to go to bed so she could get up early to go shopping.

The next time she spoke to her daughter, she said, was Friday, March 16, when Theresa was returning home from the trip. She said Theresa told her Sam had called her twice on her way through Chickamauga Battlefield park.

Careathers said she and Theresa would talk three or four times a week and that Theresa would always answer or call her back.

Careathers said the last time she talked to her daughter was Tuesday, March 20.

She said Theresa’s sister Christina called her on Friday, March 23, worried that she couldn't reach Theresa by phone. Careathers said she began to call Theresa’s cell and land-line phones. She said she and her husband Greg were very upset and worried.

Her husband reported Theresa missing on Friday night, March 23, she said, and Walker County sheriff’s deputy Bruce Coker responded to call.

Careathers said Sam came by her house Saturday night, March 24, and she asked him why he had not reported Theresa missing. She said Sam said he had to work and sleep. Careath-ers said she asked him, “How can you sleep when your wife is missing?”

Careathers said Sam seemed emotional that night and as he was leaving he backed into the ditch and a wrecker had to pull out his vehicle.

Careathers recalled an incident in 1994 when she allowed her husband Greg, who did not have a driver’s license, to drive her car. He was arrested and spent 12 days in jail, she said.

As cops were arresting him, she asked the officers who had informed them her husband was driving and they said that Sam told them.

She and Sam argued over the matter, she said, and Sam threatened her, saying that if she or her husband crossed the property line at his house, he would kill them and get rid of their bodies.

Asked why she did not call the police, Careathers said, "He was the police. It would have done no good."

There's a video of Claire at the link above...I think she did an awesome job with the defense lawyer. She also answered, how many times has 911 been called?!
___


After a short mid-morning recess, the trial resumed with testimony from one of Theresa’s co-workers at Walker County 911.

Rebecca Brown recalled times with the couple. She said Sam drank a lot, sometimes out of glasses and sometimes out of clear water bottles.

Brown said that in 2004 Theresa said Sam had thrown her belongings outside and hit her, and that she needed police. Walker County deputy Bruce Coker responded to the call.

District attorney Leigh Patterson played audios from 911 in which Sam talked to Brown about Theresa’s trip to Gatlinburg, her possibly seeing another man and requesting help with identifying a number.

The first CD recording was on March 21, 2007. On the CD Sam says, in the course of the conversation:

“Ever see her with anybody?”

“I caught her red-handed.”

“She’s already got an apartment.”

“Two weeks after my dad died, she goes to the Smokies and hooks up with some dude.”

“I’m in shock.”

“Let me call her again and see about this guy.”

“If it weren’t for my medication, I would be up the river.”

“I really don’t care. … I’m curious, but not ‘curious’ curious.”

“I absolutely don’t know what the (expletive) to do.”

“$8,400 a year for an apartment.”

“I thought we were doing great. Evidently not. I don’t know what to do.”

The second audio was of Sam asking Brown to help him identify a number. Sam called her back several times, wanting more help in identifying the number.

[NickandNora]

Sam Parker murder trial, day 5: Officers discuss Sam's workplace behavior
by John BaileyAug 21, 2009
http://catwalkchatt.com/pages/full_story/push?article-Sam+Parker+murder+trial-+day+5-+Officers+discuss+Sam-s+workplace+behavior%20&id=3236557-Sam+Parker+murder+trial-+day+5-+Officers+discuss+Sam-s+workplace+behavior&instance=home_news_1st_left

Much of this morning’s testimony in the Sam Parker murder trial centered around a plastic encased black talon bullet, the grim reaper and Sam Parker’s actions around the police station.

Parker, a former police officer, is accused of killing his estranged wife, who was last seen on March 21, 2007.

In the line of duty Sam Parker shot and killed a man, Sammy Bailey, and had the actual bullet used in the killing encased like a “trophy,” Lafayette Police Officer Stacy Meeks said. Parker was later exonerated for the killing.

Meeks testified that Sam Parker would talk about the incident and even would show off a picture of the scene to fellow officers.

“In addition to the round recovered from the victim he showed me a crime scene photo — a lot of blood around it stuff like that,” Meeks said.

On cross examination, Public Defender David Dunn asked Meeks if he had mistakenly referred to Bailey as a victim. Meeks agreed and said he meant to say “deceased.”

In the course of his testimony Meeks described an instance where Sam Parker described a police officer’s job as a sheepdog watching over sheep. Sam Parker told him that criminals are the wolves of the analogy — but that the sheepdog has more in common with the wolves than with the sheep.

Patterson asked Meeks to describe his expertise in self defense and mixed martial arts. He said he was an instructor and had one professional fight. She then asked him if he had seen Sam Parker use a particular type of rear choke hold on instances in the course of duty — which Meeks said he had.

Patterson then asked Meeks to demonstrate the hold on her, which is done by approaching someone from behind and using the forearm to block the blood from the carotid artery from getting to the brain.

“I can’t believe I just asked someone to choke me out in front of a jury,” Patterson said.

Patterson didn’t elaborate on the reason she asked Meeks to demonstrate this particular choke hold in court.

Another instance of behavior brought before the court was that Parker had a grim reaper patch on his police jacket and a similar sticker on his locker in the police department. Lt. Robbie Tate of the LaFayette Police Department testified he had told the previous police chief that the patch was inappropriate, but Sam Parker was never told to remove it.

Dunn characterized much of the testified upon antics, such as the grim reaper patch and bullet, as a dark humor that is common in law enforcement agencies and said it is just a way of coping with stress that can easily be misconstrued.

Officers took the stand and testified that Sam Parker was a comical guy around the department and was constantly in the midst of practical jokes. However, at one point the practical jokes grew darker, prosecutors said and drew comment from other officers.



Judge Jon Wood restricted both parties in the Sam Parker murder case from a possible misuse of character evidence. He said both parties had gone “far afield” in their use of presenting specific instances of good and bad character evidence.

The jury was dismissed for a moment to hear testimony from Meeks about an instance where Parker removed two envelopes from the chief of police’s files which contained commendations but also disciplinary actions and internal investigations.

The Judge upheld an argument from the defendant and ruled that the testimony of the specific incident was not to be heard by the jury.

“You’re not allowed to go into specific instances of conduct whether it's showing good character or bad character,” Wood said. He continued to say that was his “old school” interpretation of the law, however if either side could show him different he would be glad to hear their arguments.

“Part of our theory in our case is that the defendant was a LaFayettte Police officer for 26 years and got away with all kind of things,” District Attorney Leigh Patterson said.

Video of both officers accompanies this article.

[NickandNora]

sounds like terresa is buried.

Hi Edward. My family and I used to live in the county. We moved from there a little over a year ago. We heard a lot of theories from fellow citizens, the most gruesome being something to do with the explosives that sam had in his locker. However, the strongest opinions are that Theresa is buried somewhere in between Trion and LaFayette or around the Lookout Mtn area.

[NickandNora]

Here is a link to archives from the Walker County Messenger regarding the Parker case.

http://news.mywebpal.com/news_tool_v2.cfm?show=archivelist&CategoryTitle=Theresa%2520Parker%2520case&pnpid=730&om=1&daterange=GetAll&UseSD=&UseED=&st=postdate%20DESC&requesttimeout=100

[NickandNora]

Sam Parker murder trial, day 6: More testimony from investigators
by Josh O'Bryant
Aug 24, 2009
http://catwalkchatt.com/pages/full_story/push?article-Sam+Parker+murder+trial-+day+6-+More+testimony+from+investigators%20&id=3250825-Sam+Parker+murder+trial-+day+6-+More+testimony+from+investigators&instance=home_news_1st_left

The murder trial for Sam Parker began a new week Monday with testimony from two investigators.

Walker County sheriff’s detective David Gilleland said he was the detective on the March 24, 2007, shift, when the missing person investigation began on Theresa Parker.

Gilleland said he and district attorney investigator Johnny Bass met Sam Parker at his late father’s residence in Trion and questioned him about Theresa’s whereabouts.

Sam Parker’s trial began Monday, Aug. 17, in Walker County Superior Court in downtown LaFayette before Judge Jon “Bo” Wood. It is expected to last three weeks.

The jury, consisting of nine women and six men (including three alternates), was picked the previous week from Bartow County. It is not being sequestered. The jurors are being bused daily to and from Bartow.

Sam is accused of killing Theresa, who was last seen on March 21, 2007. Her body has never been found.

The couple were in the process of getting a divorce and moving out of their house on Cor-dell Road in LaFayette. Theresa was in the process of moving to an apartment in Fort Ogle-thorpe. Sam was staying in the house of his recently deceased father; the house was in Trion. At the time Sam was a sergeant with the LaFayette Police Department.

Public defender David Dunn on Monday asked Gilleland if Sam had denied answering questions, without a lawyer present, and Gilleland said he did not.

Gilleland said GBI special agent James Harris later arrived for the investigation.

Harris said his first part of the investigation was investigating Theresa’s new apartment on Flagstone Drive in Fort Oglethorpe, where the investigators found various receipts from Lowe’s, The Gap and her Black Bear Lodge Reservation from Gatlinburg, Tenn., which were found on the kitchen counter.

Harris said numerous shoes and winter clothes were inside the apartment.

Around 10 p.m., Gilleland and Harris went to the Walker County Sheriff’s Office, where the two men spoke to various witness, such as Christy Bellflower, Corey Griffin and Shane Green, after LaFayette public safety director Chief Tommy Freeman had spoken to 911 dis-patcher Rhonda Knox.

Sam was later called in to have his first interview with the GBI, which took place around 12:45 a.m. on March 25, 2007.

District attorney Leigh Patterson submitted an audio recording and a transcript from the interview with Sam that Harris had hid in his notebook while interviewing Sam.

Various statement from Sam to Harris in the initial interview included:

“I tried calling her Friday (March 23) because we were supposed to go to the bank.”

““I thought it was okay.... I thought it was fine (our relationship)”

“She called it retail therapy (shopping trip in Gatlinburg).”

“She said she has got an apartment and I said, 'okay, that's fine.’”

(On her disappearance) “She didn’t tell her mother she was going, she didn’t tell her sis-ter she was going, which was strange.”

“She said, ‘We’ll talk when I get home.”

“She said, ‘Let’s just separate for awhile.”

“On the 21st and 20th (of March), I worked in the yard with Cody Cordell until dark...and she was moving boxes somewhere.”

“I was running late (to meet Bill Slack to fish).”

“Unless somebody picked her up and went somewhere.”

“The last time I saw Theresa...We didn't talk...It was Wednesday night. I was working in the yard with Cody.”

“I don't know. I absolutely, positively don't know (her whereabouts).”

“I didn't see this coming.”

“Is she lying to me about that reservation.... I don't know.”

““That is why I am talking to ya'll (GBI).”

“Theresa's mom knows something.”

Sam told Harris, in the recording, that when he returned to the Parker residence at 985 Cordell Ave. at around 7:45 a.m., while he was leaving to go fishing, Theresa’s Toyota Fore-runner was still there, but she was not to his knowledge.

“Whatever ya’ll want, we will do.”

“If she don’t come back home, we’ll have to do something.”

“We couldn’t say we loved each other anymore.”

In the audio, Sam claims to have been at his Cordell residence at 7:30 a.m. on March 22.

Harris asked Sam if Theresa had ever left home before and Sam describes a trip she took to Cancun and then returned and told him that she was going to stay in Florida, with her sister Hilda.

Sam said (in the audio) that Theresa wanted to come home and she was sorry.

In the audio Sam said, “She told me it was wrong what she did to me (leave him), because when her dad died, I was her daddy.”

Sam later says about Theresa’s safety, “All of this separation and divorce stuff is put on hold for this. I hope she is with somebody.”

Asked about her renting a new apartment, Sam said, “I kind of got a funny feeling that somebody was going to half the rent.”

The court recessed for lunch.

Video included in above link. Also there is video of GBI Agent Audey Murphy at this link http://catwalkchatt.com/...scroll down the page near the bottom.

[NickandNora]

News Channel 9 video - Parker Interview by GBI

http://video.newschannel9.com/m/26018953/parker-interview-on-tape.htm?pageid=146211

[NickandNora]

Sam Parker Sobbed: "Where's Theresa?"
Jury Hears Voice Mail To Missing 911 Dispatcher
posted August 24, 2009
http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_157434.asp

A jury in LaFayette on Monday heard a taped interview of Sam Parker in which he was asked by a detective if there was anything else. He began sobbing and said, "Yeah, where's Theresa?"

The jury from the Cartersville area also heard the voice mail for the missing Walker County 911 dispatcher for the first few days after she was missing. There were frantic pleas from relatives and friends, calls from deliverymen who could not reach her, and one call from her estranged husband.

Sam Parker said in the call of Friday, March 23, 2007 - two days after she vanished - "This is Sam. It's almost 3 o'clock. We were suppose to go to the bank today. Guess we'll have to redo that. Give me a call. Stay in touch."

Parker is standing trial for murder at the Walker County Courthouse.

GBI Special Agent James Harris told the jury of going to the Parker home on Cordell Avenue and finding a handgun under Theresa's pillow.

He said her contact lenses were in the case in the bathroom and her glasses and sunglasses were locked in her Toyota 4Runner in the garage.

The agent interviewed Parker the night Theresa was reported missing, then a few days later he said Parker called him and said he wanted to show him some phone records.

Parker said he had never opened Theresa's mail before, but he opened her phone bill and saw some numbers he did not recognize.

The agent said he secretly recorded this talk with Parker just as he had the first one. It was played to the jury.

He told Parker, "I need to eliminate you as a suspect" and asked him if he had bruises on his arms. Parker agreed to take off his shirt and display several bruises. He said he might have gotten them while working on a clogged sewer line under their house.

A short time later Parker broke down and asked, "Where's Theresa?" The agent responded, "I don't know, Sam, we're doing our best."

Agent Harris said Ms. Parker's Toyota 4Runner, where two spots of blood were found earlier, was taken to the sallyport at the Walker County Jail. He said he took a closer look at it there.

He said the driver and passenger area were a little dirty, but the rear cargo section was very clean. He said there were markings in the carpet that appeared to have been vacuumed.

He said there was no rubber cargo mat, but from lines along the edge it looked like there once was. Other witnesses said the vehicle did have such a mat.

Agent Harris said searchers have thoroughly checked out the area around an old logging road off Ridgeway Road outside of LaFayette. A LaFayette Police cruiser matching that driven by Parker was seen coming from that road early one morning a few days after Theresa disappeared.

The agent said, "We continue to look for Theresa. We haven't stopped to this day."

The voices on her cell phone voice mail included a deliveryman for Lowe's who was supposed to take a washer and dryer to her new apartment in Fort Oglethorpe and the operator of the U Haul store in Chickamauga, who was expecting her to pick up a moving truck.

One caller said, "I am so worried about you. Please call me."

Another said, "Call me, I'm kind of worried. I don't know why."

A third said, "Hey girl, call me. I'm worried to death."

Another asked, "Are you alright?"

One detective who was interviewing Parker said it was not looking good as far as finding Theresa.

But he said, "I still hope we can go out and Yahoo, she's here. Then we can go home."

[Edward]

Thanks for all your updates Nickand Nora.

[MuffyBee]

Thanks for the updates and articles NickandNora.   

[NickandNora]

Your welcome. It's great there's a place like Scared Monkeys to share with. This is a wonderful site! Nick and I are very appreciative.

There used to be a busy spot on the net where many people in the area discussed the Parker case, but it's no longer there. It was like a much smaller version of Scared Monkeys and lots of minds at work on the case and helped to keep Theresa remembered. I don't know what happened to it, but it's gone. It was linked to the Walker County Messenger.

The media is reporting that the interest did dwindle, but it's picking up this week. We keep hoping and praying Theresa is found.

[NickandNora]

Sam Parker murder trial, day 7: GBI investigator says Sam claimed missing wife was in Cancun with an entertainer  (Video is included with this link and shows bruises found on sam)
by Josh O'Bryant
Aug 25, 2009
http://catwalkchatt.com/pages/full_story/push?article-Sam+Parker+murder+trial-+day+7-+GBI+investigator+says+Sam+claimed+missing+wife+was+in+Cancun+with+an+entertainer%20&id=3256450-Sam+Parker+murder+trial-+day+7-+GBI+investigator+says+Sam+claimed+missing+wife+was+in+Cancun+with+an+entertainer&instance=home_news_1st_left

A GBI investigator said accused murderer Sam Parker told him that his wife had gone to Mexico.

Agent James Harris, testifying Tuesday, said Sam told him, “She is in Cancun with a Mexican named Elvis.”

Harris said Sam showed him a picture of Theresa in Cancun with her nieces and an en-tertainer named “Elvis.”

Harris said investigators searched for Theresa in Cancun and interviewed various indi-viduals on whether they had seen her.

“He was very matter of fact,” Harris said about Sam’s demeanor.

Sam Parker’s trial began Monday, Aug. 17, in Walker County Superior Court in downtown LaFayette before Judge Jon “Bo” Wood. It is expected to last three weeks.

The jury, consisting of nine women and six men (including three alternates), was picked the previous week from Bartow County. It is not being sequestered. The jurors are being bused daily to and from Bartow.

Sam is accused of killing Theresa, who was last seen on March 21, 2007. Her body has never been found.

The couple were in the process of getting a divorce and moving out of their house on Cor-dell Road in LaFayette. Theresa was in the process of moving to an apartment in Fort Ogle-thorpe. Sam was staying in the house of his recently deceased father; the house was in Trion. At the time Sam was a sergeant with the LaFayette Police Department.

Public defender David Dunn questioned Harris about the “Elvis” character.

Dunn said the “Elvis” character in the picture is a real person and that Theresa’s niece became friends with him.

Dunn questioned why investigators waited so long to search for her in Cancun, noting that it conducted the search in October 2007.

Harris said that investigators checked all flights, buses, and more, for Theresa — to no avail.

Chattanoogan.com reported that a package arrived recently for Theresa Parker at the couple’s house on Cordell Road in LaFayette. To read the article..http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_157398.asp

[Nut44x4]

This waste of oxygen is a real piece of work  I despise him almost as much as I despise Drew Peterson. They think they are above the law  They make me sick 

Chattanooga Times Free Press (Tennessee) 
August 26, 2009 Wednesday 
 
Parker said wife went to Mexico

LaFAYETTE, Ga. -- A few months after his wife disappeared, Sam Parker told a GBI investigator that his wife could be in Mexico.

"He believed she was in Cancun with a Mexican named Elvis," James Harris, an agent with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, testified Tuesday.

A few years ago, Mrs. Parker had taken a trip to Cancun with her nieces and they met a man there named Elvis, Mr. Harris said. Investigators eventually went to Mexico to investigate Mr. Parker's claim but didn't turn up any evidence, he said.

Mr. Parker, a former LaFayette police officer, is charged with murdering his wife, Walker County 911 operator Theresa Parker. She was last heard from on March 21, 2007, but her body has never been found.

He has pleaded not guilty, and his trial is in its second week in Walker County Superior Court.

Mr. Harris said Mr. Parker told investigators about his theory that his wife was in Mexico after giving an interview to an Atlanta TV station.

District Attorney Leigh Patterson played the TV interview for the jury Tuesday morning and continued to question Mr. Harris about his investigation into Mrs. Parker's disappearance.

In cross-examination, Mr. Parker's public defender, David Dunn, tried to discredit the prosecution's evidence and said it doesn't prove that his client committed murder.

"The Elvis thing -- this wasn't (a) fantasy?" Mr. Dunn said.

Mr. Dunn also referred to serial killers who he said operate in the region. Mr. Harris said he wasn't familiar with any area serial killers but admitted he couldn't say "to a mathematical certainty" that Mrs. Parker is dead. 
http://www6.lexisnexis.com/publisher/EndUser?Action=UserDisplayFullDocument&orgId=574&topicId=100020825&docId=l:1028955683&start=2

[NickandNora]

This waste of oxygen is a real piece of work  I despise him almost as much as I despise Drew Peterson. They think they are above the law  They make me sick 

He makes me cringe with his eyes going back and forth, darting around.

I'd like to smack his face and tell him he may know how to hide a body but he sure is stupid for being a braggart about it. What a sick idiot. I wonder how many people he bragged to about that. Tonight on Channel 3 news it was reported the officer from the Savannah incident testified about the time sam had handcuffed himself to Theresa and was threatening to shoot himself in the head. The officer said on the way to the hospital sam told him also that he could hide a body where no one could find it. 

[NickandNora]

Sam Parker murder trial, day 8: Former wife says Sam threatened to kill her
by Josh O'Bryant
Aug 26, 2009
http://catwalkchatt.com/pages/full_story/push?article-Sam+Parker+murder+trial-+day+8-+Former+wife+says+Sam+threatened+to+kill+her%20&id=3265622-Sam+Parker+murder+trial-+day+8-+Former+wife+says+Sam+threatened+to+kill+her&instance=home_news_1st_left

Keila Beard, who was married to Sam Parker in the late 1980s, testified this morning that that Sam once held her down with a gun and threatened to kill her.

Beard said the first three years of their marriage was normal and Sam never hit her.

“Something snapped. He was not the person I married,” she said.

Sam Parker’s trial began Monday, Aug. 17, in Walker County Superior Court in downtown LaFayette before Judge Jon “Bo” Wood. It is expected to last three weeks.

The jury, consisting of nine women and six men (including three alternates), was picked the previous week from Bartow County. It is not being sequestered. The jurors are being bused daily to and from Bartow.

Sam is accused of killing Theresa Parker, who was last seen on March 21, 2007. Her body has never been found.

The couple were in the process of getting a divorce and moving out of their house on Cor-dell Avenue in LaFayette. Theresa was in the process of moving to an apartment in Fort Oglethorpe. Sam was staying in the house of his recently deceased father; the house was in Trion. At the time Sam was a sergeant with the LaFayette Police Department.

Beard and Sam Parker were married from 1986 to 1990.

Beard said she once confronted him about a woman she saw him talking to in front of a convenience store while he was on duty. She said Sam became very defensive, threw a glass of water on the kitchen floor, grabbed her by the back of her hair, dragged her bare feet across the broken glass and pulled her into the bedroom, where he handcuffed her to the bed.

Beard said she did not report the incident because she was afraid, embarrassed and didn’t want anyone to know.

She recalled another incident, in December 1989, while they were separated but not di-vorced. She said Sam came into the house, using a key, while he was on duty. She said Sam began to accuse her of cheating on him.

Beard said Sam took out his police revolver, got on top of her on the couch, placed the gun to her temple, and threatened to shoot her.

She said Sam told a friend of hers that he could kill her, get rid of her body, and no one would ever find her.

District attorney Leigh Patterson asked Beard why she didn’t call police. “Well, he was the police,” Beard replied.

Beard recalled times when Sam parked outside her residence and watched her.

Patterson asked why she did not put all of these incidences in the divorce papers and Beard said, “I didn’t want my personal life and tragedies on display.”

Beard said that after Sam pulled her daughter over once, she had had enough and con-tacted the late police chief Charles “Dino” Richardson and requested a meeting to discuss Sam’s conduct. Beard said law enforcement never disciplined Sam or fired him for his ac-tions as a police officer.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Former Parker Wife Says He Dragged Her By The Hair, Handcuffed Her To Bed
Said He Told Her He Knew How To Kill Her "Without Getting Caught"
posted August 26, 2009
http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_157564.asp

A former wife of Sam Parker testified Wednesday that he once grabbed her by the hair, dragged her from the kitchen to the bedroom, then handcuffed her to the bed.

Keila Beard told a jury in LaFayette that on another occasion Parker choked her and then put a pistol to her head and threatened to kill her.

She told jurors from Bartow County that Parker said "he knew how to kill me without getting caught. And no one would ever find my body."

Parker, a former LaFayette Police sergeant, is standing trial for the murder of wife Theresa, whose body has never been found.

Ms. Beard, 53, said she met Parker at a party in LaFayette in 1986. She said he asked her out, but she found out he was married.

She said, "I told him, 'when you are divorced, then give me a yell.'"

She said they were married May 31, 1986, and Parker adopted her 14-year-old daughter.

The witness said the couple got along for the first three years, then there was an incident in 1989 when she was driving and saw Parker talking to a woman in front of Golden Gallon.

She said she casually asked him about it that night, and he became irate. She said he threw a drinking glass on the floor, shattering it.

Ms. Beard said it was then he grabbed her by the hair and pulled her through the broken glass into the bedroom. She said she cut her feet on the glass.

She said Parker, who was in uniform and was on duty at the time, then handcuffed her to the bed. She said he began telling her she didn't have any right to question her about the woman.

Ms. Beard said, "I was in shock. I couldn't believe what was happening."

She said he did not tell anyone about the incident, saying, "I guess it was too embarrassing. I didn't want anybody to know. I was very scared. It was like my world had come crashing down."

On her birthday on Oct. 6, 1989, she said Parker's parents came over and they had birthday cake. She said the parents brought her a Bible for a gift and she still has it.

She said Parker went outside to talk with his father, and she later asked what they were talking about. She said Parker said he had told his dad he was leaving her.

She said, "He had just given me a birthday cake, then he said he was leaving me."

The attractive blonde witness said Parker did move out.

Afterward, she said he went one night to Bennigan's in Chattanooga with two other women. She said she was back home by 10:30 p.m.

Then, she said she heard someone coming in the front door, and it was Parker. She said she did not know that he still had a key to the house.

She said Parker, who again was in uniform and on duty, asked if she had been "out hunting men."

Ms. Beard said Parker then got on top of her on the living room couch and started choking her. She said he then pulled out his service revolver and put it to her head.

She said he told her "that if my daughter was not sleeping in the next room, he would blow my brains on the wall."

She told the jury, "It was like something snapped. It was not the same person I married."

Ms. Beard said when he left, she called her best friend to tell her what happened. She said Parker then walked back in and saw her on the phone.

She said he took the phone from her and told her friend, "Terri, I'm not going to hurt her."

She said when he got off the phone he told her "I had better not tell anybody else or he would kill me."

She said that is when he said he knew how to do it without being caught and no one would ever find the body.

Ms. Beard said Parker on another occasion was discussing the Vietnam War. She noted she had a brother in Vietnam.

She said Parker said "he wished he could have been in Vietnam because that way he could shoot people in cold blood and it wouldn't be against the law."

Ms. Beard said when Parker pulled over her daughter at McDonald's that she went to the city manager and to then Police Chief Dino Richardson about him. But she said no action was taken against him by the city.

LaFayette Police Sgt. Benji Clift told of going to the Parker home on the Monday night after Theresa had been declared missing on a Saturday.

He said he did not feel right about going since it was outside the LaFayette city limits, but he went along with his superior officer, Wesley Steele. He said they arrived about 1 a.m. and had a hard time getting anyone to the door.

He said Parker finally answered the door in his pajamas and with a revolver dangling by his side. He said after he sat down on a loveseat, they noticed another weapon between the cushions.

Sgt. Clift said Parker was discussing the fact that he found that Theresa had allegedly gone to Gatlinburg with another man. He said Parker "couldn't believe she would do this to him in his time of need." He noted his father had just died.

He said at one point Parker took them to Theresa's room, showing them that she had everything neatly packed up to move to a new place in Fort Oglethorpe.

At another point, he said Parker went into another room and there was a noise like he was going into his gunsafe. The witness said that made him very uneasy. But he said Parker returned with a packet of jewelry and told them Theresa had given him back every item of jewelry he ever gave her.

Sgt. Clift said Parker also took them out to the garage where Theresa's Toyota 4Runner was still parked. He showed where crime scene personnel had sprayed luminex on the vehicle, but he said they "didn't find anything." However, crime scene did find two spots of blood on the bumper.

He said Parker had a lot of trouble getting back up the steps of his residence, and he asked if his hips was hurting. He said Parker cursed and said his hips were fine.

Tracy Parris, who was a 911 dispatcher along with Theresa, said she went on trips with Ms. Parker and remembered that she had a cargo mat in the rear of the 4Runner. No mat was found in the vehicle by investigators.

A tape was played in which Parker called Ms. Parris at the 911 Center saying he had found she had gone to the Smokies with another man. He said, "I'm just heart-broken."

She said when he saw on a receipt the room was for two guests "it made me sick to my stomach. I puked."

He added, "I'm absolutely just wailing."

He said it came "less than two weeks after my daddy died."

He said he had confronted her and "she got really, really upset. She went ballistics."

Parker said, "I don't know who it is yet."

He said Theresa told him, "What does it change?"

He said, "It changed a lot - the way I felt."

Parker confided to the dispatcher that "I wouldn't screw around because I'm too afraid of getting a disease."

Another 911 dispatcher, Christine Hicks, called Theresa "a very compassionate, caring classy lady. She was a great friend and a great supervisor."

She said at one point in 2006 that Theresa pulled her aside and said "they just weren't going to make it much longer. She couldn't take it any longer."

She said Theresa was thinking about moving to Florida, where her sister, Hilda, lived.

Ms. Hicks said Parker often accused Theresa of having affairs with those men at the center, but "she wasn't that kind of person."

Asked about young deputy Shane Green, she said he would come into the center "and hug each and every one of us."

She said, "No, Theresa wasn't seeing Shane."

She said Theresa had told her she was planning to get a new place. "She was excited. It was a new start."

She added, "She was scared about staying by herself. It was just going to be a big change."

A tape was played in which Sam Parker talked with Ms. Hicks at the 911 Center. She asked him to check on some prostitutes, and he said, "Well, I'm going to need one, it looks like." He then told about finding the receipt with two adults marked on it.

He exclaimed that she had set up the cabin four weeks ahead.