FRANKFORT — Days before a U.S. Census worker was found dead near a secluded Clay County cemetery, he told another man he planned to kill himself but make it look as if he’d been murdered, according to the state police case file released Friday.
William E. Sparkman Jr. of London told Lowell Adams he had practiced asphyxiating himself by placing a bag over his head and had blacked out at times, Adams told police.
Sparkman said that when he was going “to do it for real,” he planned to put a rope around his neck, tie it to a tree, put blocks on his feet for weight and throw himself down a hill, Adams told police.
“Bill said he wanted to kill himself rather than die from cancer,” Adams said in a written statement to police.
Sparkman, 51, asked Adams to help him because he wasn’t sure he could complete the suicide alone, but Adams refused, according to the file.
Visitors to the cemetery saw Sparkman’s body Sept. 12 and called police.
He was wearing only socks, and his hands were bound with duct tape, though he could have moved them several inches apart. There was a rope around his neck tied to a tree, but his feet were in contact with the ground.
[…]
The police file included some new details, though authorities had released most of the information in November when they closed the case.
Police say Sparkman was trying to preserve payments under two $300,000 life-insurance policies that would have paid off if he died accidentally or was murdered, but not if he killed himself.
Sparkman said in a letter he left that his son, Josh, of London, was the beneficiary of one policy and Adams was the beneficiary of the other.
Sparkman had been successfully treated for cancer in 2008 but apparently was worried the cancer had returned.
[…]
Adams at first told police he had no details on Sparkman’s death but provided information after being asked to take a lie-detector test at the FBI office in London.
The polygraph examiner concluded Adams told the truth when he said he did not help Sparkman die.
The information from Adams was one key factor in the conclusion by police that Sparkman killed himself, but there were several others.
For instance, Sparkman had no wounds to show he had fought with someone or been assaulted.
There were no signs of a struggle at the scene, either, and police found only Sparkman’s DNA on items there.
Medical examiners concluded that Sparkman wrote the letters “fed” on himself because they were applied from the bottom up — not the way someone facing Sparkman would have done it.
Sparkman’s socks were dirty on the bottom, indicating he walked to the spot where he died on his own.
And Sparkman had a bone fracture in his neck that was healing, which was consistent with Adams’ statement that Sparkman said he had practiced asphyxiating himself.
Investigators found a note Sparkman had left at his home for his son.
“In a best-case scenario (at least for you), the accident policy will provide enough for you to live off the interest. Do not blow the money on anything,” Sparkman wrote to his son. “This was meant to provide for you in case something happened to me.
“Whatever the case, I love you and will always do so.”
This is a sad story all around. A mother lost her son, and a son lost his father. The family doesn’t believe that Sparkman killed himself, and has hired a private investigator of their own to dig through all the details surrounding his death. Whatever the family’s investigator concludes, I hope one day they will find closure to all of this. It sounds like the police and investigators were pretty thorough in this case, though.
In light of this new news – and the initial police news release in which they informed the public of their belief that Sparkman killed himself, I’m still waiting on the massive round of apologies from the left for using this man’s death for shameless political purposes via jumping to conclusions and making snide and denigrating insinuations about “murderous” conservatives as soon as this story broke. I won’t hold my breath. The ends justify the means in their eyes, and all that.
Amen. Been that way in the liberal media for a long time; since the days of Edward R. Marrow… and it is not going to change anytime soon. This is why we Conservative Bloggers are here. To bring out the facts and make sure the people know the truth.
Teddy Pendergrass, who became R&B’s reigning sex symbol in the 1970s and '80s with his forceful, masculine voice and passionate love ballads and later became an inspirational figure after suffering a devastating car accident that left him paralyzed, died Wednesday at age 59.
The singer’s son, Teddy Pendergrass II, said his father died at a hospital in suburban Philadelphia. The singer underwent colon cancer surgery eight months ago and had “a difficult recovery,” his son said.
“To all his fans who loved his music, thank you,” his son said. “He will live on through his music.”
Pendergrass suffered a spinal cord injury and was paralyzed from the waist down in the 1982 car accident. He spent six months in a hospital but returned to recording the next year with the album “Love Language.”
He returned to the stage at the Live Aid concert in 1985, performing from his wheelchair.
Pendergrass later founded the Teddy Pendergrass Alliance, an organization whose mission is to encourage and help people with spinal cord injuries achieve their maximum potential in education, employment, housing, productivity and independence, according to its Web site
Her death was announced by Mr. Biden. She had become seriously ill in the last few days, and the vice president had left Washington on Thursday to be with her.
[…]
Mrs. Biden was in the audience when he accepted the vice-presidential nomination at the Democratic National Convention in Denver on Aug. 27, 2008.
In his speech, Mr. Biden said she had helped and encouraged him in overcoming his stuttering as a youth, telling him that he stuttered “because I was so bright, I couldn’t get the thoughts out quickly enough.”
After his wife and daughter were killed in an auto accident in December 1972, Mr. Biden said, “She told me, ‘Joey, God sends no cross you cannot bear.’ And when I triumphed, she was quick to remind me it was because of others.”
He added: “My mother’s creed is the American creed: No one is better than you. You are everyone’s equal, and everyone is equal to you.”
There are some Bloggers who would use a time like this to snipe at the Vice President and his Politics. I am not one of those kind of bloggers. Further more, if anyone leaves a stupid comment, I will not approve it and I will add the IP address to the idiot filter.
There is politics and there is real life. This is a real life and a very real family. I, on the behalf of my family; would like to send our most heartfelt condolences to the Biden family on this very sad day. I could not even begin to imagine what it is like, or what it will be like to lose my Mother. I know that Joe’s faith will carry him and I pray that the Lord Jesus Christ will be with him during his time of loss. Joe Biden has been through much, and I am sure that he will make it. However, I know loss like this, can hurt like bloody hell. God be with the Vice President and with his family.
Brittany Murphy died early this morning after she went into full cardiac arrest and could not be revived, multiple sources tell TMZ.
She was 32.
A 911 call was made at 8:00 AM from a home in Los Angeles that is listed as belonging to her husband, Simon Monjack, the Los Angeles City Fire Department tells TMZ.
This hits home. I am 37; that is much too young to die.
She was raised a Baptist and later became a non-denominational Christian.
I also happened to notice this:
Murphy performs for the crew during a United Services Organization (USO) show aboard USS Nimitz on June 19, 2003.
She was, I would assume, at least someone who thought much of our Military.
May God be with her husband and with her family.
May Brittany rest in peace in the arms of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Update: Understandably, This is a huge story in the celebrity Blogosphere. Click here to read the round up at WeSmirch, which is Memeorandum‘s sister site.
It brings me great sadness to have to write this news story. Nevertheless, it has happened and it is news. It appears the one of founding fathers of television evangelism has died. Oral Roberts has passed away at age 91.
Charismatic Christian leader Dr. Oral Roberts died Tuesday at the age of 91 after slipping and falling in his house over the weekend.
After the fall on Saturday, Roberts was transported to a local hospital in Newport Beach, Calif., where he was treated for broken bones and a “slight case of pneumonia,” according to a report by the ministry on Monday.
Roberts’ PR agency, A. Larry Ross Communications, confirmed the next day that Roberts died Tuesday due to complications from pneumonia and that arrangements for a public memorial service in Tulsa, Okla., are pending and will be announced soon.
“There will be a private family internment,” the agency added.
In a public announcement by the president of Oral Roberts University, which Roberts founded in 1963, Dr. Mark Rutland informed the ORU family that Roberts passed away Tuesday afternoon and asked everyone to join him in prayer for the Roberts family.
“Chancellor Roberts was one of the brilliant spiritual lights of the 20th century and a giant of the Christian faith,” commented Rutland, who was installed earlier this year as ORU’s third president. “At the core of his legacy is a great university that bears his name. Like millions worldwide, I am mourning his passing and am grateful for his visionary life and contributions.”
As many of you know, who this blog regularly; I was for 21 years of my Christian walk, a Pentecostal Christian. I left the Pentecostal movement for good in 2004, due to some of my issue with where they movement was headed as a whole. I can honestly tell you, that I know in my heart that Oral Roberts believed what he preached. Unlike some of my fellow bloggers on the left… and the right; I will not sit here and harp on Pastor Roberts’ failures — after all, he was a moral man and they do fail once and a while. You ask me how I know that Pastor Roberts was sincere. I will tell you, better yet, I will just show you:
11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. 12 Therefore , brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. 13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die : but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live . 14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. 15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry , Abba, Father. 16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: 17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God , and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together . 18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. 19 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. 20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, 21 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. – Romans 8:11-21 KJV
Now does this mean that I agree with his belief system? No, it does not. I concluded that the Pentecostal doctrine of the sign gifts being for today as being highly flawed. This was no easy task; it took many hours of study, soul searching and prayer to arrive there. Nevertheless, I would highly remiss if I did not point out the fact that Oral Roberts was, in fact, a minister who is commonly referred to as the ‘Old Line’ Pentecostals. Unlike the modern contemporaries of Roberts, Roberts shunned the title of “Faith Healer”, saying, “God heals — I don’t.” That to me says a library full about his personal character.
I wish to extend my personal heartfelt sympathies to the Roberts family during this most sad time of loss.
December 7, 1941 – 68 Years ago today. The empire of Japan attacked the United States Military Base at what was then called the the Territory of Hawaii. (The United States had not taken possession of that territory making it the 49’th state yet.)
It is a day, that will live…. In infamy…
Update: Video removed, because the ignorant bastard who owns it, can’t remember telling me that I could link to it.
Damned idiot.
Here is the entire “Day of infamy Speech”, Now this is a way to make a speech! Obama, Take notes!:
I do not know quite why it is that I get so emotional when the anniversary of the attack of Pearl Harbor comes around; but do I ever. I guess it is because it affected my personal family a great deal. My grandfather’s two brothers, Frank and Harlan Hayes both were in the United States Army and my grandmother’s stepbrother Jess Runyan served also in the Military in World War II. My Great-Uncle Frank and Harlan both served in Germany, with Frank getting his finger blown off, while tossing a hand grenade that went off too soon. They were able to reattach it, but he never was able to use the finger very well after that. I do not know much about Harlen, or I would share his story. Jess Runyan came back from World War II with the condition now known as traumatic stress disorder or as they used to call it — shell-shocked. Jess was never able to work and collected military benefits, and I think social security for the rest of his life. Jess never married. For what it is worth, all of these people lived in Dalton, Georgia, which is where a good amount of my family is from.
Another reason is because, damn it, I just love America; since when did that become a federal crime? This Nation is the best-damned Nation on earth. Yes, we are having some bad times here; the economy is bad, jobs are scarce. However, the status of this Nation could be much worse; we could be living in same situation as North Korea or even communist China. I guess Pearl Harbor is a personal one for me, because I happen to be a history buff and because of my family’s involvement in that war. I believe also that the Nation’s isolationism also caused the attack as well, not to mention the economic warfare that was being committed against Japan by FDR. This same mentality of isolationism is what had affected the United States the day that the September 11 attacks in 2001. We were different Nation then and we are now a different Nation since those attacks. The tragic thing about the 9/11 attacks, is that they became quite politicized. When the attack on Pear Harbor took place and then the subsequent war began; America stopped being Democrats and Republicans; and just started being Americans. The sad thing is that after 9/11, there was a short burst of American patriotism. However, it did not last; there are many reasons for this, I believe the biggest reason is times have changed greatly. I could get into all that, but this blog entry would end up being over 50 pages long.
I think the biggest and best thing that Americans can do for those who perished in World War II is to never forget what happened and to work to ensure that it never happens again. We must ensure that the politics of our Nation or any other Nation gets that sort of ugly point again. This is why I believe that wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are worth every last dime and worth every life lost. There are those that say that fighting that war in Afghanistan is not worth it and that it is another Vietnam. I disagree with that nonsense. ANY War that is worth fighting is worth winning. I just wish those on the Socialist Left realized that as well. There was a time, when Democrats actually believed in fighting wars. This all changed in the late 1960’s with the rise of the socialist and hippy movements. Vietnam was essentially lost because of the socialists that had taken over the Media at the time. Walter Cronkite’s literal lying to the Nation about the Tet Offensivewas a perfect example of that. Thankfully, there were Democrats who crossed over, for whatever reasoning, who still believed in defending this Nation and believed the Wars could be won, and because of that, and because of President’s like Ronald Reagan; we have the great Military we have today. It is my personal hope, that President Barack Obama will continue that respect for our Nation’s Military. Although, as of late President Obama’s performance as a leader, when it comes to the war in Afghanistan has been dismal at best.
Therefore, in conclusion, I simply end with this — May we never forget December 7, 1941. Because to do so, would be a horrible tragedy.
KABUL (AP) – A series of helicopter crashes killed 14 Americans in insurgent-wracked Afghanistan on Monday, the U.S. military said. It was one of the deadliest days of the war for U.S. troops.
In the first crash, a chopper went down in the west of the country after leaving the scene of a firefight with insurgents, killing 10 Americans—seven troops and three civilians working for the government. Eleven American troops, one U.S. civilian and 14 Afghans were also injured.
In a separate incident in the south, two other U.S. choppers collided while in flight, killing four American troops and wounding two more, the military said.
U.S. authorities have ruled out hostile fire in the collision but have not given a cause for the other fatal crash in the west. Taliban spokesman Qari Yusuf Ahmedi claimed Taliban fighters shot down a helicopter in northwest Badghis province’s Darabam district. It was impossible to verify the claim and unclear if he was referring to the same incident.
Only the faint sound of lightly marching feet could be heard as hundreds stood silent on the Greenville-Spartanburg International tarmac Wednesday while fully adorned Marines carried Lance Cpl. Chris Fowlkes’ flag-draped coffin.
The solemn arrival began an afternoon-long procession that ultimately wound through the streets of the 20-year-old Marine’s hometown of Gaffney, where businesses shut down and mourners lined the streets.
The homecoming came six days after the former Gaffney High School football player died in a military hospital in Germany from injuries sustained a week earlier in an explosion in the Helman province of Afghanistan.
Well-wishers waved flags, saluted and shed tears as an army of police cars escorted Fowlkes’ family along the 40-mile stretch from the airport to the town.
Among them were those who knew Fowlkes and remembered his life fondly.
Dan Phillips, a family friend who waited for the escort outside the Blakely Funeral Home in Gaffney where Fowlkes’ body will remain until a memorial service today and burial on Saturday, said that Fowlkes had spoken with his grandmother not long before he was killed.
She had talked with her grandson over the phone, Phillips said, and asked him if he missed being home as school was getting started again.
“He told her, ‘No, I’m right where I want to be,’” Phillips said. “That’s a very powerful statement.”
Indeed it is a powerful statement, many of our finest, bravest and best young men are going and fighting in a war; so that the rest of us can be safe from terrorists, who want to harm this Nation and our people in it. You would think that everyone in this Nation would be proud of something like that, and would want to honor their bravery and sacrifice. Well, it seems that some, in the interest of political correctness, want to dishonor our war dead.
A South Carolina Bank of America branch is drawing criticism Thursday after an employee reportedly ordered the removal of American flags placed to honor a fallen Marine over fears that people would be offended.
The Palmetto Scoop received one eyewitness email claiming that the branch manager at Bank of America’s Gaffney branch at 1602 West Floyd Baker Blvd. “told a citizen who was preparing the route for a U.S. Marine killed in action in Afghanistan by placing small American flags along the roadway that the flags might upset some of her customers.”
Said the outraged tipster, “[The branch manager] took them down and made the citizen go in to get them if she didn’t want them thrown away.”
The flags were part of the funeral procession of Lance Corporal Christopher Fowlkes, 20, who died last week after an explosion in Afghanistan’s Helmand province.
WSPA-TV has also received similar tips about the “flag flap.”
A teller at the branch confirmed to TPS that the branch manager had been there around the time of the incident but had left for the day.
Bank of America released a statement apologizing for the incident and celled it a misunderstanding.
“We want to ensure the community knows how deeply proud we are of the men and women who have sacrificed so much in service to our country,” the statement said. “The bank does fly the American Flag at our locations throughout the country and flags were displayed in front of our banking center in Gaffney the evening prior to our dedicated Marine returning home.”
___________
UPDATE: WCBD in Charleston reports that Bank of America said the incident was a “miscommunication in corporate policy.” That raises the question, which policy would require employees to remove American flags that are part of a funeral procession for a fallen Marine?
Mis-communication my hind leg. Someone in that damned bank was some sort of hippy liberal and was offended by the very damned site of Patriotism.
So should BofA rename their corporation to bank of Russia? Is it Bank of America, or is it not? With whose offense were they worried? Really. Who, exactly, would have come into the bank and demanded that an American flag be removed for a Marine who perished in Afghanistan? And why would Bank of AMERICA have cared?
What corporate policy was in effect? Was this a branch-specific issue, or is there a corporate policy that forbids the displaying of American flags for the fear of causing offense? Who was responsible for removing the flags? Has corporate policy been changed? If so, why was the policy in effect? If not, what is the justification for the policy? Will Bank of AMERICA issue a formal apology to the Fowlkes family first and then to AMERICA?
There are many unanswered questions concerning this ugly incident. I feel that it’s necessary for a BofA official to formally comment on this article to enlighten my readers.
Indeed, I would like Bank of America to enlighten the rest of the Conservative Blogosphere as well. I would like to also see this Branch Manager terminated as well. A simply apology is NOT enough this man needs to be fired from his Job. He disrespected the war dead; there is no excuse, he must go, now.
Here is the contact information for Bank of America Corporate Office:
Bank of America Corporate Center
100 North Tryon Street
Charlotte, North Carolina 28255
Tel: 1.800.432.1000
REMEMBER: Be Civil, No Threats or anything stupid like that! Simply ask to speak to someone in charge; and ask them if they believe that ordering people to remove American Flags respecting the Nation’s War dead is acceptable corporate policy and if not, why they would continue employ someone who would feel that way; and why they would allow this to happen. You could also kindly suggest that if this person was not terminated that you would take your business and money elsewhere.
