Franklin County

Police: Census worker made death look like homicide to get money



Sparkman had survived a bout with cancer a few years ago, but he told a friend he believed the cancer had returned and that he would die, police said.

However, there was no indication Sparkman's cancer had recurred, said Cristin Rolf, deputy state medical examiner.

In a two-month investigation, police marshaled a number of reasons to conclude Sparkman ended his own life. Among other things, only Sparkman's DNA was found on evidence at the scene, and he had told a friend details of his plan that matched what happened, police said at a news conference Tuesday.

Police interviewed potential homicide suspects but ruled them out and found no evidence pointing to any conclusion except that Sparkman killed himself.

"We do believe that we have everything we need to rule out homicide and accidental" death, said state police Capt. Lisa Rudzinski, who helped direct the investigation.

The benefits under Sparkman's two insurance policies totaled $600,000. Police declined to say who would have gotten the money, though Sparkman's son Josh, 20, has said he was a beneficiary.

Bill Sparkman was last seen on Sept. 9, a Wednesday. The prior Saturday, he had told a friend, whom police did not name, of his plan to hang himself near a cemetery in Clay County.

The friend said he didn't think Sparkman was serious and so didn't tell anyone about the conversation before Sparkman died, said state police Detective Donald Wilson, the lead investigator.

Sparkman's body was found Sept. 12 in a clearing near a family cemetery. People visiting the hillside cemetery saw the body.

Sparkman was wearing only socks, and there was a rope around his neck tied to a tree. The word "fed" was written on his chest with black marker in letters 12 to 14 inches high, and his census identification card was taped to his head.

Sparkman died at that spot as a result of asphyxiation. Police say he staged the details to try to make it appear he was murdered because he was a federal employee.

He succeeded in some quarters.

In addition to causing a firestorm of media coverage, the bizarre details led to widespread speculation on the Internet, including that someone angry at the federal government attacked Sparkman as he gathered census information door to door.

There has been a long-running federal public-corruption investigation in Clay County, and Sparkman mentioned that to his friend, said FBI spokesman David Beyer.


"Everybody was saying, 'It's bad, but why are they saying this without letting the investigation go forward?' " said state Sen. Robert Stivers, a Republican who lives in the county.


The census suspended some work in Clay County after Sparkman's death. The agency has been notified of the findings in Sparkman's death and plans to resume normal operations, Beyer said.

If there had been no writing on his chest and his identification hadn't been taped to him, police could have concluded more quickly that Sparkman's death was a suicide, Rudzinski told the Herald-Leader.

Instead, it took considerably more investigation to rule out homicide. Investigators even analyzed the writing on Sparkman's chest to see how the letters were applied and determine whether he wrote on himself or someone else wrote on him.


Authorities cited a number of reasons supporting the conclusion that Sparkman killed himself.











"We do not believe he was placed in that position" by someone else, Rudzinski said.

The final piece of evidence police wanted in order to reach a conclusion in the case were the results of DNA testing. The results, received last week, showed there was no DNA other than Sparkman's on the rope, the rag in his mouth or a similar rag found near his body.

Authorities say they don't think there was any single event that triggered Sparkman to take his own life, but rather a combination of problems. He had significant debt and didn't have a full-time job, Rudzinski said.

Sparkman, a native of Florida, had moved to Laurel County to work with the Boy Scouts of America. In addition to working part-time for the census, he was a substitute teacher.

He had gotten a degree to teach math but had not been hired full-time.

In addition to the insurance considerations, Sparkman might have been trying to spare his family from thinking he killed himself, Rudzinski said, though he left no note so there is no way to know exactly what he was thinking.

"Every suicide is that person's way of saying good-bye, ending their life," Rudzinski said.

Josh Sparkman, whom Sparkman, a single father, adopted and raised, declined to comment Tuesday. He earlier had said he didn't think his father killed himself.

Bill Sparkman's mother, Henrie Sparkman of Inverness, Fla., told the Associated Press Tuesday that she disagreed with the conclusion of suicide.

Investigators said they were confident in their findings. State police, the FBI, the medical examiner's office and the Clay County coroner agreed with the suicide conclusion.

"We did a thorough and complete investigation of all aspects surrounding Mr. Sparkman's death," Rudzinski said.

Authorities said they sympathized with the Sparkman family.

"Our hearts go out to him," Rudzinski said of Josh Sparkman. "He still lost his father at the end of the day."

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