The Plum LineGreg Sargent’s blog
Suicide Not Ruled Out For Dead Census Worker; He Was In Contact With The Ground
I’ve got some more detail for you on the case of the Bill Sparkman, the U.S. census worker who was found dead of hanging, reportedly with the word “fed” scrawled on his chest:
1) Kentucky state police have not ruled out the possibility that the death was a suicide or even that it was accidental, according to police spokesman Don Trosper.
2) His death has been ruled “asphyxia,” Trosper said in an interview. “There was a rope around his neck. It was attached to a tree,” Trosper continued, adding this intriguing detail: “He was in contact with the ground.”
That raises the possibilty that the cause of death was not hanging. Asked if this were possible, Trosper said: “Nothing is being ruled out.”
3) Trosper said the initial AP story on the death contains “flaws and errors.” That means it’s possible that the AP’s claim, based on an anonymous source, that he had the word “fed” scrawled on his chest could be false. Asked if that were the case, Trosper declined to comment.
So that’s where we are. Much more from Zachary Roth in his very useful rundown on where the case stands.
WOW. Thanks for the update!