Post by aleamon98 on Aug 19, 2009 18:18:48 GMT -5
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A former policeman testified Tuesday that Sam Parker told him he shot his wife and buried her.
Ben Chaffin, who worked with Parker, said Sam told him in a phone call, “I really did it this time” and that he had shot Theresa Parker through the head.
Sam Parker’s trial began Monday in Walker County Superior Court in downtown LaFayette before Judge Jon “Bo” Wood. It is expected to last three weeks.
Parker is accused of killing his wife, Theresa, who has been missing since March 21, 2007, and whose body has not been found.
The phone call occurred about that time, Chaffin said.
The couple were in the process of getting a divorce and were not living together. At the time Sam was a sergeant with the LaFayette Police Department.
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.
In early April 2007, Chaffin, a corporal with the LaFayette Police Department and a good friend of Sam, was arrested for making false statements to investigators in the Parker case.
In late July 2007, Chaffin was charged with tampering with evidence, violation of oath by public officer, and computer invasion of privacy. He was released out of jail on bond.
Chaffin has been given immunity for his testimony.
Chaffin said Sam told him he buried her in a “place that no one can find.”
“He said that if I told anybody, he would kill me,” Chaffin said.
Chaffin said the phone call ended but Sam called back and threatened him again — if he “told anybody, he would kill me.”
Chaffin said he cut off the phone, threw it across the bed, and he was crying and scared.
Chaffin said he did not contact anyone about the call and that he feared Sam.
Chaffin said he did not recall the next day his conversation with Sam. When he saw Sam at work, he did not recollect the conversation, nor did he until he was questioned by an in-vestigator.
Another witness Tuesday testified that Sam called Chaffin twice on the phone.
Kristy Bellflower, who took the stand before Chaffin, said Sam was at her apartment at LaFayette Housing Authority from late evening on March 21, 2007, to early morning March 22.
Bellflower said Sam used her cell phone twice to call Chaffin.
Public defender David Dunn pointed out that Sam visited Bellflower from about 1:30 a.m. to about 5 a.m. on March 22. Phone records show that Sam’s first call to Chaffin lasted about 4 minutes while the second one lasted about 6 seconds.
The court adjourned for lunch.
# WATCH VIDEO from Chattanooga’s News Channel 12 (WDEF)
Chaffin returned to the stand after lunch recess.
Public defender David Dunn pointed to transcripts in which Chaffin’s story change.
Chaffin’s first interview was with GBI special agent James Harris on March 27, 2007.
Dunn pointed out that Chaffin did not talk about the phone calls he received from Sam. Chaffin said he did not disclose that information to Harris because he forgot.
“So the first opportunity to tell, you forgot?” Dunn asked.
“I forgot, correct,” Chaffin replied.
Chaffin first mentioned Sam’s calls in a second interview with Harris, but did not men-tion that Sam said he had killed his wife.
It was not until a third interview, with another investigator, that Chaffin talked about Sam’s claim that he killed Theresa.
Dunn asked Chaffin if the prosecution was offering him a deal — to point the finger at Sam for a “get-out-of-jail-free card.”
“You agree that you have given five or six different versions?” Dunn asked.
“Yes, sir,” Chaffin replied.
Dunn read off all of Chaffin’s possible charges and said they added up to 28 possible years in prison.
Next to the stand was Rhonda Knox, a dispatcher with Walker County 911 and a close friend of Theresa.
“She was a very private person. … She began to confide in me,” Knox said.
Sam and Theresa’s relationship worsened around February-March 2007.
Knox said that Theresa told her, when she went to Gatlinburg, she was enjoying her pri-vacy and she knew she was going to leave Sam. The two women talked multiple times over the phone during Theresa’s stay in Gatlinburg, Knox said.
Knox said Theresa gave her wedding ring and jewelry back to Sam after the split.
A former policeman testified Tuesday that Sam Parker told him he shot his wife and buried her.
Ben Chaffin, who worked with Parker, said Sam told him in a phone call, “I really did it this time” and that he had shot Theresa Parker through the head.
Sam Parker’s trial began Monday in Walker County Superior Court in downtown LaFayette before Judge Jon “Bo” Wood. It is expected to last three weeks.
Parker is accused of killing his wife, Theresa, who has been missing since March 21, 2007, and whose body has not been found.
The phone call occurred about that time, Chaffin said.
The couple were in the process of getting a divorce and were not living together. At the time Sam was a sergeant with the LaFayette Police Department.
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.
In early April 2007, Chaffin, a corporal with the LaFayette Police Department and a good friend of Sam, was arrested for making false statements to investigators in the Parker case.
In late July 2007, Chaffin was charged with tampering with evidence, violation of oath by public officer, and computer invasion of privacy. He was released out of jail on bond.
Chaffin has been given immunity for his testimony.
Chaffin said Sam told him he buried her in a “place that no one can find.”
“He said that if I told anybody, he would kill me,” Chaffin said.
Chaffin said the phone call ended but Sam called back and threatened him again — if he “told anybody, he would kill me.”
Chaffin said he cut off the phone, threw it across the bed, and he was crying and scared.
Chaffin said he did not contact anyone about the call and that he feared Sam.
Chaffin said he did not recall the next day his conversation with Sam. When he saw Sam at work, he did not recollect the conversation, nor did he until he was questioned by an in-vestigator.
Another witness Tuesday testified that Sam called Chaffin twice on the phone.
Kristy Bellflower, who took the stand before Chaffin, said Sam was at her apartment at LaFayette Housing Authority from late evening on March 21, 2007, to early morning March 22.
Bellflower said Sam used her cell phone twice to call Chaffin.
Public defender David Dunn pointed out that Sam visited Bellflower from about 1:30 a.m. to about 5 a.m. on March 22. Phone records show that Sam’s first call to Chaffin lasted about 4 minutes while the second one lasted about 6 seconds.
The court adjourned for lunch.
# WATCH VIDEO from Chattanooga’s News Channel 12 (WDEF)
Chaffin returned to the stand after lunch recess.
Public defender David Dunn pointed to transcripts in which Chaffin’s story change.
Chaffin’s first interview was with GBI special agent James Harris on March 27, 2007.
Dunn pointed out that Chaffin did not talk about the phone calls he received from Sam. Chaffin said he did not disclose that information to Harris because he forgot.
“So the first opportunity to tell, you forgot?” Dunn asked.
“I forgot, correct,” Chaffin replied.
Chaffin first mentioned Sam’s calls in a second interview with Harris, but did not men-tion that Sam said he had killed his wife.
It was not until a third interview, with another investigator, that Chaffin talked about Sam’s claim that he killed Theresa.
Dunn asked Chaffin if the prosecution was offering him a deal — to point the finger at Sam for a “get-out-of-jail-free card.”
“You agree that you have given five or six different versions?” Dunn asked.
“Yes, sir,” Chaffin replied.
Dunn read off all of Chaffin’s possible charges and said they added up to 28 possible years in prison.
Next to the stand was Rhonda Knox, a dispatcher with Walker County 911 and a close friend of Theresa.
“She was a very private person. … She began to confide in me,” Knox said.
Sam and Theresa’s relationship worsened around February-March 2007.
Knox said that Theresa told her, when she went to Gatlinburg, she was enjoying her pri-vacy and she knew she was going to leave Sam. The two women talked multiple times over the phone during Theresa’s stay in Gatlinburg, Knox said.
Knox said Theresa gave her wedding ring and jewelry back to Sam after the split.