Post by aleamon98 on Aug 29, 2009 15:29:58 GMT -5
Sam Parker
Sam Parker
slideshow
The defense in the Sam Parker murder trial rested its case this morning.
Presiding Judge Jon “Bo” Wood convened court for the day and dismissed the jury until Monday.
Wood told the jury, “We are ahead of schedule,” and advised jurors not to investigate or discuss the case with anyone.
Closing arguments are scheduled for Monday.
Meanwhile, Sam Parker told the judge this morning that he did not plan to take the stand in his murder trial.
Following a court break, Judge Wood advised Parker to consult with his attorney, public defender David Dunn, and to follow Dunn’s advice not to testify in his own trial. Sam agreed and said he does not plan to testify. The discussion took less than a minute.
Neighbor says she saw strange men at Sam’s house
A neighbor of Sam’s testified Friday that she saw two strange men in a pickup truck at Sam’s house on Cordell Avenue on March 22, 2007, the day after Theresa was last seen.
Martha Lewis said the men were in a “beige-cream-color” truck at the Parker residence about 5 p.m. on that day.
She said the men were medium-built and in their 30s, approaching the Parkers’ garage.
Lewis said one of the men told her, “You don’t need to be around there.” She said she be-came afraid and left. She never saw them again.
She said she returned to Sam’s residence to tell him what she saw. She said Sam stopped her from saying too much and told her he would contact police, so she could give them her information.
Lewis said she kept a daily journal and showed three detectives what she had entered about the incident in her journal. She gave a formal statement, which took about 15-20 min-utes, she said.
Lewis said no investigator had contacted her since, until the public defender’s office did so, to ask her to be a witness for the defense.
District attorney Leigh Patterson cross-examined Lewis and pointed out that in her origi-nal statement she actually saw a “silvery-gray” pickup truck.
Patterson said that, in her original statement, Lewis said that Sam had a “white” pickup truck and Patterson said that Sam’s truck was actually “silver.”
Next to the stand was Sam’s first ex-wife, Denise Parker, an antiques dealer. She said Sam was quiet, gentle and loving to her.
She said that, on a trip to the tax office Sam believed he would get a tax refund; but he did not and that that upset him. She said Sam gave her a “mean look that was chilling” and that was the first time she was ever afraid of him and it was over taxes.
www.catwalkchatt.com/pages/full_story/push?article-Defense+rests+on+day+10+of+Sam+Parker+murder+trial-+closing+arguments+Monday%20&id=3306468-Defense+rests+on+day+10+of+Sam+Parker+murder+trial-+closing+arguments+Monday&instance=home_news_1st_left