Post by aleamon98 on Aug 26, 2009 14:41:15 GMT -5
Kelia Beard, who was married to Sam Parker in the late 1980s, testified this morning that that Sam once held her down with a gun and threatened to kill her.
Beard said the first three years of their marriage was normal and Sam never hit her.
“Something snapped. He was not the person I married,” she said.
Sam Parker’s trial began Monday, Aug. 17, in Walker County Superior Court in downtown LaFayette before Judge Jon “Bo” Wood. It is expected to last three weeks.
The jury, consisting of nine women and six men (including three alternates), was picked the previous week from Bartow County. It is not being sequestered. The jurors are being bused daily to and from Bartow.
Sam is accused of killing Theresa Parker, who was last seen on March 21, 2007. Her body has never been found.
The couple were in the process of getting a divorce and moving out of their house on Cor-dell Avenue in LaFayette. Theresa was in the process of moving to an apartment in Fort Oglethorpe. Sam was staying in the house of his recently deceased father; the house was in Trion. At the time Sam was a sergeant with the LaFayette Police Department.
Beard and Sam Parker were married from 1986 to 1990.
Beard said she once confronted him about a woman she saw him talking to in front of a convenience store while he was on duty. She said Sam became very defensive, threw a glass of water on the kitchen floor, grabbed her by the back of her hair, dragged her bare feet across the broken glass and pulled her into the bedroom, where he handcuffed her to the bed.
Beard said she did not report the incident because she was afraid, embarrassed and didn’t want anyone to know.
She recalled another incident, in December 1989, while they were separated but not di-vorced. She said Sam came into the house, using a key, while he was on duty. She said Sam began to accuse her of cheating on him.
Beard said Sam took out his police revolver, got on top of her on the couch, placed the gun to her temple, and threatened to shoot her.
She said Sam told a friend of hers that he could kill her, get rid of her body, and no one would ever find her.
District attorney Leigh Patterson asked Beard why she didn’t call police. “Well, he was the police,” Beard replied.
Beard recalled times when Sam parked outside her residence and watched her.
Patterson asked why she did not put all of these incidences in the divorce papers and Beard said, “I didn’t want my personal life and tragedies on display.”
Beard said that after Sam pulled her daughter over once, she had had enough and con-tacted the late police chief Charles “Dino” Richardson and requested a meeting to discuss Sam’s conduct. Beard said law enforcement never disciplined Sam or fired him for his ac-tions as a police officer.
www.catwalkchatt.com/pages/full_story/push?article-Sam+Parker+murder+trial-+day+8-+Former+wife+says+Sam+threatened+to+kill+her%20&id=3265622-Sam+Parker+murder+trial-+day+8-+Former+wife+says+Sam+threatened+to+kill+her&instance=home_news_1st_left
Beard said the first three years of their marriage was normal and Sam never hit her.
“Something snapped. He was not the person I married,” she said.
Sam Parker’s trial began Monday, Aug. 17, in Walker County Superior Court in downtown LaFayette before Judge Jon “Bo” Wood. It is expected to last three weeks.
The jury, consisting of nine women and six men (including three alternates), was picked the previous week from Bartow County. It is not being sequestered. The jurors are being bused daily to and from Bartow.
Sam is accused of killing Theresa Parker, who was last seen on March 21, 2007. Her body has never been found.
The couple were in the process of getting a divorce and moving out of their house on Cor-dell Avenue in LaFayette. Theresa was in the process of moving to an apartment in Fort Oglethorpe. Sam was staying in the house of his recently deceased father; the house was in Trion. At the time Sam was a sergeant with the LaFayette Police Department.
Beard and Sam Parker were married from 1986 to 1990.
Beard said she once confronted him about a woman she saw him talking to in front of a convenience store while he was on duty. She said Sam became very defensive, threw a glass of water on the kitchen floor, grabbed her by the back of her hair, dragged her bare feet across the broken glass and pulled her into the bedroom, where he handcuffed her to the bed.
Beard said she did not report the incident because she was afraid, embarrassed and didn’t want anyone to know.
She recalled another incident, in December 1989, while they were separated but not di-vorced. She said Sam came into the house, using a key, while he was on duty. She said Sam began to accuse her of cheating on him.
Beard said Sam took out his police revolver, got on top of her on the couch, placed the gun to her temple, and threatened to shoot her.
She said Sam told a friend of hers that he could kill her, get rid of her body, and no one would ever find her.
District attorney Leigh Patterson asked Beard why she didn’t call police. “Well, he was the police,” Beard replied.
Beard recalled times when Sam parked outside her residence and watched her.
Patterson asked why she did not put all of these incidences in the divorce papers and Beard said, “I didn’t want my personal life and tragedies on display.”
Beard said that after Sam pulled her daughter over once, she had had enough and con-tacted the late police chief Charles “Dino” Richardson and requested a meeting to discuss Sam’s conduct. Beard said law enforcement never disciplined Sam or fired him for his ac-tions as a police officer.
www.catwalkchatt.com/pages/full_story/push?article-Sam+Parker+murder+trial-+day+8-+Former+wife+says+Sam+threatened+to+kill+her%20&id=3265622-Sam+Parker+murder+trial-+day+8-+Former+wife+says+Sam+threatened+to+kill+her&instance=home_news_1st_left