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What happened to census worker Bill Sparkman?

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The mysterious death of a part-time census taker in Appalachia sparked a media frenzy and led to a widespread halt in the U.S. Census Bureau’s field work. Every now and then, cases emerge that are threatening enough to capture the public’s attention, and this was one of those cases.

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In September 2009, William Sparkman’s lifeless body was found hanging from a tree in a rural cemetery. The word “FED” was scrawled across his chest. He was bound with duct tape and his Census Bureau ID card was taped to his face.

The outrageous scene sparked wild rumors in the close-knit community of Clay County, Kentucky, that quickly spread like wildfire across the country. Were federal employees the victims of a murder? Accident, suicide or murder — Ventilation Saturdays at 8/7c At oxygen – has reopened the case and interviewed police officers, friends and Sparkman’s adult son Josh, who is still in shock over the events.

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What happened to Bill Sparkman?

His death “raises all kinds of questions,” recalls Tom Bell, a retired cybercrime investigator for the Kentucky Attorney General’s Office. Sparkman was a single father and popular teaching assistant who lived a quiet life and had no enemies.

He was found with a rope around his neck, which was looped around a branch, hurled to another tree, and then tied to a third tree. A red rag was taped in his mouth, and there was tape “from ear to ear holding his glasses in place,” Bell noted. He was completely naked except for his socks.

“William had his census card taped to his face. That combined with the word Fed made everyone wonder if someone was trying to send a message to law enforcement and send it through him,” Bell explained. Before his death, Sparkman had been assigned to a new area riddled with crime and drugs. “There was real concern that he might have encountered illegal activity… and they’re not going to differentiate between a census worker and a federal agent.”

Police suspect robbery

While Sparkman’s body was being autopsied, police collected evidence from the cemetery and sent it to forensics. They found red rags from the ground that matched the gag in his mouth. Sparkman’s red pickup truck nearby appeared to have been looted: his gun, cell phone and laptop were all missing, raising suspicions of a robbery. “I didn’t know why someone would do that to my dad. He didn’t have a problem with anyone,” his son Josh said, noting that Sparkman bought his first gun shortly after being sent to a more dangerous area.

The autopsy revealed few clues. There were no defensive wounds or bruises on his body, and toxicology tests showed that he was not under the influence of drugs. The fractures in his neck suggested he had been hanged. But there was one mysterious injury: Sparkman had a “healing” fracture in his neck. The police didn’t know what to do with it at the time.

Who was Bill Sparkman?

His colleague and friend Beverly Johnson described Sparkman as a “gentle person” and a “math genius.” A Florida native, he loved the outdoors and devoted his childhood to the Boy Scouts. Later, as an adult, he even made a career in the Boy Scouts. Johnson revealed that Sparkman had always dreamed of becoming a father, so he adopted two-year-old Josh in 1991. The couple moved to London, Kentucky, where he found work as a teaching assistant at the school his son attended.

“As a single dad, you really have to work hard,” Beverly said, so he took extra work at the Census Bureau and went door-to-door. His real goal, however, was to become a middle school math teacher.

Unfortunately, a health disaster struck. He was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. “He seemed very strong and thought he was going to be OK, but we were devastated. He wanted to live for Josh,” Beverly said.

While Sparkman underwent grueling chemotherapy, he returned to school and graduated at the top of his class. Miraculously, his cancer regressed a year later. “He was just thrilled. He was one step closer to his dream of becoming a full-time teacher,” recalls his son Josh.

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Josh and his childhood best friend come under suspicion

Josh showed up for questioning with police holding a letter given to him by his uncle, which he described as “a letter just in case… kind of like a will” that Sparkman had written when he was suffering from cancer. Investigators were shocked to learn that Josh would receive a $350,000 insurance settlement after Sparkman died.

“They just came out and asked, ‘Did you kill your father?’ I was insulted,” Josh said, angry at the memory. “The adoption agency required him to take out a life insurance policy with me as the beneficiary,” he explained. Josh had a strong alibi and was ruled out as a suspect. But police weren’t finished with their investigation into Sparkman’s finances.

There was a second life insurance policy for $300,000 in the name of Lowell Adams, Josh’s best friend and former Boy Scout colleague. The young man had recently begun accompanying Sparkman as a sort of bodyguard on his census trips to the more dangerous areas. The policy was taken out around the same time.

When police questioned Lowell, he revealed some secret information that only police knew from the autopsy: Sparkman’s body had been hanging around undiscovered for several days. His true date of death had not been publicly released, but Lowell knew it was September 9. Lowell was suddenly at the top of the suspect list.

Lowell reveals Sparkman’s secret plan

When he returned to the station for a lie detector test, Lowell admitted he had lied to police. He said Sparkman claimed the cancer had returned and that was why he planned suicide and needed Lowell’s help. Lowell wanted nothing to do with it and turned him away on September 9 – the day the coroner believed Sparkman had really died.

“He had practiced putting bags over his head and he managed to pass out,” Bell said. The healing fracture in his cervical vertebrae supported this theory.

But something was wrong with the authorities, including the FBI. They had called in the FBI because they feared that this might be part of a larger plot against federal employees.

“If that were true, the life insurance policy would be void and Lowell would have lost $300,000. Why would someone do something like that?” Bell asked.

Josh couldn’t believe the story either. He thought about it: “He fought cancer; he fought for his life. He was sick for days, lying there and suffering and suffering. If you wanted to take your own life, why did you fight cancer? Why didn’t you just let it kill you?”

To make matters even more complicated, his autopsy revealed that he was cancer-free.

What was Sparkman’s motive for suicide?

When investigators took a closer look at the crime scene at the cemetery, it turned out that the suspicion of suicide was not as far-fetched as it initially seemed.

No “foreign” DNA was found from the car to the rope, only Sparkman’s. One expert noted that the word “FED” was written from bottom to top, supporting the idea that he wrote it on his own body. “The shackles on the hands were actually about shoulder width apart, which would still have given him incredible range of motion,” Bell added. And Josh said his father, as a Boy Scout leader, had excellent knot-tying skills.

“When you start going through these things piece by piece … and then all that’s left is William,” said former police officer Stacy Walker, adding: “All the evidence led to the conclusion that he acted alone and committed suicide.”

The final piece of the puzzle – his motive – came to light when investigators learned he was in debt and had recently been denied a job as a full-time math teacher. His life insurance wouldn’t pay out if he committed suicide or died of cancer, so he used his status as a federal employee to fake a murder.

“It felt as dark as if someone had killed him because the crime scene preparation was so meticulous,” said local journalist Tara Kaprowy. “It was a loss in every way. The insurance policies never paid out. The house was foreclosed on. Josh hasn’t had an easy time since then. It’s just been difficult for everyone.”

“He was everything to me. He made me who I am,” Josh said. “When my father died, I lost a mentor, a friend, my shining example.”

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