LaFAYETTE, Ga. — Two employees of a Gatlinburg, Tenn., lodge testified this morning that Theresa Parker stayed there the week before she disappeared.
They gave testimony in Walker County Superior Court, where Sam Parker is on trial for murder in his wife’s 2007 disappearance.
District Attorney Leigh Patterson asked the workers whether Mr. Parker had called while his wife was a guest.
The witnesses testified said Mr. Parker called the lodge, identified himself as a police officer doing an investigation and requested information about who stayed at the lodge. One employee said she did eventually fax Mr. Parker his wife's cabin confirmation.
Ms. Patterson said that Mr. Parker was enraged because he thought Mrs. Parker took a man with her to Gatlinburg.
The employees testified that they only saw Mrs. Parker by herself. But Mr. Parker’s attorney, David Dunn, said the cabin where she stayed was secluded and they might not know if a man joined Mrs. Parker there.
The court took a lunch break after the employees’ testimony. LaFayette police officer Kenny Carreathers is scheduled to testify after lunch.
Later in the trial, former LaFayette police officer Harbin “Ben” Chaffin will testify against Mr. Parker, his one-time co-worker, Ms. Patterson said in opening statements this morning.
Mr. Chaffin was charged with three felonies, including one connected with allegations that he helped Mr. Parker break into Mrs. Parker’s e-mail.
The Walker County 911 dispatch operator was last seen on March 21, 2007. Despite massive searches, her body has never been found.
Mr. Parker also faces three other felony charges, but Mr. Dunn said in his own opening statement that there’s no evidence Mr. Parker committed a crime.
A jury of nine women and six men that was chosen last week in Bartow County began hearing the case this morning in Walker County Superior Court.
The Times Free Press will update this case through the day.
See Tuesday’s Times Free Press for complete coverage.
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