Sheep dogs versus wolves
* Mr. Parker shared his philosophy about police officers with fellow officer Stacy Meeks. The philosophy is based on a book that describes a policeman like a sheep dog, citizens like sheep and criminals like wolves.
"(Mr. Parker) said basically as a sheep dog, you have more in common with a wolf and that it is a fine line that separates the wolf from a sheep dog," Mr. Meeks said.
In an interview with the Chattanooga Times Free Press in December 2008, Mr. Parker said he was being unfairly targeted by law enforcement and that he was "the only sheep, and they're the wolves."
LaFAYETTE, Ga. -- Former LaFayette police officer Sam Parker could make friends laugh until their sides hurt, but he also could scare his wife so much that she carried a gun for protection.
The former police sergeant is charged with killing his wife, Walker County 911 operator Theresa Parker, who was last heard from on March 21, 2007. During the first week of Mr. Parker's murder trial, witnesses described two different aspects of the longtime officer.
The second week of the trial, which is expected to last about three weeks, begins this morning at the Walker County Courthouse in Superior Court.
Dozens of witnesses testified in the trial's first week, relating their experiences with Mr. Parker. Coworkers, friends and neighbors described a man who could be helpful and kind but also threatening and jealous.
Witnesses described him as a outdoorsman, animal lover and jokester. But witnesses also described Mr. Parker's manipulative, controlling and dishonest behavior. He was described as a civil servant and a raging alcoholic, a man who saved a child's life heroically but who also boasted insensitively about killing and laughed about domestic violence.
Public defender David Dunn, who is representing Mr. Parker, said in his opening statement that his client served his city honorably and heroically for 26 years.
"He was rewarded with numerous awards. He saved lives, plunged into a burning building, saved the life of an infant who was choking to death," Mr. Dunn told the jury.
In her opening statement, District Attorney Leigh Patterson described Mr. Parker's history of violence during his 13-year marriage to Mrs. Parker and said that he is responsible for her death.
Toward the end of the first week of the trial, she told Judge Jon "Bo" Wood that Mr. Parker's boss, deceased LaFayette Police Chief Charles "Dino" Richardson, overlooked much of Mr. Parker's inappropriate, unprofessional and unstable behavior.
"He should have been dealt with a long time ago," she said.
While Ms. Patterson maintains that Mr. Parker has a long history of abusive relationships, which is supported by testimony, Mr. Dunn told the jury that much of the prosecution's information is in dispute.
Friend and fellow LaFayette officer Stacy Meeks said that Mr. Parker identified the irony of being unstable but also responsible for enforcing the law by bragging about being told by a psychiatrist that he was homicidal and suicidal.
"He made a statement that, a few weeks ago, he was wearing pajamas and eating tapioca pudding and now he is on the streets carrying a gun," Mr. Meeks said.
When Ms. Patterson played a conversation between Mr. Parker and his wife's friend Rebecca Brown the day before Mrs. Parker disappeared, the defendant contradicted himself.
He was convinced his wife was having an affair and that he knew she had wanted a divorce for sometime. He also expressed shock at the dissolution of his marriage.
The night that Mrs. Parker disappeared, the defendant spent several hours with Christy Bellflower, who testified that she and Mr. Parker kissed that night.
Ben Chaffin, who also testified that Mr. Parker confessed to murdering his wife, said Mr. Parker called him to brag about Mrs. Bellflowers' body and said that he was at her house.
I have been watching the trial and it amazing at how much stuff supposed professional law enfarcement types have forgotten, deny saying or just plain seem to lie about during testimony. This "trial" is a joke and Sam may get found not guilty by the stupidity of some of the dummies testifying. This is sad, but I suppose you can't expect better form an area with the likes of thugs like freeman and liars like wilson setting the example for their inferiors, at least in title. Sam knows what he did, too bad he isn't man enough to admit it, coward.
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