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Wednesday, November 11, 2026Nov 11

Family relieved convicted killer Sam Parker denied new trial

photo Sam Parker enters Judge Jon “Bo” Wood’s courtroom on a motion for a new trial hearing in Walker County Superior Court in LaFayette, Ga., on April 12. Parker on Monday was denied a new trial in the death of his dispatcher wife, Theresa, in 2009. Her body was found in 2010.

Since Theresa Parker’s body was found and buried in a LaFayette, Ga., cemetery in 2010, her relatives hoped they wouldn’t have to relive how she died and face her killer again.

But when ex-LaFayette police officer Sam Parker went before a judge and asked for a new trial more than a week ago, Jon Wilson and his wife, Hilda, were nervous.

“We just knew there wasn’t a whole lot of chance,” said Wilson, Theresa’s brother-in-law. “[But] there’s a chance for everything.”

When he learned Monday morning that a judge had denied Sam Parker’s motion for a new trial, he hurried to tell his wife.

“That’s great news,” he shouted.