Guilty verdict in missing dispatcher case

By Staff

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The Associated Press

Lafayette, Ga. — A former LaFayette police officer who was charged with murder after his estranged wife disappeared in 2007 was found guilty Thursday and sentenced to life in prison.

Sam Parker was also found guilty on a charge of making false statements and violating his oath as a public officer.

His wife, former 911 dispatch operator Theresa Parker, was last seen leaving her sister's home on the night of March 21, 2007. Her body has never been found.

Theresa Parker's family wept softly in their seats but the courtroom was otherwise silent as the verdict was read.

The jury of six men and six women deliberated for three days. They found Parker was innocent of a charge of computer invasion of privacy.

Walker County Superior Court Judge Jon "Bo" Wood said Parker would spend the rest of his life in prison on the murder charge and five years on the other two charges.

He gave the defendant a chance to speak before the sentence was handed down, but Parker said he did not want to say anything.

The couple was in the midst of getting a divorce when the woman disappeared and family members said they had a history of domestic problems.

Sam Parker was fired from the LaFayette Police Department a couple of months after the disappearance for having explosives in his locker at work. He had been with the department about 25 years.

Prosecutors built their case around circumstantial evidence, developing a timeline showing how Parker could have committed the crime and disposed of the body.

The defense case centered around the lack of any direct evidence that Theresa Parker had been harmed or that her husband had anything to do with her disappearance.

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Information from: Chattanooga Times Free Press, http://www.timesfreepress.com