Was Bill Sparkman Murdered on the Job or Did He Do Himself In?

"Our investigation, based on evidence and witness testimony, has concluded that Mr. Sparkman died during an intentional, self-inflicted act that was staged to appear as a homicide," Kentucky State Police Capt. Lisa Rudzinski said.

Investigators said that prior to his death Bill Sparkman had talked about suicide and about anti-government sentiment in the rural area where he worked.

Sparkman's mother, Henrie Sparkman of Inverness, Fla., bristled at the conclusion: "I disagree!"

Sparkman also had recently taken out two accidental life insurance policies totaling $600,000 that would not pay out for suicide, authorities said. One policy was taken out in late 2008; the other in May.

If Sparkman had been killed on the job, his family also would have been be eligible for up to $10,000 in death gratuity payments from the government.

Sparkman's son, Josh, previously told that his father had named him as his life insurance beneficiary. Josh Sparkman said earlier this month he found paperwork for the private life insurance policy among his father's personal files but wasn't sure of the amount. Police wouldn't say who the beneficiary was.

Then Sparkman had an ingrown toenail removed in September 2007, he asked his doctor a cyst he had developed on the side of his neck.

"I'd had a cyst removed on the back of my neck before," he said. "I didn't think anything about this one either."

But when Sparkman showed his doctor the growth, he was concerned.

"As soon as he saw it, I went to the hospital," Sparkman said. Sparkman underwent testing for two days and then waited 45 days to get the results. He relied on teaching to keep him distracted from his worry.

"Being at school was really good," he said. "When I was out teaching it wasn't in my mind."

When the results came in, Sparkman was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, cancer of the lymphatic system. It was in Stage 3. He was prescribed six sessions of chemotherapy, which started about a year ago and would continue for several months. All the while, he continued student teaching.

"It never affected me," he said of the chemo. "I never had any sickness. I would get tired for a couple days after a treatment and, of course, the hair."

Bill Sparkman was a single parent to son Josh. He needed to supplement his income. Having to scrape together extra bucks working multiple jobs to supplement meager to nonexistent retirement income, he took on a part-time position with the U.S. Census Bureau.

Jerry Weaver of Fairfield, Ohio, found Bill's body hanging from a tree. Weaver said the body was about 50 yards from a 2003 Chevrolet S-10 pickup truck. He said Sparkman's clothes were in the bed of the truck.

"His tailgate was down," Weaver said. "I thought he could have been killed somewhere else and brought there and hanged up for display, or they actually could have killed him right there. It was a bad, bad scene.

The only thing he had on was a pair of socks. Someone had duct-taped his hands, his wrists. He had duct tape over his eyes, and they gagged him with a red rag. They even had duct tape around his neck. They had like his identification tag on his neck. They had it duct-taped to the side of his neck, on the right side, almost on his right shoulder."

Weaver said he couldn't tell if the tag was a Census Bureau I.D. He said he didn't get close enough to read it. The word "Fed" scrawled across his chest.

Authorities said Sparkman alone manipulated the suicide scene, which was so elaborate that a man who discovered the body was convinced Sparkman was murdered.

Rudzinski said Sparkman "told a credible witness that he planned to commit suicide and provided details on how and when."

Authorities wouldn't say who Sparkman told of his plan, but said Sparkman talked about it a week before his suicide and the person did not take him seriously. He told the person he believed his lymphoma, which he had previously been treated for, had recurred, police said.