Trial Underway in Dispatcher’s Murder

Jurors from adjacent Bartow County (Geo.) are hearing testimony in the trial of Sam Parker, accused of murdering Walker County sheriff’s dispatcher Theresa Parker in March 2007. Parker disappeared and her body has never been found, but the prosecutor believes he has enough evidence to convict Parker, a former LaFayette police officer. Publicity about the case, including weeks of searching by sheriff’s deputies and citizens, convinced the Superior Court judge to use jurors from another county, although the trial is being held in LaFayette. So far, testimony has laid out that the Parkers were in the process of a divorce, and Teresa was moving from LaFayette to Fort Oglethorpe. A former LaFayette officer testified that Sam Parker told him he shot Parker in the head and buried her, “in a place that no one can find.” Ben Chaffin said Parker threatened to kill him if he ever told anyone about the murder. Various witnesses have about Sam Parker’s suspicions that his wife was having an affair and of threats that Sam Parker made. A Walker County dispatcher testified about calls she took from Sam Parker, and logging tapes were played during which Parker speculated that Teresa was having an affair. The trial is being extensively covered by the Walker County Messenger newspaper, including stories and in-court videos.