Was Census Worker Bill Sparkman A Child Predator?
Update: Before any more people start going bonkers that I'm accusing Sparkman of anything, take a breath. I've done a fair amount of crime blogging mixed in with politics over time. One doesn't rule anything in or out without some firm answers. People feel free to speculate about Meth labs and pot fields but none have been reported in the area, yet. All I'm doing is looking at any and all possibilities. You'd think a moonshiner, or Meth head would have just buried the guy. Why hang him and invite the Feds into it by writing Fed on his chest? Why strip him naked and bind and gag him, which has serious sexual overtones?
I have no idea what happened, but from the reporting I've seen, neither does anyone else. If he adopted a boy as a single man, or was married and split with the wife and kids, who knows. But I never assume I know a story or motive until I know it. Right now we don't. I'm simply speculating on one possible alternative, however impolite.
Someone may as well say it given some peculiar details. The strangest quote I've seen in all the reporting around apparently murdered Census worker Bill Sparkman is this one from his Mother located in Florida.
“I have my own ideas, but I can't say them out loud. Not at this point,” she said. “Right now, what I'm doing, I'm just waiting on the FBI to come to some conclusion.”
She didn't say she had been advised not to speculate. Being in Florida she has nothing to fear from Kentucky locals, so why the secrecy? Add that to the somewhat mysterious way this case is being revealed by authorities and whatever is behind it, I wouldn't be surprised if there's another surprise in store here.
The condition of the body and his being naked also seems curious. Why strip someone down to their socks only to kill them? Finally Sparkman's bio and work history suggests at the least he was not just your average guy. No teaching degree, no full-time means of employment and no wife or kids so far as I am aware. But he certainly did gravitate towards children. I can't help but wonder if this wasn't a revenge killing disguised to look like something else. If he did have issues in this regard and messed with the wrong kid, it isn't as if something like that can be ruled out until we know more.
Sparkman’s mother, Henrie Sparkman of Inverness, Fla., told The Associated Press her son was an Eagle scout who moved to the area to be a local director for the Boy Scouts of America. She said he later became a substitute teacher in Laurel County and supplemented that income as a Census worker.
There also seems to be a huge number of small unnamed cemeteries in that area. I haven't even seen the name of the cemetery he was found in released. Interesting case, if nothing else. But I'm far from certain it has any political ramifications.
I read that he had two kids but wasn’t married. Some thought at first that he committed suicide for insurance money.
Hoskins Cemetery in rural Clay County near Manchester, Ky.,
Remember grasshopper, things are not what they seem, and tip your hotel maid.
Half of the boy scout leaders I have known were queer fellows. I think this guy committed suicide. This guy had to have undressed himself in the back of his pickup and walked to the tree, where he put the rope around his neck, gagged himself, taped his eyes and neck, his feet, wrote fed on his chest, and taped his hands together (in front), and promptly died.
One point I forget, the body was in advanced decomposition. Was there a missing persons report on him? If not, he might have been quite a loner to in his personal life.
There’s nothing wrong with speculating brain drain, don’t get your panties in a twist.
The reporting sucks on this guy. Last night I did a number of searches to find out more into on this guy. He did have a college degree and worked as a reporter for a long time and with the BSA, which I think his father also had a connection with. He adopted a boy, and eventually they both moved to this town in KY, because of his BSA job. He has lived there for 12 years. When the BSA job disappeared, (and I don’t think it was meant to last forever), he worked as a class assistant while he got his teaching creditials so he could teach. He did get his credentials last Spring and he has been student teaching and doing the Census thing. When he didn’t show up for his school job on 9/10, one of the people who works there, who also happens to be a cop, went looking for him the same day. His body was found on 9/12.
I read that he had two kids on the blog, but his local paper only said he had one adopted son in his 20s who lives in Tenn.
He really wasn’t a longer because of all the activities he was involved in.
He was dead for about 2 days, so his body was not that decomposed.
He has a computer at home and it and his home have been entirely searched. If he were a pervert, I think they would have discovered it by now.
To be clearer: some blogs and commenters are reporting that he had two sons, but his home paper only reports one adopted son.
He wasn’t a loner. (My typing sucks.)
Obviously, I’m not claiming to know. I’m just looking for reasons someone might have to kill the guy. Period.
Was he a single guy adopting?? if so, i’d find that problematic and telling.
Let me do a little speculating. Some right wing gun nut on a steady diet of talk radio thought he was standing up against socialism. He probably won’t be the last either. For too long this country has ignored the incredible bile that conservatives spew on a constant basis. If you hate taxes, government and regulation but love guns you’d be much happier in Somalia. It would definitely be more your speed.
“Craig” stole my line about Somalia, aside from the guns part.
As for this post, it’s disreputable. I don’t know if I’m going to bother adding it to this list of other disreputable people because it’s even worse than what they’re saying; they’re just trying to go after BeckBachmannRush:
http://24ahead.com/census-worker-found-hanged-kentucky-see-whos-politicizing-it
What a bunch of idiots. Crime blogging isn’t news blogging. Any investigation puts every possible option on the table and begins to eliminate possibilities. If you think some haven’t considered it, you don’t know squat about solving something. You don’t make up your mind about what it can and can’t be up front. The guy led an atypical life by any standard. The killing had a pseudo sexual theme given he was bound, gagged and naked. This was a very unusual murder and someone wanted that body found. If some druggie killed him they would have buried him in the woods and he never would have been found. Someone wanted to send a message here. What we don’t know is what it was.
Hmmmm…the same maid that found David Carradine hanging in his hotel room in Thailand now works at a motel 5 minutes from where Bill Sparkman was found hung…
Coincidence or something more?
Of course, the police are investigating every angle. They would be negligent if they did not. However, I believe those types of crimes leave certain types of evidence, i.e., his computer. And they must have interviewed his son by now. These days, it is part of the curriculum to teach kids how to complain if they are being abused. So, I think if something like that occurred, they would have discovered it by now.
The police, however, still refuse to rule out it was an “accident” which is another way of saying auto-erotic asphyxiation.
“Someone wanted to send a message here. What we don’t know is what it was.”
We sure don’t. We could never even guess what “message” was being sent by the word “FED” on his chest and the ID taped to his neck.
Bring in a psychic! WHAT MESSAGE COULD THIS POSSIBLY BE?!?!?!?
those types of crimes leave certain types of evidence, i.e., his computer and “souvenirs”, child erotica, etc. Again, if they found any, I think the story would have broke.
the body was in advanced decomposition
The only source I could find for that was his mother, who seems to possibly be short a marble or two. I wouldn’t assume it was a cast-in-stone fact. In any case, “advanced decomposition” is not a rigidly defined scientific term and doesn’t mean much without more info. A naked body with full air exposure for 24 hours or more in a warm climate can get nasty FAST.
This was a very unusual murder and someone wanted that body found.
Agreed, though I beg to note that suicide is self-murder. Once again, not enough info.
“a teacher, former Eagle Scout, Boy Scout leader and part time census worker. His fellow employees and the kids he taught all thought he was a great guy”
Yeah, it isn’t as if we haven’t read that a hundred times about just such a fellow.
His best friend, a retired state trooper, reported him missing. He described Riehl as a great guy who was not experienced with the area he worked to take census, which was some distance from where his body was found. If it were a revenge killing for sexual deviance, I could think of hundreds of alternate words to write on his chest, other than “FED”. Speculate all you want, the FACTS are taking the story in a different, less salacious direction.
Also, he did have his teaching credentials – a portion of the speech he gave at his graduation ceremony was played on one of the XM/Sirius channels on Thursday. It was really him, the school verified it.
oops – meant Sparkman (not Riehl), got distracted.
I agree with the others: this post is despicable. You’re clearly applying a vile trope about boy scout leaders to the situation, then reading what you want to see in Sparkman’s mother’s utterly contentless comment.
Here’s hoping those you care about receive better treatment when they pass away.
Well, Tom, when I pass away I don’t think I’m going to care too much what people say. Heck, I’m still alive and couldn’t care less about your opinion, now. Imagine that?
It would make sense that a Right Winger with no actual facts would accuse this man of such a despicable crime instead of dealing with the fact that the “real Amer’cans” are up their old tricks. They used to castrate Black men that they lynched and sell their genitalia in jars for a nickle. But of course I’m sure you think those thousands of men “brought in on themselves” as well. So sick.
Hmm, if I was going to make a rightwing statement about the evil of progressivism, I don’t think I’d choose a part-time census worker as my victim. That would be like the Unibomber sending a bomb to someone because they wore penny-loafers.
There are websites on the internet dedicated to the subject of decomposition. I would remind you that the conditions at Jonestown were very harsh – heat, humidity, and exposure. For reference, the first photographer, arrived 48 hours later and the second, 72 hours later. As you can see, the bodies are decomposing rapidly but still identifiable.
Someone on another blog said maybe it wasn’t FED, maybe it was F’ED.
The liberals are flocking. lol They crack me up. You can smear an entire ideology based on wild-eyed speculation, but God forbid you suggest some things seem strange about the guy. It amazes me that crime blog readers were so much more adult than the political ideologues.
Here’s Craigslist post from that area made on 9/8/08:
“need a teacher/mentor? (ky-wv-oh tri-state)
e: 2009-09-08, 3:01PM EDT
——————————————————————————–
looking for those who need a teacher-mentor wanting to learn about man to man fun. i’m older but not a troll i am a good and patient teacher.
•Location: ky-wv-oh tri-state
•it’s NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests
PostingID: 1364383794″
Boy Scout leaders are “mentors”; teachers are “teachers”, and someone over the age of 50 could be “older”
The erotic asphyxiation scenario is plausible. Consider Jeffrey Dahmer or John Gacy.
Or another infamous part-time census worker: Dennis Rader.
Seems as though Riehl was busy playing D&D when doing his “research” for this story. Speculating out of whole cloth, and admitting that you have no facts to support your suppositions? When you post that kind of twaddle in a public forum…well let me just say that it’s illegal in my state.
This is the most despicable hit piece on a poor, dead man I’ve ever read. As an attorney, I would suggest that Danny seriously consider amending or removing his piece. Because of the traffic this “crime blog” is now receiving, it would certainly (and not even in the abstract) violate libel laws.
Defamatory, libelous, and just plain sleazy. As your mother might say, “shame on you, Danny.”
There also seems to be a huge number of small unnamed cemeteries in that area.
It’s Appalachia. You can’t drive five miles down a road without passing someone’s family plot. They’re about as numerous as cornfields.
Oh and kudos for pissing off Pavel. A moron too stupid to know that you cannot libel the dead.
This might be the dumbest post in the history of the Internet.
Go to hell.
Slow clap for jpc if that was a joke. If not, uh…
Seriously, is this what “crime blogging” is about? I admit I’m speaking from a position of ignorance. But really, do you guys just find criminal situations with unanswered questions, then Google for salacious connections and interpret any hits as “leads”? It sure *seems* that way. It’s not exactly a rigorous methodology.
The irony – if the census worker were right wing, or God forbid a preacher, they’d be the ones suggesting the guy had an unusual background. Only they’d go further than I did with it. They’d have convicted him already.
Exit question: Can you libel a liberal given that they’re brain dead?
There’s an awful lot of information on the Internet suggesting that Glenn Beck raped and murdered a young girl back in the 1990s. I’m not suggesting that Dan Riehl was involved in this horrible crime but I can’t understand why he hasn’t denied it. It certainly raises suspicions.
and what’s with Mr. Sparkman’s hat? rather odd.
I didn’t know “fact checking” was the same thing as “smearing”… wow, I did learn something from this blog.
o0o0o0o, I pissed off the liberals being an ass!
Moron.
Dan Riehl and some of his defenders are a bunch of sickos. Really – did you think twice about smearing this man?
I hope you people burn in hell.
Maybe he was the kind of pervert who fantasizes about beating up kids he sees on the subway.
I think Dan Riehl raped him and killed him, consistent with what may be Riehl’s potential pattern of homosexual rape and mass murder. Before any more people start going bonkers that I’m accusing Riehl of anything, take a breath. I’ve done a fair amount of crime blogging mixed in with politics over time. One doesn’t rule anything in or out without some firm answers.
The issue with your “crime reporting” is not that you are suggesting an admittedly plausible scenario, it is that you got so many facts wrong (facts that would be easy enough to investigate). Assumptions based upon erroneous facts are, in and of themselves, faulty assumptions (even if they are true). I don’t know what group of liberals you associate with, but my brand of liberals consciously chooses to wait until all the evidence rolls in before we go about ruining a man’s reputation (especially one who can no longer defend himself). And, yes, before you accuse me of hypocricy, I do the same for conservatives, liberals, moderates, and undeclareds. This is the type of bell that is difficult to unring.
“hypocrisy” – dang, gotta pay attention.
Over at HuffPO they are accusing Beck/O’reilly/Limbaugh of inciting the anti-government sentiment that caused his death.
“This is the type of bell that is difficult to unring.”
Oh, but ringing the bell about unhinged right-wingers who just offed the guy because he worked for the census, no problem ringing that bell, right? Because YOU know it’s true?
Get lost, you loser.
Is it against the law yet to be an arm chair detective. There is no smearing of this guy and there is nothing wrong with conjecture. If your delicate sensibilites are injured then don’t let the puerto hit you in the fandango.
“As an attorney, I would suggest that Danny seriously consider amending or removing his piece. Because of the traffic this “crime blog” is now receiving, it would certainly (and not even in the abstract) violate libel laws.”
Oh, yeah? Well, I’m a Supreme Court Justice and nuh uh!
/shouldn’t a lawyer know that pure speculation, identified as such isn’t libel?
/and then there’s that little problem with “libeling” a dead guy…
Story about William Sparkman receiving his teaching degree, published 03/14/2008 in The Times Tribune:
Never give up
Laurel County man doesn’t let cancer stop him from obtaining teaching degree
http://www.thetimestribune.com/archivesearch/local_story_074094330.html
I never made any accusations about what type of person killed this man, if it was not suicide. I don’t know what happened and am waiting to hear what the investigation brings. YOU are the one making accusations.
Also, I’m not sure I understand the connection between Meth labs, pot fields, and “unhinged right-wingers”. If you could clarify how all these things interrelate, that would be a huge help to me and my loser friends.
WOW, maybe you should stick to political blogging and leave the crimes to the crime bloggers. Before you go bonkers, I am not accusing you of not knowing what you are talking about.
BTW, true crime bloggers do not speculate, they investigate crimes no difference than a PI or LE would do. That means interviewing potential witnesses and getting facts. Not throwing out inflammatory speculation.
“Why strip him naked and bind and gag him, which has serious sexual overtones?”
Ah, maybe to destroy evidence and to keep him from shouting out for help? BTW, usually when you hang someone, you bind their hands so they can’t reach up and grab the rope. Or were there sexual overtones in Clint Eastwood’s “Hang Em High”?
Geez. Please do not crime blog at home, leave it for the trained professionals.
have a field day with this one – plenty of sentences within that you may take out of context to support your speculation that Mr. Sparkman was a child predator (you’re welcome)
Friends: Hanged Census Worker Loved Children
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-09-26-census-worker-remembered_N.htm
True Crime bloggers always speculate. Try reading them sometime.
Dear Paul,
“Dan Riehl and some of his defenders are a bunch of sickos. Really – did you think twice about smearing this man?”
Sooooo….did you ever think twice about smearing President Bush vis a vis 9-11 and the GWOT? We all know the answer to that one, don’t we?
“I hope you people burn in hell.”
*Ahem* When did you and your good-time buddies switch gears and start believing in Hell? And to think, all these years you’ve been telling us it’s just a religious superstition.
I have no idea whether or not Dan Riehl is a pedophile who likes raping young boys. But, you know, one doesn’t rule anything in or out without some firm answers. I’m just speculating on one possible alternative.
WOW Dan you have hit a nerve with the leftist haters….they cannot bear for one moment that anyone other then some rightwingers killed this man and you my man gave another hypothesis. They have been slandering the RIGHT for days over this man’s murder and yet for one moment you give another view and they are having heart palpitations. Hilarity has ensued! Keep punching them in the mouth Dan WE Rightwingers love the show
“Being in Florida she has nothing to fear from Kentucky locals, so why the secrecy?”
Uh. Her son was just murdered and hung from a tree. YTF do you think she’s uncomfortable. Douchebag.
So Dan I was over at W/S and they are speculating a lot, some are wondering if he was gay.
But, they also posted this – maybe some official don’t like feds too much
CLAY COUNTY BOARD OF ELECTION OFFICIALS ARRESTED AND INDICTED
Department of Justice
MARCH 19, 2009
CLAY COUNTY BOARD OF ELECTION OFFICIALS ARRESTED AND INDICTED FOR RACKETEERING AND VOTER FRAUD CONSPIRACY
LEXINGTON—The United States Attorney’s Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation jointly announced today that five Manchester, Ky. officials, including the circuit court judge, the county clerk, and election officers were arrested pursuant to a federal indictment that accused them of using corrupt tactics to obtain political power and personal gain.
The 10-count indictment, unsealed today, accused the defendants of a conspiracy from March 2002 until November 2006 that violated the Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO). RICO is a federal statute that prosecutors use to combat organized crime. The defendants were also indicted for extortion, mail fraud, obstruction of justice, conspiracy to injure voters’ rights and conspiracy to commit voter fraud.
According to the indictment, these alleged criminal actions affected the outcome of federal, local, and state primary and general elections in 2002, 2004, and 2006. The indictment accused the defendants of the following criminal actions.
It goes on to name all the indicted people. The indictment of a person by a grand jury is an accusation only, and that person is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
and what’s with Mr. Sparkman’s hat? rather odd.
He was treated for leukemia and the chemotherapy caused him to lose his hair. Didn’t like the bald look.
correction
maybe some County officials don’t like the Feds
Lala – But what would they gain from killing a lowly census employee? I understand there is a lot of anti-Federal sentiment in the region, even w/o that. My first guess was also drug related. But someone had to be pretty stupid to invite Federal LE in with this.
Hopefully we’ll find out one day. I do think it’s possible we’ll never get an answer. I’m uncomfortable that the story took so long to come out. That also suggested to me that local LE was trying to play it down. Only when the Ohio guy opened up did it get even more bizerre.
Strange case, that’s for certain. I hope we do get answers in the end.
The issue with your “crime reporting” is not that you are suggesting an admittedly plausible scenario, it is that you got so many facts wrong (facts that would be easy enough to investigate).
Untrue. And things are not easy to investigate because the MSM and the lefty blogs have published so much erroneous information one has to literally sift through piles of crap looking for a substantiated fact.
Assumptions based upon erroneous facts are, in and of themselves, faulty assumptions (even if they are true).
Sort of like what you just did.
Congratulations on destroying any credibility this blog ever had with one ugly, despicable posting.
Hilarity has ensued! Keep punching them in the mouth Dan WE Rightwingers love the show
Well, that’s all that matters. I’m glad a poorly sourced, error-riddled, accusation of child molestation against a murder victim pissed off the other tribe and gave you some LOLs on Sunday night.
The KY people on that board say it’s a rough area, outsiders are looked at suspiciously. Also, his boss had told him to be cautious in that area.
There’s another story that his feet were touching the ground, he was naked except for his socks.
You’re vile and disgusting! This is a political, NOT a crime blog! So you are blaming the victim of this crime? I wouldn’t put it past you fascists!
Does Dan Riehl fellate goats? It would be irresponsible not to speculate…
Is Riehl a grave robber, fear-monger and anti-Semite? Did he really harm his neighbor’s pet like the whispers say? I’m not saying he is for sure, but there’s certainly reason to doubt or at the very least QUESTION. I think it’s time for Riehl to prove himself. Prove himself, I say!! Put these horrible accusations to bed by telling the truth to the American public!!
Stay classy, wing-nuts.
I guess it would be irresponsible NOT to wildly speculate without any proof whatsoever, right?
Is this really what passes for citizen journalism these days? This country is in bad shape.
Thinking outside of the box, was “FED” really “F”"ed” Like you are “F” ed and not to mean Federal Employee that everyone assumes. It’s at least as plausible as anything else being bandied about. Also, if is associated with drugs than I disagree with Dan i that a methy would hide the body. They own those hills and when a man comes sniffing around saying he’s with gov and all he wants is statistics? The druggy thinks FEDS!!! as in DEA undercover or informant and he says — I’ll give the government statistics and tell your all DEA friends too.
Did Dan Riehl rape an infant, then cook and eat it?
All I’m doing is looking at any and all possibilities. One doesn’t rule anything in or out without some firm answers.
Fact checking starts first with facts, not imagination.
Where did my comment go?
Nevermind. Internets are strange sometimes.
Sir, this is an incredibly spurious theory that you have presented, and I think you owe this man and his family an apology.
“Fact checking starts first with facts, not imagination.
”
Please tell left bloggers who are speculating that people no where near Kentucky are responsible for this poor souls death.
I was just thinking that perhaps Sarah Palin’s uterus is responsible for what’s happened here.
Before the Census worker, there was this story:
Ga. man indicted in female soldier’s beating
JONESBORO, Ga. — A white man accused of beating a black female Army reservist while yelling racial slurs at her outside a suburban Atlanta restaurant was indicted Wednesday on felony charges.
Troy Dale West Jr., 47, of Poulan, Ga., faces one count each of aggravated assault, false imprisonment and first-degree cruelty to children under the indictment filed in Clayton County Superior Court. He also faces two counts each of battery and disorderly conduct, which are misdemeanors.
West’s lawyer, Larry King, declined comment.
Police allege that West screamed racial slurs as he kicked and punched Tashawnea Hill, in the presence of Hill’s 7-year-old daughter, on Sept. 9 outside a Cracker Barrel restaurant in Morrow, about 15 miles south of Atlanta.
……and now comes this story:……..
Charges say white assailants hurled racial epithets as they attacked two black men in Brooklyn Park.
They beat and kicked the 18-year-old while screaming a racial epithet, and they ordered him to strip naked, he told police. Then they robbed him of everything he had, including his Air Jordans, blue jeans and shirt. Police said Thomas has a mental capacity of someone 8 to 10 years old.
“They were saying stuff like, ‘We hate the president; we’re gonna kill the president, his wife and his kids,’” Thomas recalled from his front stoop Friday, his left eye puffy and discolored. “They said every black person that comes through our park, we’re gonna kick their butt. We don’t like black people, period.”
The assault, and another on a second black man — Thomas’ uncle — just blocks away, led authorities Friday to file assault and robbery charges against Anthony P. Kilpela and Bryan C. Westerlund, both 21 and both white, of Minneapolis.
………………….
We’re the “right’s” outrage over these stories? Where’s Rush, Hannity Beck and the rest of the idiots?? Did they cover these stories like the one of the little boy on the bus? These folks are such flippin’ jokes, it’s not even funny. Hypocrites, all of them. They only care about “law and order” and being “patriotic” or “good Christians” when “their guy” is in his office. When they are out of power? To hell with it all–let’s burn the place down, rip up the flag. Government completely sucks when your guy is out of power, right? LMAO You fool no one.
Look here, this country will forge ahead with or without you. If you want to become marginalized loons, chained to talking heads like Beck & Rush (who don’t even believe half the crap they say. They call you all mindless sheep behind closed doors–just know that) to get your daily cup of “empowerment” well, eat up. But, you will be left behind. Believe it or discover this the hard way. The choice is yours.
it’s possible dan reihl is a sexual predator. there is a rumor on the internet that he had an inappopriate relationship with a 13 year old girl in 2005. why won’t he answer these allegations?
Better close down the comments soon, Dan. I don’t think you’re man enough to take it.
Dan, I have to say, you’ve hit a new low.
Love the disingenuousness of giving this post the headline, “Was Census Worker Bill Sparkman A Child Predator?” and then tossing in, “Update: Before any more people start going bonkers that I’m accusing Sparkman of anything, take a breath.”
You’re telling us to take a deep breath after you’ve just smeared somebody with as vile a smear as one can imagine? You can’t just blithely toss that out there and then say, “Well, I was just wondering.” Well, I guess you CAN do that, but it robs you of any credibility and makes you seem like someone crying fire in the crowded theater. Very wrong, very bad. Can you imagine me putting up a headline on my blog, “Is Dan Riehl a Child Predator?” Heck, I was just askin’.
Actually Lala, they’re accusing Michelle Bachmann of inciting the anti-government sentiment, mainly because she said this about the census:
“Take this into consideration. If we look at American history, between 1942 and 1947, the data that was collected by the Census Bureau was handed over to the FBI and other organizations at the request of President Roosevelt, and that’s how the Japanese were rounded up and put into the internment camps,” said Bachmann. “I’m not saying that that’s what the Administration is planning to do, but I am saying that private personal information that was given to the Census Bureau in the 1940s was used against Americans to round them up, in a violation of their constitutional rights, and put the Japanese in internment camps.”
See, she’s not SAYING that’s what the Administration is going to do, it’s just a random fact that occurred to her at that moment that seemed relevant for some reason.
Meanwhile, it seems it’s more “Riehlistic” to assume Sparkman’s killing was revenge for a hypothetical child rape which was then for some reason covered up by writing FED on his dead body, instead of assuming he was killed for working for the FEDeral government.
Very Odd how the AP flubbed this story from the beginning. Making up things as it went along…but not so surprising for AP since it has taken plenty of prior…shall we say ‘artistic license’. Then the authorities remark on the inaccuracies reported as truth in the initial reports. Left wing bloggers jumping the gun blaming the man’s death on right wing talk show hosts, tea party-ers and/or conservatives. Someone sure seems to be spending a lot of time diverting attention.
Riehl, I recognize yellow journalism when I see it. You shoud be ashamed of yourself.
Actually, after days of the left has been flinging, it’s funny to see you leftards boiling over with rage over this. Any crimes that occur in the next 72 hours, we will know who to blame for it. Your incitement for violence is noted.
im waiting for the law and order episode O-o
Like several other states, pot is Kentucky’s number one cash crop. If someone thought he was a narc, that would explain the “fed” thing. I have no connection with the state, but revenuers don’t have a happy history there.
By the way, does anyone know if it was written upside down and or backwards? I’m not speculating about the man, just the circumstances surrounding his death. Poor bastard.
yours/
peter.
Census and the school require background checks prior to employment for whatever that is worth. If you were looking for another angle for his death other than the Fed angle I am sure suicide/insurance would be the most likely motivation for his demise. As a federal employee he would have access to pretty good life insurance if he so desired…but then you would have to wonder…who would he leave it to? His grown son?
ask you qq? how those kids two boys got involed… sound like more werid oppited way his family in history why those boys are age fellow them like thier parens in past good or bad???? just wonder i never heard that…
One thing cracks me up here about the libs. They lobby for the schools to talk to kids about any and all kinds of sexual issues, including frank discussions about sexual predation, abuse and so forth. We’re even told that one of the reasons the problem goes on as it does is because it isn’t talked about more openly.
But heaven forbid it’s brought up in another context simply as speculation. Suddenly it’s taboo.
I wonder if this tendency to advocate private and classroom discussions with children about sexual issues doesn’t suggest that today’s progressives are all pedophiles at heart? Just askin questions. : )
Perhaps some studies are in order. Hmm. In fact, didn’t Obama have some unusual interactions with an individual with such a history as a child? Maybe we’re on to something here!! The NIMH definitely needs to study this under the next Republican administration. We may have a shadow government of Democrat pervs running loose!!
I remember when I was a child–in eastern kentucky–my grandparents was afraid of census workers. when the census came to our door–no one was allowed to open it. and everyone was silent. Lots of people in the hollers still believe that the census people are a threat to them. I would say that his death is connected to that.
Reminds me a little bit too much of stories I’ve read from the 50′s and 60′s, where being a “Fed” in the south was a death sentence because “Fed” meant you were trying to force integration and shut down the Klan.
I seem to recall that census workers were very often treated this way in decades past. As agitated as white supremacist groups have become since Obama got elected, I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re not ramping up their old tricks.
If this isn’t the work of the Klan or some similar group, they did a damn good job of making it look that way.
“This is one of the most despicable posts I’ve ever seen on a blog. There is absolutely no evidence or indications this man was a child predator. If Riehl posted this loathsome garbage, he owes an immediate apology to Mr. Sparkman’s family and to his readers.”
Is it really any worse than the state-run media and leftwing blogs trying to convict town hall protesters and tea party attendees as well as rightwing blogs and talk radio of the killing? To quote Shakespeare: “Me thinks thou dost protesteth too much.”
I think al-AP, the PuffHo, DUmmyworld, et al., owe me an apology for saying I’m responsible because I don’t goosestep along to their Messiah.
I just heard from an anonymous source that Bill Sparkman was a registered Republican, so there might something to Dan’s speculation that Sparkman was a paedophile.
“does anyone know if it was written upside down and or backwards …”
No one knows if it was written at all. That was part of an al-AP report that is so full of false information that it can no longer be considered credible. Law enforcement has confirmed nothing, no one even knows if he was performing census duties or what he was last doing. The only reason the FBI was called in was because he had performed work for the census.
Al-AP has made up things out of thin air and framed its original story to fit a false premise of rightwing hatred and violence and the moonbats have taken and run with it making things not true or not verified “fact.” In effect, they’ve created their very own set of “facts.”
You can’t debate them because their “facts” are their “facts.”
And while we’re busy thinking of alternative motives for things;
Why hasn’t Glenn Beck clearly denied that he raped and killed (and possibly ate) a young girl back in 1990?
Since when are drug killings handled subtly? Someone might want to tell the Mexican cartels, Al Capone, and the Taliban. They’re doin it wrong.
Indeed, Lala.
Every left-winger on the Internet is eagerly awaiting news that will confirm their wishful hoping that this guy was murdered by someone motivated by Glenn Beck et al. A big Foxnews junkie. Wouldn’t it be great if copies of “Common Sense” and “An Inconvenient Book” were found in his bedroom? Instant disgrace to Beck and all his Teabagger friends. Maybe Rush podcasts too!
They go on and on speculating and convincing themselves that this is about the only possibility for this crime, not caring that there is no evidence that it is true, other than the most tenuously circumstantial. Glenn’s been talking a lot about the Federal Government lately, and the victim reportedly had “FED” on his chest. Well, that’s about all we need to know, huh? (The fact that the POTUS has ALSO been on TV a LOT for the past year or two somewhat passionately talking about the “FED” means nothing whatsoever.)
But then, when someone such as Dan dares to speculate down another path that might just burst that lovely fantasy bubble for them, and produces some thinking that makes sense along those lines, at least as much as they have, they hypocritically attack him for jumping to conclusions sans evidence and “smearing” someone.
If this did somehow turn out to be a politically motivated crime, has anyone stopped to consider the degree of culpability of the man PROPOSING all the grand sweeping intrusion of the “FED” during his short nine monthes in office that indeed has enraged millions of Americans? Does it really make sense that someone merely pointing out the audacity of this course of action should be held responsible for some nut’s action, even if they did indeed turn out to be in his audience, and the man who did the initial agitating gets off without a mention?
No, NEITHER are culpable. I would suggest that such thinking is not only wrong-headed, but a dire threat to free speech and thus basic freedom. If someone can’t passionately criticize (within reasonable bounds) our leadership or whoever for fear of what some kook might take from it, we’ve all suddenly got virtual muzzles on, and we might as well live in Iran or North Korea. Glenn and Rush must be jailed, along with Al Gore who no doubt had a certain influence on the thinking and actions of the Unabomber. It’s a long list of those both on the right and left who are due for indictment in such a despicable, fear-drenched world.
Hey, why don’t you leave the speculation to the people who are in the best position to do it, i.e., the homicide investigation folks? Because you don’t have one damn shred of credible evidence upon which to base your wild speculation, from what I can see.
Hey, maybe the “F” in “Fed” was really meant to be a “P”-the killer(s) meant to call him a “Ped” and they just royally blew at spelling!
That would be about as good a theory as you could come up with, and it would still be pure, unsubstantiated speculation.
So instead of throwing around unsupported crap and trampling on the grave of a man who, from all CURRENT indications, was an upstanding citizen, why not just shut your mouth? That way you don’t come off looking like a supreme A-hole smearing the deceased when nothing turns up to substantiate your theory.
You are a coward Dan. First you make outrageous claims, then you throw a hissy fit when people call you on it.
You don’t deserve to be in this country.
Along with every crack gang in America. They haven’t quite figured out the “drug murders are quite and mysterious” trick either.
Hope you have a good lawyer for the libel suit.
Dan: “The irony – if the census worker were right wing, or God forbid a preacher, they’d be the ones suggesting the guy had an unusual background”
Only if he was wearing two wetsuits, with a dildo in his ass. Then it’s time to speculate about his unusual background.
Those who talk about others are often talking about themselves. Really, please don’t destroy someone’s reputation by speculating. You’re not Kanye West!
I think one of the better reasons would simply be the simple guys like me who see the census workers as being the figurehead of the government attempting to impose it’s will on the people. the government mandates all people must be enrolled into the program or it will fine the individuals. great ! what about those of us who wish the government would keeps it’s business in washington not in my pocket. expect resistance….
Your speculation and stereotypes aren’t even worth commenting on. In fact, your attempt to get publicity by defaming a dead man without evidence is disgusting.
Wow Dan, you sure know how to bring em in. Laughing so hard it hurts!
……………I think the guy is Jesus in the second coming, and got caught again and crucified. That makes a whole lot more sense then all this BULL y’all are slinging. Honest hard working people understand what the census is about, and we want to be counted. That puts us into real history. Have ya ever wondered about your family history and found it hard to document? Then your forebears were probably criminals and hiding something. The census is a very important historical genealogical tool when used appropriately by smart people. It has absolutely nothing to do with big brother watching all you conspiracy nuts as they probably should…………
Osc
You
The US Govt should have done a TV ad to inform people of these Census workers coming around AND TEACH THESE PEOPLE MANNERS before they send them into the field! After all they are coming onto private property and invading the privacy of the homeowners life. I live in an area that is firmly affluent, semi rural and the very best part of the University town of 50k where I live. We have a retired football superstar and once big time rock star living in our community to attest to it’s desirability. One morning I had a census worker BEATING on the front (yes front as in wall, not front door) of my house when I delayed answering the door bell since I was expecting no company in a community where call first before you visit is the norm!!! An action I certainly do not think he would have used in a less toney part of the city LOL. He flashed a pendant like necklace worn ID without a picture on it and arrogantly said he was “with the census” and began to interrogate me asking if my house was made into apartments (which it is not nor is that the norm in the area) and other bizarre questions. I left my home and wrote down his tag number and promptly dismissed him from the premises.
It is time for Big Brother to mind their own business, death is sad but we need to look at the privacy invasion side of this issue. It may have been a homeowner who had someone beating on the front of their house and took the action I initially considered myself!!! Fortunately for all involved I had not slept late that morning!!! Had I been woke up by such an action as someone beating on my front wall I might have took the pistol with me and ceased this bizarre action through the front wall which is a legal action in my state in defense of one’s dwelling place.
Something doesn’t add up from all the released facts. 2 + 2 does not = 4 in this case.
1. If anyone knows anything at all about that area of the country, if a FED really were offed, no one would find the body. Period.
2. Stripping naked before death is very often associated with the mindset preceding suicide. It is not as much associated with passion killing, whereas a disproportionate amount of suicides are at least partially naked.
3. The body was not off the ground; this is really curious: it is consistent with self-staging, not with actual hanging.
4. The FED scrawled on chest rings hollow to me. A person with a real suspicion of the government would not be inclined to sensationalize a murder that would bring inordinate attention to the very area purported to be defended against prying eyes.
5. Duct tape would permit the individual to even stage taping wrists behind back; all he would have to do is secure one end. Even those familiar with rope tricks can do this with rope — not the average person, obviously. But with duct tape most anyone can do this.
6. Laptop was found intact, in truck. If this really was a crime against the government, that hard drive and computer would have never seen the light of day, after the murder. All the information on that would have been viewed as threatening. And treated as such.
7. The physical and emotional status of the victim: cancer, emotional turmoil… insurance?
There are just too many questions that need answered on this.
If this is as it is being spun: a simple case of anti-government hated foisted upon an innocent census taker, I’ll be very, very surprised.
The man didn’t carve FED into his self and he could not have possible hung his self in that fashion. Old Danny tried to go out of his way to say without any kind of proof that it wasn’t political, but, in that area and with Fed carved into him, that would be most detectives first thoughts.
Mr. Sparkman was wearing the “odd” had because he was undergoing chemotherapy for non-Hodgkins’ lymphoma and had lost his hair. Every single person interviewed who knew this man, including the fellow teacher and retired KY State Trooper who reported him missing, raved about his great character and what a wonderful man he was. That is really all that matters here, that a good man was horribly murdered. Not that a lowlife with a webpage perpetrates a fact-free speculation that the deceased Eagle Scout/teacher/single-father/census-worker was a child sexual predator.
My gut feeling is that it is a suicide, too.
I heard on Huffington post it was OK to speculate, but only if you speculate on republicans. If you speculates on John Edwards fcking anything that moves? Of hands.
The funny part is that there are some people here going off the ledge over one man’s speculation about a government official’s background who was on the receiving end of a heinous crime. Yet in the same breath, have yet to condemn the vile and oft inaccurate “reporting” and “theory-crafting” that the left opinion seekers are throwing at this story. I don’t know Mr. Riehl’s intentions to this post, but it did demonstrate a great lesson for those too ignorant to realize. It almost seems as the lefties are getting played–whether intent is absent or present.
To the “attorney” that didn’t know about libel laws, do you just play one on the internet?
While I don’t agree with Mr. Riehl’s assessment nor do I feel the need to defend it either, I think the reaction to the post in and of itself is sufficient enough to suggest why we let actual facts from named sources come to the fore-front first.
Thanks for the read! Moreso, thanks for the comments!
I, too, found his lifestyle odd, based even on the earliest sketchy reporting. It also seemed strange that this didn’t get national coverage until two weeks after the body was found. But as a native Southerner with roots in the Appalachian area (the “Deliverance” theme song comes to mind here), I find it easy to believe that he knocked on the wrong door. There is a lot of hatred in America, especially in certain parts of America, of the federal government, even if it only wants to make sure you are counted as a citizen in this country. I find it much more plausible that he was murdered by an anti-government, half-assed militia type, paranoid fool.
Of course it’s possible the victim could have been a pedophile or sex offender. Anyone you see on the street could “possibly” be one. But his close work with children and lack of a wife would have drawn closer scrutiny, in my opinion, and any foul play would likely have been discovered. Yes, he had an unusual lifestyle, but maybe he was just a lonely guy, not attractive to women, but sincerely wanted to do good work with kids? Lots of people in this economy have really crappy employment situations, so being a substitute teacher and a Boy Scout leader, or a Census worker part-time, is part of a common misery these days: no full-time jobs available, so people are working two and three part-time jobs to pay the bills. As to the “accident” theory, honestly, why would he drive himself so far out into the woods to commit autoerotic acts and die accidentally? He could certainly do that at home or in his own backyard if he liked the darkness outdoors. That idea is ridiculous, and I don’t think he was a sex offender either. His mother’s comments were simply that she has her own theories. Maybe she’s keeping quiet so the FBI has a better chance of catching the murderer.
One last thought: one should never speak ill of the dead, unless you have stone cold facts. They cannot defend themselves, especially in a worldwide forum. Imagine the humiliation you have brought onto his mother and any other friends and relatives he had, including the adopted son. Riehl’s speculation in such a public forum with zero proof was foolish at best, malicious at worst. Karma can be a bitch, Dan.
Unless Dan Riehl comes out and categorically denies it, followed of course by clear unimpeachable evidence, I think we need to consider the fact that Riehl FRAMED Sparkman for the molestation and murders that Riehl *himself* committed in rural Kentucky. Riehl then contacted his local meth suppliers, who talked to their associates in Kentucky, who then murdered Sparkman.
Or, it would be irresponsible not to speculate.
People keep asking, “did Dan Riehl have inappropriate relations with a 13 year old girl in 2005?” A reasonable question that cannot be ruled out without evidence. I am still waiting for all the facts to come back in, but it is important to keep in mind all possibilities.
Has anyone thought ‘fed’ might refer to the Federal Reserve? As a struggling mortgagee, that was my first thought.
I had the same thoughts, Dan. The left is smearing the Right, Beck, Bachmann, Rush, etc. blaming them for the death, just because he had FED written on his chest? The media was in a rush to call him a census worker, although he has three jobs. They had their agenda….
I think the manner of his body was too staged, made to be something it wasn’t. My firsts thought was some sort of sexual situation. I don’t think it is smearing anyone to wonder – it’s not like it doesn’t happen ALL the time. And the police, no doubt, are investigating that possibility.
People who think Riehl is smearing the guy have no problem with the Left smearing those on the Right, blaming them for this.
Heck, I even wondered if his cancer had returned, and he did this to himself. People do weird sh*t all the time. Nobody here knows this guy – so no one can know for sure what happened. ANYTHING is possible.
Hell, who would have believed the guy from Mama’s and the Papa’s was sleeping with his daughter for 10 years!
The post by jpc above is certainly a possible scenario. I agree a drug dealer would have just killed him. I’m obviously no expert, but I have seen enough freaky stuff in the news to question anything and everything.
was it “staged” to look like this guy was murdered, cause if so they did a damn good job.
also amazing how a person can bind and gag and hang themselves.
You forgot one – maybe instead of “FED” scrawled on his chest, it was actually “PED” (i.e. pedophile). Hey, just puttin’ it out there…
also amazing how a person can bind and gag and hang themselves.
He was touching the ground, so it isn’t impossible. it sure sounds like he was murdered, but the reasons are what is unknown, despite all the attempts by the Left to blame the Right.
the fact that you all seem to come up with such outlandish alternative scenarios speaks volumes.
bottom line, the feds are paying close attention. they know a lot more than any of us, and you better believe they are watching.
I was born in Kentucky and have lived here all my life. The only “moonshiners” I’ve heard of are people who legally make beer or wine for personal use. We do, however, have several dry counties, ergo, bootleggers. Clay County is a dry county so there’s bound to be a bootlegger there. Also, every Kentucky county has “a huge number of small unnamed cemeteries”…….but I’m sure they do have names to the locals.
Dan, it seems you and I have something else in common besides political blogging. I read true crime. The last story I got into was BTK. I suggest readers look to see how BTK left his victims.
Even if this were a right winger, the way the body was left indicates serious problems in the individual.
Why has nobody considered the idea of “extraterrestrial aliens” ? It’s as good as anything else.
Is Dan Riehl a Child Predator? Its apparently the first thing that spring to mind when a census worker is lynched with the word “Fed” written on his chest and like many child predators has a significant presence on the internet. Plus he’s a despicable person which is consistent with a child predator.
I now understand the liberal anger over this. They were all set to lionize the guy’s dead body [PoliNecro?] to use as a political weapon against Beck. And they’ve got to snuff out anything that would deny the corpse its sainthood. Hence the swarm of “outraged” lefties.
But the good news is the pattern of liberals actually being shamed by pedophillia [see Acorn]. Refreshing to know they have *some* values.
Me? I think the guy’s census rounds just wandered into drug operation. The perps prob mistook him for a narc.
“Me? I think the guy’s census rounds just wandered into drug operation. The perps prob mistook him for a narc.”
It would certainly make a lot more sense than someone going apesh*t because a census worker showed up at their door, because they watch Beck…
I was also thinking about the fact that census workers go door to door, and probably have a plan while canvassing. Would it be the wisest action to kill someone who probably has proof somewhere of exactly where he’s been, and where he’s going?
He shows up at your door, and you kill him? No worries that he has evidence at home that points him to your address?
Just speculation here but I think Mr Riehl and Bill Sparkman were meeting up to look at some child porn when they got a little frisky. One thing led to another and voila…he pulled a David Caradine.
No wonder the trolls are out in force – another “czar” has ethical problems
EDITORIAL: At the president’s pleasure
‘Safe school czar’ encouraged child sex with an older man
http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/sep/28/at-the-presidents-pleasure/
I don’t buy the auto-erotic asphyxiation idea if the word “FED” (or any word) was written on him. That doesn’t add up.
I am a conservative who watches Glenn Beck almost daily. I would say that Beck has condemned violence passionately more times than I could count on my fingers and toes. Blaming him is ludicrous. I am also a lifelong Kentuckian. Having said that, I’m thinking the man was killed by someone who was threatened by his work or his behavior in carrying out his work.
The desire to be left alone by the federal government is a long-standing attitude common in Kentucky that has existed since the Revolutionary War. To insinuate that conservative talk radio is responsible is beyond ludicrous.
I think Dan Riehl raped him and killed him, consistent with what may be Riehl’s potential pattern of homosexual rape and mass murder. Before any more people start going bonkers that I’m accusing Riehl of anything, take a breath. I’ve done a fair amount of crime blogging mixed in with politics over time. One doesn’t rule anything in or out without some firm answers.
Best theory yet.
Dude, the drug thing is more likely. As an archaeologist, I’ve done plenty of work in the woods, fields, and towns of rural Tennessee and Kentucky to know that yes, there are meth labs and pot operations out there, and often they’re booby trapped. And there are a huge number of unrecorded historic cemeteries, oftentimes small, family plots.
You are way off base on your speculation. Have a sense of shame.
“Over at HuffPO they are accusing Beck/O’reilly/Limbaugh of inciting the anti-government sentiment that caused his death.”
Gosh, could that be because they ARE inciting anti-government sentiment that might easily have turned violent?
While it’s too early to draw any firm conclusions, that’s a FAR more plausible scenario, based on the information available to date. Don’t conservatives every own up to anything? (Rhetorical question, of course.)
Wow..this has to be one of the most ridiculous things I have ever accidentally clicked on. I really hope he doesn’t make a living off this. So a man who wants to adopt and/or teach is probably a pedofile? What could this possibly have to do with being conservative or liberal? Only in your own mind, Riehl.
Nicely said, BellaChloe
Always pretty entertaining when DR puts on his fedora and ‘investigates’.
Inspector Clouseau would be mighty proud.
Where are Mr. Sparkman’s clothes? Does the rope match any found in his car, or on his property? How many footprints were found near the site of the hanging? Vehicle tracks?
Any signs of physical injury to the body(bullets, vital organ failure(heart attack, stroke) which may have been the true cause of death?
Any previous police reports of threats made against Mr. Sparkman? Who was on his list of people to visit for census taking?
My personal opinion is that the left wanted to provide “proof” of uncontrolled right-wing violence, against the census takers, to instill fear in ALL census takers, a FEDERAL agency. How convenient that the body was discovered coincidentally on the day of the 9/12 protests in D.C.
“Over at HuffPO they are accusing Beck/O’reilly/Limbaugh of inciting the anti-government sentiment that caused his death.”
Could that be, perhaps, because those three – and half a dozen others – have been busy inciting anti-government sentiment for about twenty years now? Nah, that kind of cause and effect logic is just crazy. I think it’s MUCH more likely that the murder victim here, about whom there is absolutely ZERO evidence he was targeted for anything other than his government position, was a child molester. After all, “Fed” could mean anything, right?
You can smear an entire ideology based on wild-eyed speculation,
Right, Dan, and clearly you care more for the nebulous reputation of an abstraction (your “ideology” is doing a fine job smearing itself, FWIW) than you do for the dead man’s family. You haven’t the decency to be ashamed of yourself.
Dan Riehl ‘em up….Dan you may have just posted the most effective Troll Bait piece ever! I’m just not knowledgable enough about the demonic leftist mind to figure out why this conjecture about the death of this census worker is such a big deal with the trolls…is it a reaction to the ACORN expose?
Extra points for using a grieving mother’s statement to support your thesis. Please, do the full Malkin and stalk the family.
Hmm… I wonder: Did Glenn Beck rape and murder a girl in 1990? One doesn’t rule anything in or out without some firm answers. All I’m doing is looking at any and all possibilities.
oh hey cool, yet more proof that the discourse in this country has degenerated into “well THEY did it, so I’m gonna do it too!” kindergarten bullshit.
Congratulations, we all lose.
This is a seriously stupid question:
“Why strip him naked and bind and gag him,which has serious sexual overtones?”
I agree there are serious sexual overtones here. There are also serious Abu Ghraib overtones. The killer was a stone fascist whack-job who wanted to torture and kill the enemies of Amerika, probably to impress Dick Cheney, like Hinckley shot Ray-Gun to impress Jodie Foster. These people all pleasure themselves thinking about torture and watching torture videos. You really think the CIA trashed the videos of the Khalid Sheikh Muhammed interrogations? Think again. They’re in Cheney’s porn stash. That should be simple enough, probably even for you.
This the most irresponsible reporting or blogging I have ever seen.
I have heard that Dan Riehl had been “accused” in some circles of “similar activities”.
I can’t really say more than that without implicating other friends in the Conservative Movement, but it was a very good source.
I don’t think we should actually accuse him of these activities, but it would be irresponsible not to bring up the fact that these accusations have been made.
Dan knows what I’m talking about, right Dan?
Dan
This is a terribly innapropriate speculation; I guess that’s fine, but please at least be honest that your motives aren’t to find out the truth but rather to irritate liberals. Seriously, you need to re-evaluate your morality, sir.
Even if you are joking, as in your comment responses, do you feel that it’s appropriate? This man was brutally murdered, and you’re making jokes…in all seriousness, jokes aside: do you honestly belive that what you are doing is the right thing to do? Really?
You are everything that is wrong with America.
There’s nothing at all illogical about what you said, and i am yes, very sick of the left trying to use things like this to silence debate, but…
The man is dead and deserves his dignity. At least until the police say what it is about, we shouldn’t speculate that it is about something that the victim did wrong.
Of course the left shouldn’t speculate that it was about opposition to the census, but that is another story.
Btw, we SHOULD be annoyed at how intrusive the census is, although i am told it is hardly new. anyone who actually reads over that form, knows it is intrusive. How can we claim a right to privacy that allows you to kill what might be a human being but then allow the government to ask such intimate questions? when i was asked in 2000, i wrote a big “none of your business” on most of the questions. The most offensive is when they asked if i had a disability. i do. but it is not visually obvious and i choose to keep that to myself so as to avoid discrimination. i definitely did not answer that. i challenge anyone to look at the questionaire i was sent in 2000 and say that it did not go too far.
Slander is central to how rightwingers operate. Slander hypothetically. Slander as “fact.” Slander the living. Slander the dead. Slander whole religions. Slander anyone who stands in their way. Slander anyone who is inconvenient. Goes back to McCarthy. Slander. Slander. Slander.
The Clintons murdered dozens of their closest friends. Obama is a Kenyan/Nazi/Muslim/terrorist/crack-smoker/homosexual. Eisenhower was a Communist. Carter is a Jew-hater. Slander. Slander. Slander.
Honorable men and women don’t slander. Some people are honorable. Some aren’t. Depends on their mother and fathers. If you don’t have a sense of honor by the time you are twelve, you won’t ever have one.
That’s brilliant Bl:
The liberals killed him so that it would be blamed on the conservatives. That has to be it. If I were you, I would exume Fosters body and check if he had FED written on his chest. If so, whe KNOW if was Hilory that killed him. So logical.
I’m a math tutor with no wife and kids. I guess in your world I ‘gravitate towards children’. Real high-quality thinking you got goin’ there.
How do you dare to make such a suggestion based on NO EVIDENCE. Shame on you.
This is about the stupidest trash I’ve ever read. Couldn’t it be possible that his mother is simply unwilling to irresponsibly speculate out loud on something, unlike you, who clearly feels that irresponsible speculation is just fine. You’re a terrible person
So let me get this right: Mr. Sparkman was single and adopted a boy. So of course, that makes him gay, since only gay men are single and adopt boys. And the reason he adopted this boy is so that he has his own little sex toy to abuse, because of course gay men all love to abuse little boys. And so someone out in the rural areas knew all this and decided to kill Sparkman, and instead of writing “sex predator” or “pedophile” on his, he writes “fed”. It makes perfect sense!
And so because we know that he was a sexual predator on little boys, that means it’s perfectly to use vigiliate justice and just kill him. After all, he got what he deserved, right?
You all make me sick. Instead of merely posting the facts, few that there are, you use his death to further an anti-gay agenda.
what a piece of s@@@ you are Dan. First Gryphen and now Sparkman… suggestions of pedophilia based on absolutely zero evidence. Joe McCarthy would be proud of you boy.
What absolute scum the right is composed of these days. If the Republican party doesn’t soon start disavowing themselves of the slime that is the rabid right, they will slink into irrelevancy faster than you can say, Whig Party.
Mr. Riehl you are subhuman filth who deserves the same treatment that Mr. Sparkman got. Do the world a favor and kill yourself.
“Yeah, it isn’t as if we haven’t read that a hundred times about just such a fellow.”
This is where you reveal all your “adult” qualifications and “crime blogging” provisos (that you’re just “speculating”) as the bullshit they are. Because with that line you’re prosecuting.
In fact what you’re doing–to no one’s surprise–is using innuendo and smears to pre-emptively ward off accusations that the right-wing cretins and lunatics you habitually defend could be behind this. No sale. They’re your people. Instead of spreading rumors about pedophilia, have the decency and courage to applaud the fact that one of your constituents managed to spell “fed” right.
You say it’s ok to speculate if he was a child molester because your experience tells you not to rule anything in or out.
Nice try, you’re still despicable. The fact that this is the first thing that comes to your mind and you’re willing to say that is enough to make single people wary of taking in a foster kid. If people are going to openly speculate that adoption by single parent = child predator, it’ll take a real act of bravery for a single person to take in a foster child or adopt a needy kid. Feel proud, asshole.
… and you know the sad thing? Dan just did this to get his hit count up. Have you taken a look at the number of comments his posts usually get? Pathetic. I’m sure there must be some relationship between number of comments and how many people visit the site. This blog was dying and I guess he felt he had to juice things up…. just like he did with Gryphen (who btw has a great post up on the fake Palin pregnancy scam).
So good ole boy Dan knows that his embarassing post will “reil” ‘em all up on the left and now he has a bucket load of comments. Good job Dan. Guess you’ll do just about anything to get the increased traffic. Does anybody on the right have any morals anymore? Are they all just completely craven in their lust for power? Rather disgusting. Enjoy your popularity Dan….. hope it was worth it.
Is it possible that the reason you think he’s a child predator because you yourself are one?
Why won’t Dan Riehl answer questions regarding accusations of his murdering, anally violating, and then eating young boys? I am a crime blogger (self-identified) and therefore air these concerns with impunity.
I wonder how many pissed at Dan will find this post despicable.
Angry Goobers: Census Worker Bill Sparkman Found Hanged in Clay County, Kentucky
Here’s betting our suspect is a none-too-bright conservative inflamed by Republican politicians and victim radio. See update after the jump…
http://www.truecrimereport.com/2009/09/census_worker_bill_sparkman_fo.php
I see a blogger is taking advantage of the legal situation whereby it is impossible to libel the dead.
Vile.
Shame on you. Your suppositions are quite a leap. Perhaps we could make the same assertions about you – that you’re a child predator or perhaps a murder – we have just as much evidence on you as you have on him – none.
You’re pathetic.
Dan, kill yourself. Make the world a better place. Certainly, any children you have will be better off.
Yeah I also have some speculation about Glenn Beck. Maybe Beck had him killed, so Beck could keep silent his own involvement in a child sex slavery satanists for socialism soiree.
Beck has had a hard time keeping a marriage together, and has had to move to several different states. He also cries on camera, is an ex-drug addict and has moved around a lot from state to state. Maybe he kept moving because the bodies were about to be found?
Where exactly was Glenn Beck when this happened? We’ll see if he answer this, or he’ll just continue his silence. The same silence Beck has had about the persistent rumors of Glenn Beck raping and murdering a young girl in 1990.
In other words:
What is WRONG with you?
Irresponsible hackery
Where are Mr. Sparkman’s clothes? ===
BI
they were found in the back of his truck which was found close by too.
People really need to hit the links on the story.
Peter, if you’re going to quote Shakespeare in support of whatever half-assed argument you’re trying to make, you may as well make sure you get the line right.
“The lady doth protest too much, methinks.”
Is Dan Riehl so quick to assume that pedophilia is an issue in this case because of his own tendencies toward pedophilia? It would be irresponsible not to speculate.
Riehl is obviously speculating here. What’s interesting is why. The evidence pretty strongly points away from a child predator revenge theory—nothing found on Sparkman’s computer, the word “fed”, an attack happening (seemingly) in a place where Sparkman hadn’t been long enough to establish relationships.
So why does Riehl want to promote the theory? Long time readers of the blog will note the frequent bringing up of child sex in Riehl’s posts, always in the form of accusations. Is Riehl in fact a child predator, trying to throw people off the trail by pointing outwards? Before anyone gets upset, I’m just speculating here. But there’s pretty clearly a pattern in Riehl’s posts. It’s possible, of course, that Riehl isn’t the predator—that it’s his father who he’s protecting. But only further investigation will settle things.
“I think Dan Riehl raped him and killed him, consistent with what may be Riehl’s potential pattern of homosexual rape and mass murder.”
I was going to write that there is exactly as much evidence for this theory as for Riehl’s, but that isn’t true.
“Unriehl World’s” theory doesn’t contain any flat-out false statements, which makes it MORE credible than that of the hollow shell of a human being who writes this blog.
Just being a single man working for the boy scouts or adopting a child is not criminal behavior. For him to be a child predator there would have to be victims as far as we know there are none. The problem with speculating on things like this in print, is that you risk besmirching the name of an innocent man who is unable to defend himself. If this is related to a personal issue, no doubt it will come to light. But otherwise it is irresponsible to make allegations based on loose associations and leaps in logic but have no actual evidence.
So Bill the Federal Census worker knocks on Billy Bob’s door then knocks on Billy Joe’s door and then to Billy Sue’s door. BB, BJ and BS conspire to create a local favorite they’ve learned from their favorite part in Deliverance and their Grandpappy’s stories of the Good Ol Days; Tie the FED up, strip the FED naked and hang the FED. To make it very clear they scrawl “FED” on his naked chest and leave the body to be found. Couple of days later, the local FED finds the body and alerts the regional FED and the national FED. End of story.
i think dan just wants to give a big shout-out to his brave brother(s) who killed the agent of big gummint, but doesn’t want to out-and-out endorse murder. why not dan, let your freak flag fly!!
This is one of the most despicable posts I’ve ever seen on a blog.
Really? Did you ever see Jane Hamsher blackface?
ridiculous.
the type of people who kill you for being gay or for being a child molester don’t write “fed” on your chest. they’ve got other words…
I just want to see if I understand your speculation as to why this man was murdered. You speculate that he was hung naked from a tree, brutally beaten, had “FED” written on his chest, and had his census worker ID badge taped to his neck, and killed because he was a child molester.
Now, presumably, he didn’t walk around telling people that, so you are actually speculating that he took a break from his job as a census worker, found a child, molested the child, got caught (possibly in the act, while naked), and that his murder was actually a vengeance killing. Then, after publicly hanging the naked body, his killers wrote “FED” on his chest and attached his census ID card to confuse us.
So, according to your speculation, these killers, who wanted to hurt and humiliate this man for the pain he had caused, who wanted the whole world to see him naked because of the crime he had committed, then attempted to obscure the reason he was murdered by disguising his murder as deep hatred of the government. Or maybe, as one commenter posted, they left “FED” to mean “F’ED,” because the people that murdered him and left him naked for anyone to find were obviously too polite to write a curse word on his chest.
They didn’t bury or burn or hide the body, they made it visable for the world to see… and then they tried to confuse people as to why he was killed?
No matter how twisted the logic of the killers was, this theory makes zero sense.
HAHA, I am now banned from Huffington post because I suggested his death could have been a suicide. Of course they only want people to blame Repugs and teabaggers and of course Beck and Bauckman.
This is beyond shameful, classless and offensive to smear a man without evidence of any kind… sad state of affairs on this pathetic blog.
Over at HuffPO they are accusing Beck/O’reilly/Limbaugh of inciting the anti-government sentiment that caused his death.
________________________________
Your damn straight! If something happens to our President because of their inciteful rhetoric I and many others will be the first to file a civil suit against them. Let them justify their “free speech” when it causes physical harm to someone. With free speech also comes the responsibility of knowing what the spoken word can do. And ol’ Rupert Murdock and Faux News will be on the top of the “garbage” list as well. Because its high time someone took out the trash.
Signed by a conservative christian and former republican who has seen the light.
My understanding is that Sparkman wore the “hat” that one reader finds “rather odd” because he had been undergoing chemotherapy.
I don’t think there’s anything at all wrong with this line of inquiry. The reporting has been frustrating, so a little fact-focused crime blogging seems like a good thing. Nothing wrong with speculation, provided you don’t stray from facts.
When I first read about Sparkman, it struck me that this was a man who had gone to some lengths to be near children, and if it is true that he had never married and adopted his son, that is indeed unusual. I’d sure like to see a photograph of the word “FED,” because it is very easy to imagine how a “P” could be misread as an “F.”
Also, several stories state that his truck was found near the crime scene, but I haven’t seen anything more specific. If he were taken to a remote location to be killed, would the killer(s) have later relocated his truck to be near the scene? Did he drive them to the scene? Was there a meeting? Seems odd, whichever way it’s imagined. Of course, it’s possible that reports that his truck was found near the scene only mean that it was in the general vicinity. It’s impossible to say, given the quality of the reporting.
We’ll see.
And there’s no proof that Riehl is the outcome of a pairing between his mother and an alligator. All I’m doing is looking at any and all possibilities.
That’s how the game is played, right?
What if he is a space alien?
Of course, this never applies when you have Griffin blogging that the Palins are divorcing, or that Todd Palin had incestuous sex with his daughters, or that Sarah Palin faked her pregnancy — none of which count as “libel”.
Of course, the fact that Griffin openly bragged about sexualizing his students to “act gay” is completely ignored as well.
Meanwhile, we can demonstrate quite nicely what gays who adhere to Obama Party ideology are doing.
– Dressing children up as sexual slaves and taking them to a sex fair as an “educational experience”.
http://xpress.sfsu.edu/archives/news/004352.html
– Stating that it is “common” in the gay community for gays to have sex with children seventeen years younger than they are and that age-of-consent laws are homophobic
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2008/02/25/canadian-gay-groups-oppose-rise-in-age-of-consent/
– Demanding that five-year-olds be taught the pleasure of gay sex in schools
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1056415/Teach-pleasure-gay-sex-children-young-say-researchers.html?Gay
So again, why do “progressives” like Marcotte and Kos get so upset over this? Is it because they don’t want people to know that progressives and their Obama Party view children as sex objects for their pleasure? Why are so many of the liberals here supporters of child molestation?
“Let them justify their “free speech” when it causes physical harm to someone. With free speech also comes the responsibility of knowing what the spoken word can do.”
But of course, when the correct people are threatened or killed, the left takes no responsibility whatsoever for their hate speech.
http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2009/09/antiabortion_activist_shot_in.html
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0909/27592.html
“There’s nothing wrong with speculating brain drain, don’t get your panties in a twist.”
Hmm, you have a point, Danny! Is the reason so much of your “writing” involves perverse sexual themes? Is it true you are a pedophile yourself, and are using this “speculating” to deflect from your sick predatory sexual preferences? I mean, I’m just speculating here.
Dan Riehl smearing Bill Sparkman as a possible child molester?
Well ain’t the pot calling the kettle black. (Riehl, as you all know, has never denied touching girls as young as 12.)
“You can smear an entire ideology based on wild-eyed speculation, but God forbid you suggest some things seem strange about the guy.”
So you think these two things are comparable?
A) Insinuating that a murdered individual was a child predator, and by implication may have deserved what he got.
B) Smearing an ideology.
In fact, I have not seen an ideology smeared, only certain clusters of pundits and loudmouths. Thankfully there are plenty of sane conservatives who have never once suggested, for example, that one should make sure to shoot federal agents in the head because they tend to wear body armor.
But set that aside and assume it’s true. You really think singling out an individual – who can no longer defend himself – for this hateful and baseless speculation is remotely the same thing and smack-talking a belief system? Do you even think that the harm caused to conservatives by smearing conservative pundits compares to the hurt caused to this man’s friends and family when his reputation is smeared?
That’s not just offensive, it’s moronic.
Wow… North Dallas Thirty seems to have quite a few links to things connecting children to sexual activity. That really makes me think that something is up with ND30….. seems… like a bit of an “unusual” interest you have there ND30, I mean some of those links are really to obscure sites. How long have you been “researching” this interest of yours ND30? What is your background? Married? Have any children (I mean biologically, not in your basement or anything like that)
There is something truly icky about right wingers and sex. I have found that those that protest the loudest often have something to hide. Kinda like when Republican Rep Foley was trying to pass anti-pedophilia legislation. So North Dallas… wanna clue us in as to why you have such an interest in the subject? Just asking questions you know.
You say: “You’d think a moonshiner, or Meth head would have just buried the guy. Why hang him and invite the Feds into it by writing Fed on his chest? Why strip him naked and bind and gag him, which has serious sexual overtones?”
Based on information that’s been made available to the public, that’s a logical conclusion. But, if the killing were inspired by some kind of revenge/sexual motive, the same logic would have to used – why would they write ‘Fed’, not ‘perv’ or the equivalent, on his chest?
“P.S.: Is it true Dan Riehl raped and murdered a girl in 1990?”
I think he was cleared of that charge wasn’t he?
Seriously, when you Google “Sparkman son,” the first two items are from the Huffington Post and the Daily Kos, which Dan admittedly might not trust. But the third item contains this line:
[...]
In a statement released earlier this week, Commerce Secretary Gary Locke said, “We are deeply saddened by the loss of our co-worker, and our thoughts and prayers are with William Sparkman’s son, other family and friends.”
[...]
Dan, I don’t know what “I’ve done a fair amount of crime blogging” means, but apparently it has something to do with being too damn lazy to use Google.
“In fact, I have not seen an ideology smeared”
Of course you haven’t, Don.
“The killer was a stone fascist whack-job who wanted to torture and kill the enemies of Amerika, probably to impress Dick Cheney, like Hinckley shot Ray-Gun to impress Jodie Foster. These people all pleasure themselves thinking about torture and watching torture videos. You really think the CIA trashed the videos of the Khalid Sheikh Muhammed interrogations? Think again. They’re in Cheney’s porn stash. That should be simple enough, probably even for you.”
“Slander is central to how rightwingers operate. Slander hypothetically. Slander as “fact.” Slander the living. Slander the dead. Slander whole religions. Slander anyone who stands in their way. Slander anyone who is inconvenient. Goes back to McCarthy. Slander. Slander. Slander.”
“Mr. Riehl you are subhuman filth who deserves the same treatment that Mr. Sparkman got. Do the world a favor and kill yourself.”
“I just heard from an anonymous source that Bill Sparkman was a registered Republican, so there might something to Dan’s speculation that Sparkman was a paedophile.”
Now, when you start wagging your finger at your fellow namecalling leftists, you might have some credibility.
But you aren’t here to be credible. You’re a leftist, and all you’re here for is to destroy someone who dares challenge your assertion that Republicans and conservatives are responsible for this man’s death and should be silenced.
North Dallas Thirty… I’m serious. How come you have so much information at the ready regarding sex with children. All those links you supplied. What else do you have on your hard drive ND30? I’ve noticed this before about your “unusual” interest in pre-pubescent children. What gives?
What’s the big deal? The guy was obviously a weirdo, and now he is dead. Lots more weirdos to take his place. Move on.
” You can smear an entire ideology based on wild-eyed speculation…”
Yeah, liberals! Just because the murderer scrawled the word “Fed” on the guy’s chest doesn’t mean there’s any reason to suspect he was an anti-government extremist!
For instance, he might have given the deceased some food, and was merely noting that he had eaten prior to being lynched.
I bet you didn’t think of that, did you? Because you’re liberals! God, I hate liberals! Did I mention I hate liberals?!? I just get crazy just thinking about them! It makes me want to…
Whoops, sorry. Anyway, speculating in the complete absence of evidence that the victim was a pedophile: a-ok. Noting that a Census worker was lynched and had the word “Fed” written on him, and linking this with anti-government extremism: wild-eyed speculation.
Did I mention I hate liberals?
“I have found that those that protest the loudest often have something to hide.”
Which is likely why you have been protesting so loudly the association of progressives and the Obama Party with pedophilia.
No surprise; for example, we can demonstrate what “progressive” social workers prioritize.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-480151/Gay-couple-left-free-abuse-boys–social-workers-feared-branded-homophobic.html
And we can also demonstrate why the Obama Party is so against age-of-consent laws.
http://blog.puppetgov.com/2007/12/04/us-senate-aide-charged-by-fbi-with-arranging-sex-with-a-minor/
Meanwhile, the interesting thing about Foley was that he pushed for laws that would protect children. In contrast, Barack Obama and the Obama Party push to REPEAL laws that would protect children and make it more difficult for their pedophile supporters to sexualize and have sex with them.
Did Dan Riehl habitually have sex with his mother? Well, he claims that he “loves” her and that he was “close” with her. Being intelligent and fact-based conservatives, we should of course investigate any and all possibilities.
“The liberals are flocking. lol They crack me up. You can smear an entire ideology based on wild-eyed speculation, but God forbid you suggest some things seem strange about the guy. It amazes me that crime blog readers were so much more adult than the political ideologues.”
Jesus Christ.
You’re sick, Dan Riehl. Because you’re so afraid that this murder is going to blow up in the collective faces of the tea party goers/Fox News/Glenn Beck, you smear the victim as a fucking PEDOPHILE, and then put up the bullshit “I’m just asking questions” defense. Your bankrupt ideology couldn’t be more blatant – you were worried about a movement’s PR (instead of, I don’t know, a MURDER) and scrambled for a way out.
Congratulations are in order.
This may be the most overtly sickening & mentally diseased thing I’ve seen on the Internets in many moons – & given the spectrum of content I explore on a regular basis, that’s no mean feat.
What better target for an easy smear-job than a dead man unable to defend himself? How better to deflect criticism over an obvious hate-crime than to defame its victim with vague innuendo that you can then whitewash with a glistening coat of plausible deniability?
Your courage & intellectual integrity are now on display for all to see – or at least they would be, if you had any detectable traces of either.
I’d strongly suggest that you seek professional help, but I doubt it would do any good at this point.
If you like attention, you’re definitely going to get as much of it as you could ever have wished for … but I doubt you’re going to enjoy it very much.
I have no sympathy for you whatsoever, but I honestly do pity you because, well, as posts like this make all too plain … you’re truly pitiful.
Shorter North Dallas Thirty: hey, look over there!
“North Dallas Thirty… I’m serious. How come you have so much information at the ready regarding sex with children. All those links you supplied. What else do you have on your hard drive ND30? I’ve noticed this before about your “unusual” interest in pre-pubescent children. What gives?”
Actually, it’s rather obvious that you’re not.
After all, one would think that if you opposed pedophilia, you would be incensed at how your progressive ideology and your Obama Party endorse and support it.
But as is typical, Obama Party members only oppose pedophilia when they think they can use it to smear others. Nancy Pelosi screams about the need to protect children, but in her own district, encourages people to dress up children as sexual slaves and take them to sex fairs to “show off” to adults and have an “educational experience”.
http://xpress.sfsu.edu/archives/news/004352.html
Since you support and endorse sexualization of children in this fashion, your attempt to smear me using an accusation of pedophilia is demonstrated to be little more than complete hypocrisy.
Perhaps if you were capable of condemning your fellow progressives who practice pedophilia, you might have a point. But again, progressives believe that pedophilia is natural and normal, and that to oppose it is to be “repressive” and “homophobic”.
http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2008/02/25/canadian-gay-groups-oppose-rise-in-age-of-consent
anybody notice how North Dallas 30 hasn’t responded to my queries as to why he has so much information regarding children and sex? Curiouser and curiouser. Married ND30? Ever a boy scout leader? Do you like Broadway show tunes? hmmmmm?
Dan just posted that he has to got to a ‘meeting’.
A ‘meeting’?
What could than mean?
This calls for wild speculation.
No theory will be considered to silly or ridiculous…not here.
Anyone remember “decency”? Used to be a pretty big thing? Anyone remember that?
Wow, This blog is pathetic.
“Is it really any worse than the state-run media and leftwing blogs trying to convict town hall protesters and tea party attendees as well as rightwing blogs and talk radio of the killing?”
First off, what state-run media? Are you referring to “Fox news family”, or Lou Dobbs on CNN, or Scarborough on MSNBC? The innumerable right-wing bloviators clogging the FM airwaves? The media in this country is carpet-bombed with right-wing opinions. And where in the mainstream media does one find a left-wing commenter as extreme as Glenn Beck? They wouldn’t let a left-wing version of Beck within a mile of a microphone.
Secondly, did you read any of the signs carried by teabaggers at the 9/12 march? “Obama Hates White People” is one of my favorites, a sentiment no doubt fed to the sign-bearer by Beck, who stated in July that “Obama exposed himself as a guy with a deep-seated hatred of white people.” That’s an outrageous comment, but if Beck’s audience believes that, or that the government intends to set up “death panels,” or that Obama’s a Muslim Socialist Czarist from Kenya, they’re clearly confused and paranoid enough to believe anything. Add to that paranoia and confusion a healthy dose of resentment and a steady diet of right-wing hate mongering, and you’ve got a recipe for violence. The far right in this country has a history of violence, and given the recent extreme tirades in the media, I don’t think it’s a reach to speculate that the killers may have been fueled in part by the toxic media environment.
Yeah, it’s soooo strange for parties to a homicide investigation to decline to reveal their theories in the midst of an ongoing investigation. It only happens in, like, EVERY homicide widely publicized by the media.
I guess every time a law enforcement officer or family member says “we’ve got theories but we can’t reveal them at this time” (which occurs in practically EVERY publicized homicide wherein someone privy to the investigation is asked to comment to the press, since even family members are asked by law enforcement not to comment on the investigation to the press), forget using the forensic evidence to formulate your theories-that stuff’s for wusses who feel bound by that wacky obligation to use the scientific method. Instead, we can just automatically assume that the victim was a child molester!
Riehl’s Law: If the parties to the investigation decline to reveal their theories, the victim was probably a child molester! Voila, case solved! Wow, that was so much easier than having to follow that pesky rule of conforming one’s theories to the evidence!
Have any children ever gone missing in Alaska? Did Sarah Palin lure unsuspecting children into her home….put them in her oven….and then eat them???? Just asking questions….can’t rule anything out until you disprove it, right??? Right??? Just asking questions
I wonder if Dan Riehl rapes and kills kittens. I have no rational reason to think he does, but he just seems like the kind of sick, deranged character who would get off on that kind of thing.
North Dallas…. I would start clearing up your hard drive if I were you. Don’t want to leave any evidence of your “research” into pedophilia now do you? Didn’t Peter Townshead use that excuse? Your obsessive “interest” in sex with children is making me rather uncomfortable. Perhaps the FBI would feel the same way. Just some friendly advice.
I’d have to conclude that your “fair amount of crime blogging” is quite likely a pretty sorry body of work overall, if you’re unaware that directing that the parties to a crime investigation (detectives, family members, etc.) decline to comment to the press during the ongoing investigation is just standard operating procedure.
Not strange. Standard.
I can’t help but wondering if Dan Riehl might jump so quickly to the possibility that this murdered man is a pedophile because Riehl himself spends his days thinking about how he can get some boy love.
Before anyone starts going bonkers that I’m accusing Riehl of anything, take a breath. One doesn’t rule anything in or out without some firm answers. Why take this crazy leap without any supporting information? Why suggest that the Boy Scouts are a haven for pedophiles?
I have no idea whether Riehl truly sits around thinking all day about sex with young boys, but to take the information at hand and leap to speculating about pedophilia almost smacks of jealousy. But I never assume I know a story or motive until I know it. Right now we don’t. I’m simply speculating on one possible alternative, however impolite.
anybody notice how North Dallas 30 hasn’t responded to my queries as to why he has so much information regarding children and sex? Curiouser and curiouser. Married ND30? Ever a boy scout leader? Do you like Broadway show tunes? hmmmmm?
Actually, I have; Proud Pedophile Liberal; just not in the way you expect.
You see, when you’re confronted with evidence of how your progressive Obama Party supports pedophilia, you’re used to making accusations of pedophilia against someone else to silence them, claiming that because they “know so much”, they must be pedophiles themselves.
Of course, in the reality-based world, that is ludicrous. By that logic, the FBI’s special unit on pedophilia and child pornography is made up completely of pedophiles. It is certainly possible to be an expert on something without being involved in it.
Hence, my response; simply to point out that the Obama Party and the progressive movement support and endorse pedophilia, openly advocate for the repeal of laws banning and punishing pedophilia, demand the teaching of gay sex to children, brag themselves about sexualizing students, and employ pedophiles themselves — while trying to argue that other people should be publicly smeared and punished based on the Obama Party’s accusation of pedophilia against them.
Wingnut has a theory!
“Don’t want to leave any evidence of your “research” into pedophilia now do you? Didn’t Peter Townshead use that excuse?”
Actually, that excuse is far more characteristic of progressives and liberals.
http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/story?id=4818224&page=1
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=2900174&page=1
Of course, the progressive and liberal Obama Party wants to legalize child pornography anyway, so your argument that the FBI is coming after people is little more than abject hypocrisy.
http://www.stoptheaclu.com/2005/07/17/aclu-policy-to-legalize-child-porn-distribution/
Interesting, Terry.
“Before anyone starts going bonkers that I’m accusing Riehl of anything, take a breath. One doesn’t rule anything in or out without some firm answers.”
Which, of course, you then follow with this contradictory statement.
“Why take this crazy leap without any supporting information?”
Riehl is not ruling anything out in the absence of firm answers, which you supposedly support.
But you are attacking him for not ruling anything out, which goes contrary to your own insistence that one should not rule anything out without any firm answers.
You are a disgrace Dan. A legitimate “crime reporter” might have taken a few minutes to see what info is actually there. As this easily discoverable bio.
http://www.wgu.edu/wgu/profile_16
You shame yourself with such sloppy speculation.
Well, Ted Haggard and Mark Foley, Conservatives both, displayed a certain fondness for young males.
And Conservatives do tend to read this fine blog. So it’s logical to reason that a reader in that section of Kentucky, loyal to Mr. Riehl, saw an opportunity to establish his Conservative status, both with Mr. Riehl and with the Conservative backers of Mr. Foley and Rev. Haggard, by ending the life of the U.S. Census worker aforementioned.
But I’m far from certain it has any political ramifications.
So you are “far from certain” that a federal census taker found hanged in the backwoods of Kentucky with the word “Fed” scrawled on his body and his census badge taped to his neck could possibly have political undertones, but you refuse to rule out “without some credible answers” the possibility (unprompted by evidence) that the victim might have been a child predator.
Are you drunk?
Riehl’s favorite smear seems to be baseless speculation about man on boy action. Wonder why that’s so often on his mind? Projecting much?
I guess this column was written after an imaginary beatdown of “technical thugs” on the DC metro system.
That one was sheer idiocy, but this is malevolent.
On the numerous comments –
First off, many people have kids on their facebook page. i.e. family members, people you associate with ( he is a Teacher duh!), etc.
Second off, if it was a drug related crime, you would put the body somewhere that you DO NOT frequent.
Third off, it was definitely done to send a message. And it was also done to Shock, Intimate Others, etc. – similar to those overseas torture crimes.
They need to be HANGED when caught, and they will be caught. That will send a message too. We have long been to easy on SICKO, PERVERTED CRIMINALS!
Third off, I am sure his mother was told, like everyone else associated with the government and the investigation, to keep quiet, not to divulge too much, etc.
Additionally, heat and the time period found would have led to decomposition. He was in a remote location and the reason he was not found right away.
This was a HATE CRIME, not that I think one crime is worse than another, except by circumstances. And in this case, we need to make an example of the criminals.
1. Become outraged by unfair liberal/conservative speculation relating to [insert political issue], because you believe in your heart that [speculative allegations relating to aforementioned political issue] which are not grounded in fact are irresponsible, inflammatory, and always inappropriate.
2. Reciprocate.
Perhaps the fact I don’t get how it’s logically okay to go from step 1 to step 2 is the main reason I’m not going to fudge my trousers over this right now. Or maybe it’s because you’re all mostly asshats who just feel like insulting one another.
Either way.
Riehl is not fit to breathe air. He made up false accusations to excuse the same murderous intent as the happened in Mississippi (the four trying to register black voters) probably because he agrees with it.
If you’re wondering where all the negative comments are coming from, Chuckles Johnson at LGF is sending his cult members over here. Funny how Chuckles is so upset at you wondering aloud if the census worker could have been a child predator when he has no problem speculating that his murder could be tied to the tea party events. Chuckles, thy name is hypocrite.
Dan Riehl: pederast?
There’s nothing wrong with speculating.
Dan, a guy was found with his badge taped to him and the word “FED” scrawled in black marker over his chest. No, we don’t know what the motive for his killing was yet, but that alone is evidence that it may — MAY — have had something to do with his affiliation with the Census Bureau. It is not liberal hyperventilating to ask that question, based on the evidence at hand.
Your homo-baiting, though, is just plain sick. Your blog isn’t about crime. No one in a criminal process would bring up the idea that Sparkman was a child predator because there is ABSOLUTELY NO EVIDENCE of such a thing. The only evidence you cite is that he adopted a male child. If anything, he should be PRAISED for doing what too few do — opening his home and his heart to a child in need of a parent.
How can anyone claim to be a conservative (in the traditional sense of the term) or a Christian and set forth such a despicable, deplorable, and downright anti-American theory? You obviously are troubled by the idea that you could have anything in common, like political ideology, with someone who would perform such a deplorable act. Further, you are obviously scared shitless that the type of rhetoric to which you contribute could have been a factor. Now, we don’t know for certain that this WAS motivated by political ideology. But you know what? There is evidence to back that case up. What evidence do you have that he was a child molester?
Mr. Riehl, you are a sick prick. Thanks for showing us all just how much you hate America.
How do we know you’re not a child predator, Riehl?
Maybe he was raped and murdered by Glenn Beck, who then scrawled ‘Fed’ on his chest in the hopes of sparking a wave of murders to topple Obama Hitler. You know, like a modern-day Charles Manson trying to cause a right-wing Helter Skelter.
What? I’m just speculating. Where’s the harm in that?
Hm! Another disappearing comment. Imagine that.
Can’t take the heat Dan?
I could speculate as to why that is, and come up with all sorts of outlandish theories for that. And I’d just be “speculating”. Would I be wrong? WHy is that?
“Over at HuffPO they are accusing Beck/O’reilly/Limbaugh of inciting the anti-government sentiment that caused his death.”
Gosh, could that be because they actually are inciting anti-government sentiment that could easily have turned violent?
Based on currently available evidence, that’s a far more likely scenario than Mr. Riehl’s utterly fact-free speculation. It’s still too early to say with certainty, but if I were placing a bet, it would be on an anti-government fanatic egged on by the likes of Beck/O’reilly/Limbaugh. Note I’m not making a categorical statement, only talking probabilities.
And even if Mr. Riehl’s bizarre speculations turn out to be true, so what? Mr. Sparkman was still entitled to due process and a trial before a jury of his peers.
Don’t conservatives ever take responsibility for what their rhetoric results in?
Of course that was a rhetorical question.
Here’s another possibility: maybe the guy stumbled onto evidence that the moon landing was faked and those seeking to perpetuate the hoax had to kill him to silence him.
Whoop! Whoop! Whoop! Keep looking for those black helicopters.
Oh, the word I meant to use was paraphrase, not quote re: Shakespeare.
The police are perfectly capable of solving this crime.
Mr. Riehl and Occam’s Razor are like oil and water, apparently.
“Gosh, could that be because they actually are inciting anti-government sentiment that could easily have turned violent?”
So what the libbies are saying is that anything that is against “the government” should be suppressed and eradicated because it COULD “turn violent”.
The problem here is that Obama I can’t stand or handle criticism, so he has to shriek and scream that criticizing him or the government should be treated as a capital crime.
This is particularly rich coming from Obama I’s cultists, who spent the entire last eight years shrieking that Bush was Hitler and openly calling for his assassination.
Pure blame the victim garbage. Disgusting.
Update: I only closed comments as they were so numerous – why flip all the way back? There’s a new thread up top if you idiots want to carry on. Just watch the profanity. You libs are some of the most foul mouthed, out of control idiots on the Internets. – DR