Tennessee Horrific Domestic Violence Murder-Suicide Spills Into Kentucky Past State-Line

   It's always extremely sad these days to read in the news when a husband kills his wife and then turns a gun on himself. Especially when it hits close to home in or near Bowling Green.  And it's even worse, when the story turns horrific. (See the newspaper story from the Bowling Green (Ky) Daily News posted below) In a recent case of this, Joseph Parker, 45, of Springfield, Tenn., shot his wife, Samantha Parker, 43, in the temple of her head and then stuck her body in the freezer in the garage.  She had been in there in there for 48 hours when he called 911 and he stated to the operator "when he tried to move her frozen body that he broke her wrist."  However, the story gets even more gruesome.  When police arrived at their house this past Friday,  Nov. 7, 2014, they found his wife had been partially dismembered by Parker. After Parker hung up from the 911 phone call, police pursued Parker's vehicle crossed the Kentucky state-line on I-65 North where he pulled over and shot and killed himself.  Prayers for the family and everyone involved please.

Man wanted for killing wife, stuffing body in freezer shoots himself


Posted: Friday, November 7, 2014 5:01 pm | Updated: 7:21 pm, Fri Nov 7, 2014.

By DEBORAH HIGHLAND The Daily News dhighland@bgdailynews.com783-3243 | 0 comments

A Tennessee man wanted for killing, partially dismembering and stuffing his wife’s body into a garage freezer shot and killed himself on Interstate 65 north near the 12-mile marker in Simpson County on Friday afternoon.


The man, later identified as Joseph Parker, called 911 in Springfield, Tenn., at 2:45 a.m. Friday, identified himself and said he had killed his wife, Samantha Parker, Springfield Police Chief David Thompson said.

When police arrived at the 246 Clydesdale Lane home, they found Samantha Parker’s partially dismembered body stuffed inside a freezer in the garage, Thompson said.

Police don’t know how long she had been dead. The scene at the Parkers’ home had been partially cleaned up, and Joseph Parker was gone when investigators arrived, Thompson said.

On the chilling 911 tape, a man who identified himself as “Joe” said in a soft, matter-of-fact voice that he shot his wife with a .38-caliber handgun and put her in a freezer in the garage.

“All right, this is what’s happened. ... On the fourth, which would have been two nights ago at 4 a.m., I shot my wife in the temple of her head,” the caller said to the 911 operator. “I thought I’d killed her, and I put her in the freezer out in the garage. Well I checked on her tonight, and she’s not dead. She’s got a big hole in the temple of her head. And to get her body moved around in there I think I broke her wrist, you know, she was frozen from being in the thing. She had been in the thing for 48 hours now. This is no prank call. I need somebody to get out there and help her.”

The caller said he had been married to his 43-year-old wife for 12 years and that the couple had never had any domestic problems in the past but had a “real bad night” a couple of nights ago.

Thompson confirmed that the police had never been called to the couple’s home.

“I promise you this is a legit call,” the caller told the 911 operator. “I need somebody to get out there and help her because I still love her. It’s hard, hard to believe that after that. “

He told the emergency operator that Samantha Parker couldn’t talk but she could blink her eyes once for “yes” and twice for “no.” He also said that he left all of the lights on inside the home and the front door open. He told the 911 operator that he left the house an hour prior to calling 911 after making his wife “as comfortable as” he could make her. He said he didn’t want to get arrested.

“She is frozen solid,” he said. “It’s amazing she’s still alive.

“She’s got a big, big hole in the temple of her head,” he said. “I shot her with a 38-caliber handgun ... . I didn’t see an exit wound.

“My name is Joe, I’ll just leave it at that,” he said.

He told the emergency operator that Samantha Parker needed paramedics, an ambulance and maybe a helicopter.

“I love her,” he said. “I still love her. You know, I’ve loved her every day I’ve been married to her. We just had rough stretch here.”

About 3:20 p.m. Friday, Tennessee authorities notified Kentucky State Police that they were pursuing Parker, KSP Post 3 spokesman Jonathan Biven said.

State police troopers were able to get behind Parker at the 10-mile marker on Interstate 65 north. Parker drove his vehicle to the 12.6-mile mark, pulled over onto the shoulder and shot himself, Biven said. His self-inflicted shooting remains under investigation.

Hear audio of the 911 call at http://chirb.it/fBGaIn

— Follow news editor Deborah Highland on Twitter at twitter.com/bgdnnewseditor or visitbgdailynews.com.