The Secret

Wife still goes at a small pace here in Lafayette, Walker County. And you can be to work in just a few minutes, be home in a few minutes. We're located right in the heart of the bottle belt. At the end, David's said, I have sinned. Being able to go on Friday night, you know,

to watch your children play football or watch your daughter cheerlead as I did. That's what small towns are all about. [MUSIC] She was the middle sister, and I was the youngest. Trace said, loved everybody, she loved family.

“That was the most important thing to her.”

You think of the best sister you could have, and she was, they are fundamentally. [MUSIC] She's one of our own. She's nine one-one dispatcher. She's that person on the other end of the radio.

When you're in need, she's there. [MUSIC]

When I hugged her, that night I just got this feeling that I was never going to see her again.

[MUSIC] Saturday, I just kept trying to call her. Hey, it's just me, I was just checking on you. I called her, just over and over and over. [MUSIC]

I was so panicked, she is nowhere to be found. [MUSIC]

“And you don't want to think the worse, but I mean, you do.”

[MUSIC] This case is about a nine-one-one dispatcher in a city police officer. A married couple, and one had turned up missing. [MUSIC] It's like a horrible dream, I can't wake up from.

How many of you are alive? [MUSIC] People came out in hundreds to search for her. We covered about 175 square miles of land mass. So the community as a whole was very concerned about Theresa Parker missing.

[MUSIC] I am hopeful, though, find her. I hope they find her in good health. [MUSIC] It was free morning when I opened my eyes, I think about her.

You know, it not when I lie my head down to go to sleep.

“I think about her, you know, Theresa, where can you be?”

[MUSIC] I don't believe that she would have just vanished off the face of her. When you that this was not the typical missing person case in Walker County, this was going to be bigger than Walker County when it was all said and done. [MUSIC]

It was the first day of spring, March 21, 2007, a time of new beginnings for Theresa Parker,

according to her sister, Christina Hall. She was at my house Wednesday night for about an hour and we talked and she wanted me to go to her new place. The 911 dispatcher and her police officer husband, Sam Parker, after 13 years of marriage, we're divorcing.

The marriage was playing itself out, but it wasn't in a bad way. Theresa was getting ready to move into her own apartment near her sister and nephews. She was just so excited to be closer and be able to help us out with them and spend more time with them.

But when the sister said they're goodbyes that Wednesday night, Christina says something was different. When I hugged her, that night, I just got this, the anxious feeling and it was really strange. The sisters didn't talk at all the next day, Thursday.

And Christina figured Theresa was just busy cleaning her new place. [MUSIC] But by Friday morning, March 23rd, that empty feeling in her gut was back. >> I just woke up and felt like I had this black cloud over me. And I'm not usually like that.

And I thought, I'm going to talk to Theresa.

She always made me feel better.

[MUSIC] Theresa didn't answer her phone, Christina went to work. Still hoping she'd hear from her sister at any moment. >> But every time the phone would ring, I'd check the ID to save it was her. >> Could it be Theresa?

>> Yeah, I thought she'll be calling any time since I'd left her a message. Because it was odd that she didn't call me right back. >> Walk or not one? >> Meanwhile, Theresa's friend and co-worker, Ronda Knox, was also getting worried. After a strange early morning call on Thursday, March 22nd.

At 6 o'clock in the morning, my phone rings, and it's from Theresa, and I answer it.

>> Ronda knew it was odd for Theresa to call and hang up.

>> I thought, this said in Theresa, you know, so I called it back. It rang, then went to voicemail. And then I started calling my house, I started getting worried. >> To ease her mind, she called police officer and friend, Shane Green, and asked him as a favor, to check out the home, Theresa still shared with her soon to be ex.

Police officer Sam Parker.

“>> So when Shane went to the house, what did he call you, what did he say?”

>> He was saying, okay, we even beat on in the door, and I told him I was a look in the garage. She parked in the garage every town, and he shone in there, and he told me he's in her car, not here. >> It's around 6.30 a.m.

>> Theresa's Toyota 4 runner was nowhere to be found, but her husband Sam Parker's patrol car was in the garage.

And his pickup truck was parked outside the house in plain sight. Strangely, Thursday afternoon, Theresa's SUV was back at the house, but still no one had seen her, and she wasn't answering her cell phone. >> Trinker, I'm really glad to see him in the cup house, and I'm back. >> Theresa's rounder is shooting at the house, and he called me whenever he didn't care.

>> The police call me the police, the police call me the police, the police, I may be found. >> Everyone was calling her, including husband Sam Parker.

“>> Theresa has a sign on her, he's driving up the car, this morning about she went home long.”

>> More than 24 hours had come and gone with no word from Theresa.

Her sister Christina was frantic.

There were just no ifs and orbits about I knew something so horrible, and I was just I was scared today. >> Then on that Friday evening, March 23rd, Christina got a call from her brother-in-law Sam Parker. He was on patrol, working the night shift. >> I could immediately tell with him something wasn't right, because he was talking really fast. And he kept clearing his throat, and that was just at a character.

And I was like, well, we need to do something, we need to file a missing person's report. You know this is not Teresa. >> Christina says Parker told her he'd gone fishing with a buddy that Thursday morning. And that when he left the house, Theresa's SUV was in the garage.

“But if Christina was panicked, Sam Parker seemed anything but.”

>> He said, well, I'm at work right now, but now when I get off work in the morning, I'll say what I can do. >> Who ended up filing a missing person's report? >> My mom, dear, the next morning. >> Saturday morning, March 24th, 2007, day three, Theresa's family calls the police. >> Sheriff Wilson Walker County Sheriff Steve Wilson. >> The detective was assigned the missing person case.

He told me, should Sheriff said something's just not right here. >> Wilson knew this case was just too personal for him to investigate. >> He not only knew Theresa from 911, he'd gone to the police academy with Sam Parker. So he called in the GBI, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. >> He calling about five o'clock on a Saturday and stated he had a missing 911 dispatcher.

It was Mary Tillafay at police officer and he asked for GBI assistance. >> Special agent James Harris headed straight for Theresa's new apartment looking for any clues. >> We found a few odds and ends some clothes, some shoes, her 911 uniform. We found where Lowe's had stopped in to deliver a wash and dryer that she had previously purchased. And she wasn't there so they left one of the flyers on the door knob.

We all need to pray for her safe return and pray that our greatest fears is not becoming reality. And no harm is come to her yet. >> With no sign of Theresa, neighbors and friends joined together. Agent James Harris was eager to talk with Sam Parker. And on Sunday, March 25th, four days after Theresa went missing,

Sam Parker, the police officer, wasn't the one asking the questions. >> What did Sam tell you in that interview? >> I knew that we had a lock in me in on a timeline. One of the things that jumped out at me immediately was that he said he was in his truck the whole night. >> But three people had already told Agent Harris a different story.

They saw Parker's truck parked at Sam and Theresa's house early that Thursday morning. And Sam is telling you he was driving around on his truck. >> That's correct. So then that's when red flags started going up and Sam became a suspect in my eyes.

at least I thought was that small at the time.

>> I'm not going to anything to hide. I'm not going to anything lie about. >> Sam Parker believed Theresa had gone off on her own because they were divorcing. So he couldn't understand why investigators were looking at him. >> It must have been strange.

>> Very strange. >> There's a police officer. >> The band uniform. >> Yeah. >> And we've been in Lumpa again.

>> Law enforcement was facing a real mystery. What happened?

“And why couldn't anyone find the police officer's wife?”

[MUSIC] >> We were brothers. We were the Norman Rockwell vision of brothers growing up next to a river. We grew up very close, very close. >> Kenneth Parker looked up to his big brother Sam and followed in his footsteps.

>> He went in the Marine Corps, I would in the Marine Corps. >> He went in the police department law enforcement, I went in the law enforcement. >> How much of Sam's life was being a cop? >> For him is everything. It was a cop 24 hours a day.

>> And he says his proud police officer brother was quickly smitten with a young 9-1-1 operator. >> He started talking about this new dispatcher. It was very attractive and start talking about, you know, he would like to try to take her out. >> One thing led to another and he started dating her and it took off from there.

“>> Do you remember on the job first impressions of her?”

>> She was thinking. >> She was thin. >> Yeah. >> Was she super skinny? >> For around here, yeah.

>> [LAUGH] >> You instantly fall in love with her just about when you get to talk to her. Because she was that way, she just made you feel comfortable. >> Her nickname was Mother Teresa and according to younger sister Christina, she was the glue that held their family together.

>> You know, she was the type of person if you made it her, you called her. She was there.

>> Teresa's first marriage had ended in divorce and Sam Parker already had two X-Wives.

>> Two X-Wives. >> Despite their past failed relationships, Sam and Teresa seemed like a good match. >> When I first met him, I liked him. >> He had a good funny sense of humor and seemed to be a gentleman to her.

“>> Did you think, oh, maybe this is the one for her?”

>> I thought, he probably is. >> You know, he's going to be the one because she was just crazy about him. >> Teresa and Sam Parker married on September 11th, 1993. They seemed happy at first. But then after a few years, their relationship turned rocky.

They were fighting one moment and love with each other the next. It was a sea saw and evidently they locked it that way.

>> But it seems Teresa finally had enough and decided to pull the plug after 13 years of marriage.

>> She's missing person and I don't know where she is. >> Part of the problem investigators have been searching for Teresa Parker is the terrain. Just look at this. This is the woods right across from the parker home and this goes on for miles and miles in every direction. This is mountain country. It's thick with trees. There's brush all over the ground. It's the perfect place to hide something and chances are no one will ever find it.

>> There's hundreds and hundreds of old whales in this area. And Mr. Parker grew up here. >> If B.I. Special Agent Mark Vizzi. >> His childhood was spent hunting in these woods. His adulthood is spent fishing in the ponds all around this area. He knows this like the back of his hand.

>> An investigators discovered that Sam told people, perhaps jokingly, he could use that knowledge to do some pretty awful things. >> They told everybody in Walker County about a couple that he knew had to get rid of a body and no one had ever find it. They talked about putting them in ponds and the turtles would eat them. >> Law enforcement and volunteers searched fingertip to fingertip through the woods. They drained and searched ponds and combed through the local landfill.

>> Authorities even searched Parker's home five times. They confiscated a collection of old guns and rifles. But investigators didn't believe they were connected to Teresa's disappearance. >> I told myself y'all, you didn't search your closet. You didn't look through her personal stuff. You went in and you looked for things and took things of mine and only looked at me.

>> Yes, we provided them a sense that we collected of Mr. Parker's clothes and also off of his patrol car.

“And they ran as they alerted to his scent all up this hill and all back down this way indicating that he had been here.”

>> They're drawing conclusions that you know she may have been harmed. And she may possibly be a dead. Me personally, I'm not going to let that in or my mind until I have to. If in fact it did, it is something has happened. >> There were other people we looked at but we went where they have it.

It's lettuce and it kept funneling us to sand Parker. Mr. Parker is, in my opinion, very cold and calculating. Very meticulous in his actions. He was very meticulous in the way he was a police officer.

His uniform was always perfect.

His car was always perfect. >> But investigators were finding Sam Parker's story was less than perfect. >> Mr. Parker advised us that the last time that he saw or talked to Theresa was approximately 730 on Wednesday, March 21. When she was loading up her vehicle and taking things to her new apartment.

“>> But according to the phone records, Sam Parker had called Theresa several times in the early morning hours on that Thursday she disappeared.”

>> And in fact there were two telephone calls. We believe that Mr. Parker was trying to get in touch with her. He denied making any additional telephone conversations. >> Now that's bizarre behavior for a seasoned police officer who would know you'd pull the phone records. >> I don't know if he forgot about them or if he was trying to cover that fact up I'm not sure.

>> Then the crime scene specialist examined Theresa's Toyota forrunner. >> I turned around to me and said we've got blood back here, but I knew it was on then. >> And there was more.

>> The back of the forrunner had been obviously vacuumed, you could see the vacuum marks.

>> So what did that say to you? >> Well someone cleaned it. >> I knew we were looking the right way. >> Looking the right way, meaning what? >> Meaning Sam Parker.

>> You know they were ready to glitch me in this dialogue. And that's just beyond me. >> The crime lab tests confirmed Theresa's blood and Parker's DNA were in the back of her SUV. Investigators now had what they needed to make an arrest. >> Replacement handcuffs.

“And the only thing he said was he asked me if I had turned his coffee pot off for him.”

So I did it. >> Nearly one year after 911 dispatcher Theresa Parker disappeared, her police officer husband Sam Parker was charged with his wife's murder. >> Did you kill Theresa Parker? >> No I did not.

>> What do you think happened to her? >> I do not know. >> Nobody knows that she was killed. There's no physical, there's no forensic evidence. There's nothing to show that she was killed.

>> Defense attorney David Dunn has a whole other theory to explain Theresa Parker's disappearance. >> Did Theresa have a boyfriend? >> I believe she did. [MUSIC] >> The week before 41 year old Theresa Parker disappeared,

she took a trip to the Smoky Mountains.

>> She called me her first morning there,

and was like I'm having coffee outside. It's just beautiful. >> Three days in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. It was supposed to be a quick getaway before her move in the divorce. Theresa made a reservation at her favorite cabin,

the honeybee hideaway. >> You know, she told me she's going to be by myself and think about things clear my mind. She's been so stressed that she was alone. >> And she was alone, yes.

>> 51 year old Sam Parker knew his wife was going to Gatlinburg. He had even given her money for shopping. But there was something about her trip that troubled him. So he decided to do a little investigating on his own. >> He was, you know, a husband, just like any other husband,

trying to find out who went off for a couple of days with his wife. >> Parker called the lodge and convinced the clerk to send him Theresa's registration, defense attorney David Dunn. >> She registered for a room using the name Barker, whether someone actually went with her or visited her there

while she was there. We don't know that. >> Prosecutor Lee Patterson. >> He was very angry about the Gatlinburg trip

>> Parker suspicions about Theresa and another man grew

when he found something else puzzling on her room reservation. >> She listed two adults. >> We know from the statement that Shane Green made that he was at least invited to accompany her. We know that much.

>> Remember, Shane Green was the police officer who discovered Theresa's SUV missing the morning. The prosecution believes she was murdered.

“>> You don't think that this could have just been a work relationship?”

>> No, I don't know between those two. >> The defense says that there were two people staying at that lodge. >> That Theresa had somebody with her. There were not. The air information is there was nobody there to see her.

If the defense wants to say that Shane Green was there with her, the phone cell phone tower show that his cell phone activity was not in Gatlinburg.

>> Green says he was not in Gatlinburg and was never

romantically involved with Theresa. >> All of this jealousy that Sam seems to have is unfounded. >> In my opinion, yes. He was a very controlling, manipulative person. And I think that Theresa was tired of being controlled and manipulated.

>> According to prosecutors, Theresa Parker did have one big secret. The 911 dispatcher who had helped so many people in crisis was dealing with a very personal crisis of her own. An angry and abusive husband. >> I think she hit it very well.

I think she hit it from everybody. Did Sam have a drinking problem? >> No, he could drink real well. >> He drank way too much. >> What was he like when he drank?

>> Funny. >> Happy drunk. >> Theresa's sister Christina says there was nothing funny about her brother-in-law when he had too much alcohol. >> He became a violent, main drunk.

He would keep a water bottle with a refrigerator during family dinner or whatever and he would sneak out with her and drink out of this bottle and it was straight vodka. I had seen him in action. So scary.

>> There have been allegations that you've had some issues with drinking. >> You know, something that got blown up way out of proportion. >> So you did drink, but it didn't affect your job. Is that fair to say? >> That's very fair to say yes.

>> Christina says Sam Parker's behavior could change from nice to nasty in an instant. >> They had went out to eat for dinner one night. And of course, he started out drinking. >> Christina says when her sister left the restaurant, Parker followed her. >> They got into the car and he started threatening her.

It took his gun out with sheetenous gun at the air in the parking lot. >> Teresa called 911, but when the police arrived, they didn't arrest Parker. Instead, they took him to a hospital for psychiatric evaluation.

“>> After an incident like that, why didn't Teresa walk away?”

>> She just didn't want to give up and, you know, and she liked him. She was in love with him. >> It's a story killer beard says she knows all too well because she lived it. She was Parker's second wife and was married to him for four years. >> And time, he was drinking a glass of water.

And he threw the glass on the floor and it broke. And he actually took me by the hair and drug me through the living room into the bedroom. And he drugged my feet. I was barefoot and he drugged my feet through that broken glass and they were bleeding. And pulled out his handcuffs on up off of his belt and handcuffed me to the bedpost.

>> He eventually let her go because he had to go back to work. But Kila says when Parker abused her again a few months later, he gave her a warning. He told me before he left that I better not tell anybody or call anybody. Because if I did, he would he would kill me. He said you can believe me that I know how to do it.

Without getting caught and they will never find your body.

>> He said that to me. >> Still neither Kila nor Teresa ever filed a police report about Parker's alleged abuse. His brother Kenneth doubts it was ever that bad. >> Did Sam ever hit her? >> Nothing I know of.

“>> Do you think he was physically abusive to Teresa in any way?”

>> No, no, not physically. Menally both ways because they liked to play mind games honestly believe. And he'd always said that she knew exactly what button to push if she wanted to defy it. >> Kenneth says his big brother is simply misunderstood and not a murderer.

Where'd she go? >> I have my own theory.

“I believe that she's either in Mexico or California.”

>> I think I know where she is.

I mean, I really do. >> Sam Parker revealed his theory to special agent James Harris. >> His exact words to me were she's in Mexico with a guy name Elvis. >> Elvis? >> Yes. >> It turns out Teresa had vacationed in Mexico with her nieces.

And on that trip, they met a resort entertainer named Elvis. Investigators followed up on Parker's hunch and traveled to sunny Cancun. >> Is it possible that you missed Elvis in Teresa in Mexico? >> No. >> You're trying not to laugh.

>> I'm trying very hard not to laugh. >> If she's somewhere she must be there and she's happy, then fine. >> No, I don't care.

>> Is it possible that she could still be walking around alive?

That she just wanted to get away.

“>> No, it just doesn't make sense and it's not a reasonable theory.”

Sam Parker murdered her, disposed of her body. And obviously, it doesn't bother him that her family still cries for her every day. [MUSIC] >> Hi, my name is Lloyd Lockridge and I'm the host of a new podcast from Odyssey called Family Lore.

In this podcast, I'm going to have people on to tell unusual and sometimes far-fetched stories about their families. >> I've heard my whole life that she ended at the Margarita. >> And then, we're going to investigate those stories and find out how much of it is true. He gets a pattern one month before the ride by this.

>> Oh my God, please follow and listen to Family Lore, an Odyssey podcast, available now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your shows. [MUSIC] >> Everyone is obsessed with it. They blog about it, they all have their own theories.

>> At Susie Sunset Cafe, the breakfast crowd is buzzing about the Sam Parker trial. And everyone has an opinion. >> Where she's at, but she's not like that. >> You don't think she's dead. >> She's dead.

>> So you think she's still alive. >> I know. >> With nobody, no crime scene and no murder weapon, prosecutor Lee Patterson has an uphill battle. >> You wish that you had everything, but that's not how case works.

And we felt like, even though we didn't have a lot of forensics that we had a lot of other stuff that was really good. >> Defense attorney David Dunn. >> How unique is this in that there's no body? >> It's very rare.

>> In the history of the state of Georgia, there's been about four of those over 200 years. >> The prosecution admits they don't know exactly how Teresa died, but they're convinced the circumstantial evidence against Parker proves he's a murderer. >> He had threatened people in the past and said, if you don't do such and such or if you keep bothering me, I will kill you and bear you where nobody will ever find you.

>> What we're going to see at trial is we're going to see a trial by character assassination. >> Teresa's niece, Ashden Gilbert. >> When he time she would turn her back, he would flip her off and cut her behind her back. >> Parker's second wife, Kila Beard. >> Hey, tell me he would kill me.

>> Tell me that he knew how to do it without getting cold.

>> Tell me never would ever find my body.

>> The prosecution lays out its theory. >> Teresa left her new apartment shortly after midnight, driving to the home she shared with Parker. She didn't think he'd be there, but he was waiting for her. >> Sometime between 1230 and 13AM on March 22nd, 2007, he killed her.

>> After he killed her, he put her body in the back of the Ashden, and then he went to Christie Belflower's house. >> Incredibly, prosecutors say Sam Parker was heading out on a date. >> Can you state your mind for the record, please? >> Christie Belflower.

“>> And Miss Belflower, when the defendant got there, did he have anything with him to drink?”

>> Yes. >> What did he have with vodka? >> All right, we'll tell me what kind of container did he have at him? >> I'll let her borrow. >> Okay, so an hour to kill her.

>> And then you say he left her body in her SUV. >> That's right. >> At their home and went on a date, he had to have an alibi, and Christie Belflower had expected him to come over there. How's he going to explain, well, I had a date, but I broke it.

>> After the date with Christie Belflower early Thursday morning, prosecutors believe Parker drove home. Then, sometime between 530 and 730am, he drove off into Reese's SUV

>> That's our theory to case because that fits with the timeline.

“He goes back because he has to dispose of her body.”

He can't leave her lying in the carport. Defense attorneys Doug Woodruff and David Dunn said that scenario is ludicrous. >> Murder's a messy business. It's virtually impossible to do this kind of thing, and leave no traces, no indications, no evidence.

>> What do you make of the blood that was found on the rear bumper of Theresa's car? >> They had no idea how old the DNA was. They simply could not say whether it was a paper cut, or an accidental injury, or anything else.

>> But then, prosecutors would call their most controversial witness. >> Police officer Ben Chafin. >> Were you in St. Friends? >> Yes, my, I consider being a big brother. >> Had you ever seen Sam and Theresa have a fight?

>> Yes, my, my. >> Chafin would tell the jury the most explosive evidence of the trial, a phone call from Sam Parker, the night Theresa disappeared. >> He said he'd really done it this time, or he's really going to do it this time. >> What else, did he say?

>> He said that he had a place, it was going to be over to find her,

then never would find him.

>> What else? >> And that the each trace of the day. >> Chafin told the jury after that confession, he hung up the phone, but a few minutes later, Parker called him back. >> He said that if I told anybody, you can't kill me too.

Devastating testimony, maybe not. It turns out Ben Chafin had given investigators five different stories, and he'd been arrested for helping Parker hack into Theresa's computer. The prosecution gave him immunity in exchange for testifying. >> In your very first conversation with the GBI about Theresa Parker being missed,

you didn't tell them about this. So-called murder confession you heard simply because you forgot about it. And I forgot about it. >> If somebody calls you and says, I killed my wife,

“that's something you remember, how could you forget that?”

>> That was my initial reaction when I first started rating his statements.

But when we talked to him, it became very clear to us that he was very, very close to Sam Parker. The person that he looked at as a father, as a brother, had done something so terrible, he couldn't wrap his mind around it. >> He's been chafing a good witness, a believable witness?

>> He's probably the most unbelievable witness I've seen in 26 years of practicing law. >> Can you give me a sense of what's been going through your head? >> You know, just the people that's met in my life for 25, 30 years. They recall things one way and I recall them a little bit differently. >> Have you been looking at the jury at all, wondering?

>> I'm not wondering. I'm going to accept what they say and that's what I'm going to do. >> And Sam Parker may have the jury on his side. How many of you thought Ben Chafin was believable? >> He was.

>> Nobody thought he was. >> None of us, even the slight bit, thought he was credible. It all, we all felt like he was lying. >> Not only did they dismiss Chafin's testimony, they had problems with other evidence too. >> How strong was that blood evidence?

>> To me, the blood was another circumstantial thing. It wasn't hard evidence for me. >> Most of the evidence was also circumstantial. It was more so for us, we were putting together a jigsaw puzzle. >> The jury would have to piece it all together, but it was beginning to look like the

prosecutions murder case against Sam Parker wasn't adding up.

>> How Theresa May have died has always been a mystery, but the prosecution believes these photos

showing bruises on Parker's right arm are a significant clue to what happened. FBI Special Agent Mark Visi. >> What we felt was that Mr. Parker, who is known to have used chokeholds in the past, had used this maneuver on Theresa and that she had fought back by putting her hands up.

“And that's what left the bruises on the inside of his arm.”

>> I think she fought for her life at the end. And those bruises are evidence of that, but you would argue they didn't come from a struggle with Theresa. >> They're inconsistent with that, certainly. I didn't see them as a significant factor. >> You're at this time I'd like to ask them.

>> Prosecutor Lee Patterson gives the courtroom a dramatic demonstration.

>> What did you think when the prosecutor brought up the chokehold and actually asked to be put in a chokehold?

“>> I think it was absolutely fabrication.”

There was no evidence to base that upon. >> There's one more piece of explosive evidence the jury would see before they deliberate. This poster with a crude title discovered in Parker's police locker. >> Should have thrown it in the garbage probably should have done that. But instead just threw it in the locker and that's where it sat until it was pulled out.

So we shouldn't read into it that he had some issue with women. >> No, it means nothing. >> But it meant something to Prosecutor Lee Patterson. >> This is the guy who thought this was funny. Ladies and gentlemen, choice of Parker almost made it out.

She almost made it to her new life. Find him accountable. Find him guilty. >> Proof your inner defense attorney David Dunne pleads with the jury to be mindful of reasonable doubt. >> Listen to the charge.

Especially the charge on circumstances. Follow the law. Find Sam Parker not guilty.

“>> These jurors say the task of deciding Sam Parker's fate was particularly daunting because they had an overwhelming amount of circumstances.”

>> But not much else. >> In the beginning it was very split. Two and ten. >> Two and ten. >> Two world guilty and ten what I decided.

>> How tense did it get as you all wrestled with this. >> It gets tense. >> It gets quite heated at times. >> How many have you watched Sam during the trial? >> I mean, I tried to get our contact with this much as I possibly could.

>> Why? >> I just needed to. >> Just because of the failing of this could be my uncle. >> This could be my brother. >> You know, I had to do that.

>> After three days of deliberation the jurors seemed hopelessly deadlocked. >> But on count one which is murder still no verdict. >> There wasn't that smoking gun. We did have to make a decision on someone else's life. >> I was very worried about the sending and innocent man to jail.

>> A really sing a guilty man to do the same thing again. >> The judge urged the jury to give it one more try. >> And this time they would take an even closer look at the cell phone evidence. >> It threw up that red flag of hey here I am. And looking at the cell phone records he was not where he was telling us he was.

[MUSIC] >> On September 3rd, 2009, two and a half years after Teresa Parker disappeared.

Her family would finally have a verdict.

>> Our metaphor lady, I'm staying y'all around. >> The verdict is a credit. >> Yes I can. >> In severe court, welcome County State of Georgia. >> State of Georgia versus Samuel L. Parker.

>> We have the jury and a few deliberations. >> guilty of first degree murder. Parker shows no emotion. >> The judge hands down the ex-cop sentence on the spot. >> Life in prison.

>> Teresa's family leaves the courthouse in tears. >> Can you just tell us how you're feeling? >> It's a victory for the prosecution team.

“>> Can you give us a comment on how you're feeling?”

>> I'm going to talk to the thing. >> And a defeat for the defense. >> I can't comment, sorry guys. This fight has not ended. It's barely just begun.

>> The Sam still have a little bit of power. >> Sure, he still got some control because he hasn't told us where she is. It's still about manipulation and control. >> Still. >> In your gut, do you think that you'll ever find Teresa?

>> I hope so. >> We're going to keep trying. >> Sam Parker, the former police officer, is now a convicted murderer and still willing to talk to us.

>> I never calls her any, any, you know,

bad times are, you know, never once ever hurt her. >> You never hurt her. >> No, never. >> Did you kill Teresa Parker? >> No.

>> Her family thinks that you did. And thinks that you could ease their agony by saying where she is. Can you help them at all? >> No, I can.

>> Christina hangs on to memories of her older sister.

Greatful for the guilty verdict. But painfully aware that the man destined to spend the rest of his life in prison.

“Maybe the only one who holds the key to finding Teresa.”

>> Christina, do you think you're ever going to find her?

>> I don't know. You want to find her. Bring her home. Lay her to rest.

That's what she deserves.

You know, she's not the place to trash.

“And that's how I feel like he has treated her.”

>> Wherever she is up there, she just doesn't deserve to be here. [MUSIC] >> More than three years after she disappeared,

“Teresa Parker's skeletal remains were found in Chituga County”

about 12 miles from where Sam grew up. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation ruled her death a homicide, but could not determine the exact cause.