The Secret

17:54We placed him in handcuffs, and the only thing he said was he asked me if I'd turn his coffee pot off for him. So I did.

18:03Tracy Smith:Nearly one year after 911 dispatcher Teresa Parker disappeared, her police officer husband, Sam Parker, was charged with his wife's murder. Did you kill Teresa 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 Teresa Parker's disappearance. Did Teresa have a boyfriend? I believe she did.

18:48Tracy Smith:The week before 41-year-old Teresa 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 and the divorce. Teresa made a reservation at her favorite cabin, the Honey Bee Hideaway. You know, she told me, she said, I want to be by myself and think about things, clear my mind. She'd been so stressed. And 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.

19:34Tracy Smith: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 Teresa'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 because he was convinced that she had cheated on him.

20:19Tracy Smith:Parker's suspicions about Teresa 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 Teresa'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. I'm between those two. The defense says that there were two people staying at that lodge, that Teresa had somebody with her. No?

20:57No, there were not. Our information is there was nobody there to see her. And if the defense wants to say that Shane Green was there with her, the cell phone towers show that his cell phone activity was not in Gatlinburg.

21:10Tracy Smith:Green says he was not in Gatlinburg and was never romantically involved with Teresa. So 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 Teresa was tired of being controlled and manipulated. According to prosecutors, Teresa 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 hid it very well. I think she hid it from everybody. Did Sam have a drinking problem? No, he could drink real well.

21:56Very funny. Yes, he drank way too much.

22:00Tracy Smith:What was he like when he drank? Funny. Funny? Happy drunk. Teresa's sister Christina says there was nothing funny about her brother-in-law when he had too much alcohol. He became a violent, mean drunk. He would keep a water bottle in the refrigerator during family dinners or whatever, and he would sneak over there and drink out of this bottle, and it was straight vodka. I had seen him in action, you know, 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?

22:43Tracy Smith:That's very fair to say, yes. Christina says Sam Parker's behavior could change from nice to nasty in an instant.

22:53They had went out to eat for dinner one night, and of course he started out drinking.

22:59Tracy Smith:Christina says when her sister left the restaurant, Parker followed her. They got into the car and he started threatening her. He took his gun out, was shooting his gun up in 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? You know, she just didn't want to give up, and she loved him. She was in love with him. It's a story Keela 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.

23:50One time he was drinking a glass of water and he threw the glass on the floor and it broke. Then he actually took me by the hair and drug me through the living room into the bedroom. And he drug my feet. I was barefooted. He dragged my feet through that broken glass and they were bleeding. And pulled out his handcuffs off of his belt and handcuffed me to the bedpost.

24:17Tracy Smith:He eventually let her go because he had to go back to work. But Keela 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 kill me. He said, you can believe me that I know how to do it. without getting caught, and they won't ever find your body. He said that to you? He said that to me. Still, neither Keela 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? Not that I know of. Do you think he was physically abusive to Teresa in any way?

25:01No, no, not physically. Mentally, both ways, because they like to play mind games, honestly believe. And he'd always said that she knew exactly what button to push if she wanted to fight.

25:13Tracy Smith:Kenneth says his big brother is simply misunderstood and not a murderer. In fact, he's convinced his sister-in-law, Teresa, is still alive. 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 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 named 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.

26:01Tracy Smith:Is it possible that you missed Elvis and Teresa in Mexico? No. You're trying not to laugh. I'm trying very hard not to laugh. If she's somewhere and she wants to be there and she's happy, then fine. You know, 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.

26:48Everyone is obsessed with it. They blog about it. They all have their own theories.

26:54Tracy Smith:At Suzy's Sunset Cafe, the breakfast crowd is buzzing about the Sam Parker trial, and everyone has an opinion. I don't know where she's at, but she's not dead. You don't think she's dead? I don't think she's dead. So you think she's still alive? I do. With no body, 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 a 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?

27:33It's very rare. In the history of the state of Georgia, there's been about four of those over 200 years.

27:40Tracy Smith: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 bury 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, Ashton Gilbert. Anytime she would turn her back, he would flip her off and cuss her behind her back. Parker's second wife, Keela Beard. He told me he would kill me and that he knew how to do it without getting caught and they never would ever find my body.

28:23Tracy Smith: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 12.30 and 1.30 a.m. on March 22, 2007, he killed her. After he killed her, he put her body in the back of the SUV, and then he went to Christy Bellflower's house. Incredibly, prosecutors say Sam Parker was heading out on a date. Can you state your name for the record, please, ma 'am? Christy Bellflower. And Ms. Bellflower, when the defendant got there, did he have anything with him to drink?

29:06Yes. What did he have with him?

29:09Tracy Smith:Vodka. All right, well, tell me what kind of container did he have it in? A water bottle. 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 Christy Bellflower 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 Christy Bellflower early Thursday morning, prosecutors believe Parker drove home. Then, sometime between 5.30 and 7.30 a.m., he drove off in Teresa's SUV with her dead body inside and dumped her. That's our theory of the case because that fits with the timeline.

29:56He goes back because he has to dispose of her body.

29:58Tracy Smith: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 Teresa'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. Would you please raise your right hand? Police officer Ben Chafin. Were you and Sam friends?

30:42Yes, ma 'am.

30:43Tracy Smith:I considered him a big brother. Had you ever seen Sam and Teresa have a fight? Yes, ma 'am, I have. Chafin would tell the jury the most explosive evidence of the trial, a phone call from Sam Parker the night Teresa 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 that was going to be hard to find, or they never would find it. What else? And that he had shot Teresa through the head. 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, he'd have to kill me too.

31:30Tracy Smith: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 Teresa's computer. The prosecution gave him immunity in exchange for testifying. In your very first conversation with the GBI about Teresa Parker being missing, you didn't tell them about this so-called murder confession you heard simply because you forgot about it. I forgot about it. If somebody calls you and says, I killed my wife, that's something you'd remember. How could you forget that? That was my initial reaction when I first started reading his statements.

32:12But 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.

32:26Tracy Smith:Is Ben Chafin a good witness, a believable witness? Oh, 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 been in my life for 25, 30 years, you know, 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 wasn't.

33:09Tracy Smith:Nobody thought he was. None of us, even the slight bit, thought he was credible at 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 all 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 prosecution's murder case against Sam Parker wasn't adding up.

33:53Tracy Smith: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 Veazey. 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 Teresa? Oh, no. They're inconsistent with that, certainly.

34:35I didn't see them as a significant factor.

34:43Tracy Smith:Prosecutor Lee Patterson gives the courtroom a dramatic demonstration. I'm going to take my heels off so I'll power over you. The rear naked chokehold, the move she believes Parker used to kill his wife, Teresa. What did you think when the prosecutor brought up the chokehold and actually asked to be put in a chokehold? I think it was absolute 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.

35:25But instead, just threw it in the locker, and that's where it sat until it was pulled out.

35:29Tracy Smith: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, Teresa Parker almost made it out. She almost made it to her new life. Find him accountable. Find him guilty. Thank you. Defense attorney David Dunn pleads with the jury to be mindful of reasonable doubt. Listen to the charge, especially the charge on circumstantial evidence. 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 circumstantial evidence, but not much else.

36:24In the beginning it was very split. Two and ten. Two and ten. Two and ten. Two were guilty and ten were undecided. Undecided. Wow.

36:36Tracy Smith:How tense did it get as you all wrestled with this? Very. It gets tense. It got quite heated at times. How many of you watched Sam during the trial? All of us. I mean, I tried to get eye contact with him as much as I possibly could. Why? I just needed to, just because of the feeling of this could be my uncle, this could be my brother. You know, I had to do that.

37:03Tracy Smith: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 sending an innocent man to jail or releasing 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.

37:51Tracy Smith:On September 3rd, 2009, two and a half years after Teresa Parker disappeared, her family would finally have a verdict. Department of Four Lady, I understand y 'all arrived at verdicts, is that correct? Yes, sir, Your Honor. In the Superior Court of Wachim County, State of Georgia, State of Georgia v. Samuel L. Parker, we the jury, after a few deliberations, find the defendant, count one, guilty. Guilty of first-degree murder, Parker shows no emotion. The judge hands down the ex-cop's sentence on the spot. Life in prison.

38:32Tracy Smith:Teresa's family leaves the courthouse in tears. Can you just tell us how you're feeling? It got just as bad as what it deserves. It's a victory for the prosecution team. Can you give us a comment on how you're feeling? Medulator, I gotta 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. Does Sam still have a little bit of power? Sure. He's 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.

39:15Tracy Smith:Sam Parker, the former police officer, is now a convicted murderer and still willing to talk to us. I never caused her any, you know, bad times or, you know, I 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't. Christina hangs on to memories of her older sister. Grateful for the guilty verdict, but painfully aware that the man destined to spend the rest of his life in prison may be the only one who holds the key to finding Teresa.

40:07Tracy Smith:Christina, do you think you're ever going to find her? Oh, 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 a piece of trash, and that's how I feel like he has treated her. Wherever she is out there, she just doesn't deserve to be there.

40:37More than three years after she disappeared, Teresa Parker's skeletal remains were found in Chattooga 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.

41:16So much more. Let's go, baby! UFC at the White House, Sunday, June 14th at 8 Eastern, only on Paramount+.