"Internet 'Morons' Cause Worries in Kentucky Murder Case"

At the American Spectator, Robert Stacy McCain writes:

“Yes, we are concerned about what people are saying on the blogs,” a Kentucky law enforcement official said Saturday night, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The murder of Bill Sparkman in Clay County, Ky., has caused bloggers to engage in widespread speculation about the motive for the killing. Sparkman was employed part-time conducting a Census Bureau survey.

The 51-year-old man’s body was found Sept. 12 in the Hoskins Cemetery, about 10 miles east of Manchester, Ky. in the Daniel Boone National Forest. The Associated Press reported that witnesses said Sparkman’s body was nude and gagged, with a rope around his neck, his federal identification duct-taped to his neck and the word “fed” written on his chest.

The Kentucky State Police are coordinating the investigation of Sparkman’s death. Trooper First Class Don Trosfer, based in the agency’s London, Ky., Post 11 is the official spokesman for the investigation, but was unavailable for comment late Saturday.

Another law-enforcement source, not authorized to speak about the case, said state and local officials are working closely with the FBI on the investigation. Internet gossip is a source of concern, he said.

“You’d be surprised what some of these morons write on the Internet . . . that they wouldn’t say to somebody’s face,” the official said in a brief telephone interview.

That last quote sounds more than a little reminiscent of the remarks from Major Ed Bush, public affairs officer for the Louisiana National Guard to Reason magazine debunking some of the more lurid rumors pumped out by, to coin a phrase, both legacy and Internet morons, during the early days of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina:

Reason: On Sept. 1 there was a report that perhaps a Chinook helicopter at the Superdome was fired upon before daybreak. Do you know whatever became of that, was that true, where does the report come from specifically, etc.?

Bush: Huh! I was at the Superdome for eight days, and I don’t remember hearing anything about a helicopter getting shot at at the Dome.

Reason: That’s … interesting.

Bush: Oh, not really. There’s a whole bunch of [laughs] stuff out there that never happened at the Dome, as I think America’s beginning to find out slowly.

So what’s going on with the Sparkman case? Beats me, but as the Professor writes, “As with the NBC email controversy, why not find out actual facts?”