Man Dismembers Wife, Calls 911 to Say She's Still Blinking
In today's true crime documentary, we're covering the case of Joseph Parker.
[Video] [Imagery] supplied by Getty Images.
We're a news agency committed to delivering factual information about police procedures and local news events. This video aims to educate the public without bias. Our goal is to empower viewers with a clear understanding of what's happening in their communities.
In today's true crime documentary, we're covering the case of Joseph Parker.
[Video] [Imagery] supplied by Getty Images.
We're a news agency committed to delivering factual information about police procedures and local news events. This video aims to educate the public without bias. Our goal is to empower viewers with a clear understanding of what's happening in their communities.
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FunTranscript
00:00I need to know, I need to know, did he cut her into little bitty pieces?
00:05I checked on her at night and she's not dead.
00:08They will shoot you if they see you.
00:10She's been frozen, but today she's frozen solid.
00:14It's amazing, she's still alive.
00:17It's the middle of the night in Springfield, Tennessee, when a dispatcher takes one of
00:21the most chilling 911 calls ever recorded.
00:24A man is calling to report that he killed his wife, but the call takes a sudden and shocking
00:30twist when he reveals the true reason for his call.
00:33In a case doomed to end in sudden tragedy, police and first responders must rush into this dreadful
00:38situation to discover the truth and find the suspect before he strikes again.
00:44Lock it down, lock it down now.
00:47Joe, maybe he's going to get you.
00:49The stillness of a quiet night is broken at 2.45 a.m. on the morning of November 7th,
00:542014, when a bone-chilling call comes in to 911.
00:59911, location of your emergency?
01:01Yeah, Springfield, Tennessee.
01:03It's right behind Oakland Farms.
01:06Okay, what's going on?
01:07All right, this is what's happened.
01:10I've been married 12 years on the 4th, which would have been two nights ago at 4 a.m.
01:16Um, I shot my wife in the temple of her head.
01:24This detail, combined with the man's oddly calm demeanor, are already eerie enough, but
01:29it's what the man says next that is truly terrifying.
01:33I thought I'd killed her, and, um, I put her in the freezer out in the garage.
01:40Well, I checked on her at night, and she's not dead.
01:43She's, uh, got a big hole in the temple of her head.
01:48And, um, to get her body moved around in there, I think I broke her wrist.
01:53You know, she was frozen from being in the thing.
01:57She's been in this thing 48 hours now.
02:01This is no prank call.
02:03I didn't plan to get out there.
02:04Now, if I've cleared the premises, I've got away.
02:07You know, I might still be there, but I promise you this is a legit call, and I need somebody
02:15to get out there and help her, because I still love her.
02:18It's hard to believe that after that, you know, but, um, I need to get somebody out there
02:24to help her.
02:26The call is coming from 45-year-old Joseph Parker, and the woman he claims to have shot
02:31is his wife, Samantha.
02:33Okay, what happened that caused you to do that?
02:37It's a long story.
02:38Don't want to get into it.
02:39Just want to get into getting somebody out there to help her.
02:45I left the front door open.
02:47I left all the lights on in the house, and she's in the garage to go through the kitchen
02:52to get into the garage, and you'll see her once you get in the garage, and she's a mess.
03:00She can't talk.
03:02I could get her to bling.
03:04Bling once, mean yes.
03:06Bling twice, mean no.
03:08These horrifying specifics are almost too ghastly to believe, especially for those who know
03:14the Parkers, like their friend Barbara, who was over at the house the previous afternoon
03:19to borrow a tea pitcher.
03:20In her statement to the police, Barbara shares that Joseph told her that his wife was sick
03:25with a migraine.
03:26Barbara said that she'd looked in the bedroom to find Samantha lying on the bed, facing the
03:31wall, and covered in a blanket.
03:33Barbara further tells the police that she seemed to be asleep.
03:36I thought she'd been dead two days, and when I checked on her, she was still alive.
03:43She's been frozen.
03:44For two days, she's frozen in silence.
03:47It's amazing that she's still alive.
03:49I shot her with a .38 caliber handgun, and there's a big hole in the temple of her head.
03:58I didn't see an exit wound.
04:00And how long ago did you leave there?
04:02An hour ago.
04:03And that's the last time you saw her?
04:07Yes, that's the last time I saw her.
04:09And she was still in the garage?
04:11Yes, she's still in the garage.
04:13I made her as comfortable as I could make her.
04:16She tried to drink a little water, you know, and just get out, and leave her down.
04:22She's in bad shape.
04:25Really needed some help to help her.
04:28It's crucial for the dispatcher to get as much information as possible from Joseph.
04:33But he makes it clear that there are some things he's not willing to share.
04:37Okay, what is your name?
04:38My name is Joe.
04:40I'm just leaving it there.
04:42I don't want to get arrested tonight and all that.
04:45We don't have a history of domestic disputes.
04:48You know, we've never had to call the police enough.
04:51And we just had a real bad night a couple of nights ago.
04:54I got myself in trouble.
04:56So, anyway, I really need to make her out there and help her.
05:02While Joseph doesn't want to give away his location, police will soon learn that his background is relatively clean.
05:09The only blemish to his record is a drug possession arrest from 1987, when he would have only been 20 years old.
05:17I love her.
05:17I still love her.
05:19I've loved her every day I've been married to her.
05:22She's had a rough stretch here.
05:24To that end, it will soon come to light that Joseph recently lost his job as a car salesman at Rivergate Toyota in Metro Nashville.
05:32Joseph's former co-workers would later recall in exclusive interviews with EWU how he changed in the last months of his employment.
05:39He was really quiet.
05:40He was kind of weird.
05:41He was a salesperson, so he did talk to people.
05:45We knew something was going on with him, but it was unusual behavior.
05:49But it just grew over time.
05:51I think he had a lot of money stress on him when he'd gotten behind on their mortgage.
05:58So, I think he had a lot of weight on his shoulders that was getting to him.
06:04Indeed, Joseph's stepdaughter would later say that the home was in foreclosure.
06:08Could these economic pressures have led to an explosion of violence?
06:12So, anyway, check down and she's still alive and now I want to get her to help her to know what they're doing.
06:20And I got to stay out of trouble too, so.
06:23Okay, we'll send somebody out there.
06:25All right, what was your first name?
06:27I'm not going to give you my name, sir.
06:29Okay, that's fine.
06:31Okay.
06:31Joseph's call to 911 is over, and he's left more than enough details for police to investigate.
06:38They'll find, however, that he didn't tell them everything.
06:41And there's more to this grotesque story than anyone could have imagined.
06:46Police arrive at the house at 2.45 in the morning, and as they peer through the garage windows,
06:51they have the first confirmation of Joseph's grisly details when they see red hair peeking out from blankets
06:58and protruding from the top of a freezer.
07:01Even before they make an entry, a be-on-the-lookout report goes out to the metro Nashville area for Joseph Parker,
07:08said to be driving a white Toyota Camry.
07:11The idea that Joseph could be anywhere is unnerving, even for his sister Patty, who later talks to an investigator.
07:18I refuse to leave the house.
07:20I know Joseph's been calming.
07:22I feel like he's been outside our house that night.
07:24My husband saw a white car strange part of the driveway.
07:26We're not in the kind of neighborhood that you just pull up in.
07:29Is Joseph merely planning to make a clean getaway, or does he have more nefarious intentions in mind?
07:36At 3.23 a.m., police enter the house to find it clean and spotless.
07:41There's no trash anywhere, and every trash can has been emptied.
07:45It strikes officers as a clear attempt to destroy evidence.
07:48But there are other odd discoveries in store that don't seem to be directly related to a crime.
07:53Have y'all known that he's OCD?
07:56Not that I've hit over a thousand chapters.
07:59Yeah.
08:00But it's in the garage that the police learn the disturbing truth behind Joseph's 911 call.
08:05They find Samantha Parker frozen to the touch inside the freezer, with a gunshot wound to the left side of her head.
08:12She is completely unresponsive, which is a stark contrast to the way Joseph described the situation to 911.
08:19She can't help.
08:21I just give it a blink.
08:23Blink once, mean yes, blink twice, mean no.
08:27The police search the residents for signs of blood, but find nothing other than possible small bloodstains on the floor and carpet.
08:35That is, until they reach the bedroom and find a large bloodstain on the mattress.
08:40Strangely enough, the pillows and sheets are completely clean.
08:43The police are a long way from determining what exactly happened between the Parkers at this residence.
09:09But soon, new clues come in regarding Joseph's whereabouts.
09:14Investigators ping Joseph's cell phone only 12 miles from his residence, near the interstate.
09:20At 3.42 a.m., dispatch calls Joseph back, and he tells them he's going to Chattanooga to visit some friends.
09:27The bolo is updated with the new information.
09:30If Joseph has more scores to settle, it's vital that police catch up to him as quickly as possible.
09:35Meanwhile, at the house, police realize that Joseph wasn't finished with Samantha after shooting her.
09:42Now, here's what I've heard. Oh, he cut off her hand. Specifically, he told me he cut off her ankle.
09:49I've been told she's been chopped into little bitty pieces.
09:52Did he cut off? I need to know. I need to know.
09:55Did he cut her into little bitty pieces?
09:58He did not cut her into little bitty pieces.
10:00What was she still, was her head still on her body?
10:03Oh, yeah.
10:04Were her arms or legs?
10:05Her arms were still attached. Her legs, it had some work done to them.
10:09Okay, was it an anger work or I've got to get her in the freezer work?
10:14I know it was like both, but I don't know if I asked that right.
10:18Yeah, I don't know, but I can answer that.
10:21You're asking me what he was feeling when he cut her up. I don't know.
10:24Was it a rage of anger? Did he cut her legs into little bitty pieces or cut them off?
10:28No, no.
10:28So she was not sliced up bit by bit?
10:31There was, there's like, like one.
10:35Why?
10:38She might be in five pieces.
10:40Okay, that's what I mean.
10:40No legs, but her hands, as what I could tell.
10:44Now, she's folded up enough, so it's kind of hard to see.
10:46Okay.
10:47But.
10:48But I think maybe two cuts to each leg or two cuts to one leg and one cut to the other.
10:55Okay.
10:56Police may not know all there is to know about what happened here, but they know enough to realize
11:01they're dealing with a violent and severely disturbed fugitive.
11:05Unfortunately, even with his name added to the Tennessee Top 10 Most Wanted list, Joseph proves
11:11to be elusive.
11:12It's only in hindsight that police learned that he checked into a hotel in Goodlettsville for
11:17a few hours.
11:19But it's when Patty gets a phone call that this domestic homicide threatens to grow into something
11:23far more tragic.
11:25I'm going to call a Rivergate Toyo and ask for Troy, who I know very well, or have known
11:29over the years through Joe.
11:30And if he's locked it down, lock it down now, Joe may be coming to get you.
11:35Did Joe ever say anything to you to make you think that?
11:38Somewhere in the morning, I got a phone call saying that Joe was going to Rivergate Toyo
11:44to take out Troy.
11:45I was medicated.
11:49Prescription.
11:50Yeah.
11:51So you don't recall who told you that?
11:53For some reason, no, I don't.
11:57But to backtrack on that, UPS shootings a month ago, my best friend runs UPS in Birmingham.
12:05And the guy that killed those people had just been fired and he was after her.
12:09Yeah.
12:09And so in my head, I was thinking, Joe can't hurt anybody else.
12:14And I was actually trying to help those people.
12:16Well, okay.
12:17Joseph's former co-workers at Rivergate Toyo would later recall the horror of that day.
12:23Someone in, I believe it was somebody on his side of the family, going to warn us he was
12:29headed that way.
12:31I was scared.
12:32I was in fear.
12:33I really was.
12:34I was worried that he might be parked his car down the road and walk back up to the
12:39lot.
12:39And there was little sheds and buildings of all kinds at the old dealership.
12:43He could have got in and hid.
12:45Or he could have pulled in on the lot.
12:47Everybody knew Joe.
12:49They didn't hate Joe.
12:51He could have easily pulled on the lot, got out and just went, bam, bam, bam.
12:55You know, we wouldn't have even questioned why he was there.
12:58We thought he'd just come to visit.
12:59The Metro Nashville police send units to guard Rivergate Toyota, but there's no way to know
13:04for sure what Joseph plans to do next.
13:07The guy that got the phone call said that he said, this all started when I lost my job
13:13there.
13:14So he was going to come and take care of the person that fired him for one and the rest
13:21of us.
13:22And we're like, we didn't have anything to do with it, but okay.
13:25And then we weren't sure who all he was going to be aiming for.
13:29Well, we had two entrances to this dealership and what they did was lock the back gate.
13:35So that only made one entrance in and out.
13:38And we had police under cover sitting back there in their cars, watching people come on
13:42the lot.
13:43They were doing the best that they could.
13:45We had people set up across the street video.
13:48But despite the rumors, Joseph never shows up at his old workplace.
13:53It remains a case full of unknowns.
13:56And the biggest question of all is what might have driven Joseph to kill his wife in the
14:00first place.
14:01We think, here's what we, what we piece together as the detectives, that we are, that's a joke,
14:10that he killed her sometime 10 o'clock Tuesday night because, and they had been fighting all
14:15day because he, it was Mackenzie's birthday and Mackenzie's mother has never not called her
14:22and it was a text sent from Mackenzie, from Sam's phone to Mackenzie, a birthday text from her
14:29mother to her only child.
14:30There's a lady in Camanthus neighborhood named Karen and she texted Karen Tuesday night
14:38and said, I've got to go somewhere.
14:41He's crazy.
14:42The text, she knows she's going to die.
14:45She knows she's going to die.
14:46And we feel like that on the third, Tuesday night, Joe saw that text.
14:53I'm going to go to an attorney.
14:54I got to get away from him.
14:55Can I come to your house?
14:58Begging.
14:58I haven't slept.
15:00I need a hot shower.
15:01I'm, text.
15:02I'm not.
15:04And we feel like Joe read that text.
15:06And that's when he killed her because there was a text sitting back from Sam's phone that
15:12says, oh, I decided to stay here tonight.
15:15Everything's going to be okay.
15:16But even as both Joseph and the reasons behind his madness remain elusive, his sister learns
15:22that afternoon that the madness is not over yet.
15:25At 3.13, my home phone rings.
15:30And I look at it and I went, oh, and if you've heard the nine one take, Joe was so calm and
15:40so cool.
15:40It was extremely eerie.
15:43I picked up the phone and said, oh, my God, Joe, are you okay?
15:47He said, yeah.
15:49I said, what are you doing?
15:50What's going on?
15:51Whenever you've done, I forgive you.
15:53Tell me where you are.
15:53I will have someone come and get you.
15:55I will come and get you myself.
15:57Are you in Alabama?
15:58He said, no, Patty.
15:59I'm just driving around.
16:01I said, okay.
16:03I said, Joe, what happened?
16:05He said, well, I shot her in the head, but she was asleep and she didn't feel anything.
16:14And then the child put her in the freezer because her ankle, I had to cut off her ankle
16:20because she wouldn't fit in there with her ankle.
16:23And then it really made a big mess, Patty.
16:26And it took me a really long time to clean it up.
16:29But even as Joseph makes his second confession of the day, Patty notices a stark disconnect
16:35between what he's admitting to and his seeming inability to understand the full ramifications
16:40of his actions.
16:41And I said, Joe, did you chop her up and put her in the freezer?
16:47He said, now, Patty, I'm not going to tell you that.
16:50I said, okay.
16:51Do you have a gun?
16:52Yes.
16:53Where is it?
16:54It's in my lap.
16:56Take the gun and unload it.
16:58I said, you're not going to do that.
16:59I'm not going to prison.
17:00You can't do that.
17:02How is she?
17:05Joe, she's dead.
17:06Oh, they didn't get to her in time.
17:08They couldn't help her?
17:09No, Joe, she died.
17:12You cut her up and we put her in the freezer.
17:14You just told me that.
17:16I said, put the gun in the seat.
17:18If you're not going to unload it, put it in the passenger seat.
17:20Okay, I'll do that for you.
17:22You swear, Joe?
17:23Yes, I swear.
17:25So is Samantha dead?
17:26Yes, Joe, she's dead.
17:29So they didn't get to her in time.
17:33No, Joe, you just told me you shot her.
17:36I just told you she's dead.
17:38At the house, the crime scene investigators remove Samantha's body from the house and deliver
17:43her to the medical examiner while still in the freezer.
17:46The autopsy report reveals that her lower leg was amputated.
17:50Her right foot was cut between the toes and she had a gunshot wound in her temple.
17:55There was another entry wound in her right arm and police realized that this was the reason
18:00there was no bullet hole in the mattress.
18:03They theorized that she was indeed asleep, her arm tucked under her head when Joseph shot
18:08her on that fateful night.
18:09We forgive you.
18:11Pull over at a film station, put your hands up, and go in and tell them who you are.
18:17Why?
18:17Is anybody looking for me?
18:19Yes, Joe.
18:20No state of Tennessee.
18:22You're on the number one list.
18:23They will shoot you if they see you.
18:25They will kill you.
18:26Well, I'm not going to prison.
18:28After those final words, the phone line goes dead, but even as law enforcement begins to
18:34converge on Joseph's position, he calls Patty back, perhaps knowing that this would be the
18:39last time he would ever get to speak to his sister.
18:42He said, sorry about that.
18:43We got disconnected.
18:44I'm almost in Kentucky and I hit a rough spot.
18:48I said, so you're on your way to Kentucky?
18:50He said, yeah, I'm 10 miles from the state line.
18:52And he said, no, they're on to me.
18:55There's a white Tahoe behind me.
18:58I said, Joe, just, you know, I said, it's probably not a cop.
19:02Just don't speed up.
19:03And he goes, oh, it's a cop.
19:04He's been following me.
19:05I'm just doing everything I could to keep you in line.
19:08And at the very end, he said, I heard the sirens.
19:13I said, Joe, pull over on the side of the road.
19:16Hold your, open the door.
19:17Hold your hands up where they can see it.
19:20Put your hands over your head.
19:21And I'm crying.
19:21Joe, do this.
19:22Please, put your hands over your head.
19:24Get out of the car.
19:25They will help you.
19:26We will get you some help.
19:27I will visit you.
19:28They will help you.
19:29Whatever I can do to talk them out of this.
19:32It's been at least 12 hours since Joseph made his original 911 call.
19:36But when police catch up to him on Interstate 65 in Kentucky,
19:40he's only about 30 miles away from his house.
19:43The goal is to take him in without incident.
19:46But unfortunately, Joseph Parker has decided this is the end of the line.
19:50The details of Joseph's murder of Samantha underscore his capacity for cold ruthlessness,
19:56which means the cops must exercise the utmost caution as they approach the vehicle.
20:00But even with their careful approach and desire to end this manhunt peacefully,
20:05they cannot stop the tragic, violent ending.
20:08And he said, Patty, I love you and I'm sorry.
20:11Well, I guess it's time now.
20:13Gotta go.
20:14Police converge on the idle Toyota.
20:17But when they open the doors, they see that force won't be necessary.
20:21Joseph has taken his own life, using the same .38 caliber handgun he used on Samantha.
20:26Inside the car, police find a mirror with a white substance on it, along with a short straw.
20:32This evidence coincides with the toxicology report,
20:35which shows Joseph had a host of strong medications in his system.
20:40While the manhunt doesn't end the way police would have liked,
20:43the finality of it is welcome news to the terrified employees of Rivergate Toyota.
20:48Not to be cruel, but that was kind of a relief.
20:51Joseph's sudden burst of murderous violence would leave a lasting impact on those who knew him.
20:57That isn't something that you just get over.
21:01You hear about it and work with him.
21:03And to the degree of where he went with all this was just, it scared you.
21:10It just scared you.
21:11But unfortunately, the root cause, the true reason behind Samantha's murder, remains a mystery.
21:18Everybody's just like, wow.
21:19I thought somebody asked me, my wife asked me, she said, what happened?
21:24I said, a freaking wire come loose at his head or something.
21:28Samantha Parker was 44 years old at the time of her death.
21:32She said, we Hannity.
21:38She said, I believed by her house of her death.
21:41She said, me theération before.
21:42She said, what happened?
21:45She said, the relationship between me and her mother was extremely good.
21:46She said, you know, doing my job when her boyfriend loves her,
21:49and she said, what happened?
21:51She said, what happened?
21:51What happened?
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