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Parker family murders

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Parker family murders
LocationWalnut, Quitman County, Mississippi, U.S.
DateFebruary 2, 1990; 34 years ago (1990-02-02)
Attack type
Mass murder, child murder
Victims
  • Carl Parker, 58
  • Bobbie Jo Parker, 45
  • Gregory Parker, 12
  • Charlotte Jo Parker, 9
PerpetratorsAnthony Carr
Robert Simon Jr.
ConvictionsCapital murder (4 counts)
SentenceDeath

On February 2, 1990, 58-year-old Carl Parker, his wife, 45-year-old Bobbie Jo Parker, and their two children, 12-year-old Gregory Parker and 9-year-old Charlotte Jo Parker, were tortured and murdered inside their isolated rural home in Walnut, Quitman County, Mississippi. After leaving a Church Bible study class that evening, the family returned home and stumbled upon an apparent burglary. Each family member was then tied up, assaulted, and tortured. The burglars cut off Carl's finger to remove his wedding ring and also took turns raping Charlotte. All four family members were then shot multiple times. To conceal the crime, the perpetrators set the house on fire. Carl, Bobbie, and Gregory all died from gunshot wounds, while Charlotte was found to have died from smoke inhalation.[1][2]

Police later identified Anthony Carr and Robert Simon Jr. as the two men responsible for the massacre. Carr was found guilty of four counts of capital murder and sentenced to death for each count. Simon was also found guilty of four counts of capital murder, however, he was sentenced to death for only three of the counts, receiving a life sentence for the capital murder of Charlotte Parker. On May 24, 2011, Simon was nearly executed, however, only four hours before he was due to die, a federal appeals court panel stopped the execution to consider his claim that he was incompetent to be executed because he suffered a brain injury from a fall and had no memory. A federal judge later ruled that he had faked the entire thing and he remains on death row.[3][4]

In 2023, the state filed a motion seeking Simon's execution once again.[5] Simon's attorneys responded by saying he was intellectually disabled and not competent to be executed.[6] The case is still pending.[7] The Parker family murders have been described as one of the most gruesome and heinous murder cases in Mississippi state history.[8]

Background

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Carl Webster "Bubba" Parker was born in Lyon, Mississippi and grew up on a farm. He attended Walnut High School and then went on to study at Mississippi State University. He served in the Korean War and was a veteran of the United States Navy. In 1973, Carl Parker's first wife, Betty, was killed in a car crash when another vehicle hit their car. Carl and his two sons, Dean and Scott, survived.[9][10]

Carl went on to marry his second wife, Bobbie Jo, on March 6, 1976.[11] Bobbie Jo was a native of Huntsville, Alabama who was a piano teacher and secretary for Riverside Baptist Church. She attended Tennessee Temple University in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Together, the couple had two children, Gregory and Charlotte Jo. The family lived on an isolated farm and resided in the quiet community of Walnut, Quitman County, Mississippi.[9][10]

Murders

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On the night of Friday, February 2, 1990, the Parker family attended the Riverside Baptist Church Bible study class. They left around 9:00 p.m. and returned home. When they arrived, they encountered two burglars who were in the process of ransacking their home. The burglars, 26-year-old Robert Simon Jr. and 24-year-old Anthony Carr, bound the family of four and tied them up. The family was then assaulted and tortured. The burglars cut off Carl's finger in order to steal his wedding ring and also raped Charlotte Jo. Investigators believe Carl was forced to watch the assault on his family and the rape of his 9-year-old daughter. Firefighters later said Carl had almost severed his own wrists from struggling against the extension cord that had been used to bind his hands and feet.[1][12]

After the attack, Carr and Simon shot all four family members. Carl was shot twice in the side and between the shoulder blades, Bobbie Jo was shot once in the chest, Gregory was shot twice with one of the bullets hitting his heart, and Charlotte Jo was shot four times, three times in the back and once in the hip.[11] Investigators believe Charlotte Jo broke loose and had attempted to flee.[12] After shooting all four family members, Carr and Simon set the farm on fire with a petroleum product in an attempt to cover up the crime.[13] It was later learned that Carl, Bobbie Jo, and Gregory had all died from gunshot wounds, but Charlotte Jo's cause of death was smoke inhalation.[2]

Aftermath

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A passing motorist first spotted the fire about ten to fifteen minutes after it had been started and immediately called emergency services.[12][13] Firefighters arrived at the Parker home around midnight and began extinguishing the flames. They found the bodies of Carl, Gregory, and Charlotte Jo in a rear room near the back door of the farm and removed them from the house before the fire could spread further.[13] After the fire was extinguished, they found the body of Bobbie Jo in a back bedroom.[13]

Carr and Simon fled the farm in Carl's pickup truck, which was found abandoned the following morning in Clarksdale.[13] A witness described seeing two black males abandon the pickup truck and flee down a nearby alley.[14] Investigators linked Carr and Simon to the crime and they were apprehended that afternoon.[14] The men were taken into custody at a residence without incident.[14]

Trial and sentencing of Carr and Simon

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Due to pretrial publicity, Carr and Simon were not tried in Quitman County, and were instead tried in separate counties. Quitman County had to raise taxes and take out a loan to cover the cost of both Carr and Simon's trials, as well as the cost of their automatic appeals, which are granted to all death row inmates. In total the costs were nearly $250,000.[15]

On July 4, 1990, Simon was sentenced to life in prison for the capital murder of Charlotte Jo Parker. He was also sentenced to thirty years for kidnapping and another thirty years for sexual battery of a child. He faced another capital murder trial later in the year for the remaining murders of the Parker family. For Charlotte Jo's murder, Simon was tried in Jones County. The jury was unable to unanimously agree on a death sentence so he was sentenced to life in prison based on Mississippi law.[16]

Carr was tried for all four murders in Alcorn County on a change of venue. On September 18, 1990, Carr was found guilty of murdering each family member.[17] Another inmate testified at Carr's trial that Carr had bragged in jail about the crime and had supposedly said "he had a ball" murdering the family and raping Charlotte Jo. One of Carr's lawyers countered this claim by saying, "There is no kind of testimony less reliable than the testimony of a jailhouse snitch".[17] On September 19, 1990, Carr was sentenced to death for the capital murders of Carl, Bobbie Jo, Gregory, and Charlotte Jo.[18]

Simon was tried for the remaining three murders in DeSoto County. On October 12, 1990, Simon was sentenced to death for the capital murders of Carl, Bobbie Jo, and Gregory.[18][19]

Appeals and scheduled executions of Carr and Simon

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Following the Atkins v. Virginia ruling in 2002, which prohibits states from executing mentally disabled people, Carr's attorneys tried to have his death sentence overturned, arguing that Carr was mentally disabled. During Carr's appeal in 2013, two psychologists evaluated him, however, they both disagreed as to whether Carr was mentally disabled or not. A Quitman County circuit judge determined that it was "too close to call" and chose to uphold Carr's death sentence. In 2016, the Mississippi Supreme Court overturned this ruling unanimously and sent the appeal back to the circuit court. Carl Parker's two sons from his original marriage to Betty, Dean and Scott, reacted to the decision with outrage. Scott Parker said, "It makes me sick to my stomach that one of these men could get off. I want to see justice done. I know it won't bring my family back, but it will ease the pain."[8] As of 2024, Carr remains on death row.[20]

In 2011, Simon was scheduled for execution, with the date set for May 24, 2011. On May 13, Simon filed a federal petition and motion to stay his execution on the grounds that he was too mentally incompetent to be executed. On May 24, he was only four hours away from execution when a federal appeals court panel stopped the execution from proceeding to consider Simon's claim that he was incompetent to be executed because he suffered a brain injury in a fall and had no memory. On March 1, 2012, the 5th Circuit reversed the denial of the petition and remanded the case for further proceedings. In 2015, a federal judge ruled that Simon had faked losing his memory and placed him back on death row and in line for execution. Simon appealed the ruling.[3][4]

In November 2023, the state of Mississippi attempted to seek an execution date for Simon once again.[5] Simon's attorneys sought to delay the execution, saying they were still seeking an evaluation of his mental competence.[6] They further added that Simon had not exhausted all of his legal options, citing multiple issues, including inadequate legal representation and lack of funds for experts to evaluate his mental competency.[6] The Attorney General of Mississippi, Lynn Fitch, did not provide an answer to Simon's rebuttal that he was intellectually disabled and thus not competent to be executed.[6][7] The Mississippi Supreme Court declared they would not authorize an execution date for Simon until Fitch responded to Simon's claim.[7] Fitch had until December 20, 2023, to file a rebuttal.[7] No rebuttal was filed, the deadline passed, and the case is still pending.[7]

Further developments

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Carl Parker's sons from his first marriage to Betty have since died. Dean Parker died of cancer in late 2016, and Scott Parker died from COVID-19 on September 8, 2021, aged 56.[1][8]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c Salter, Sid (September 15, 2021). "Carl Parker family brutally murdered 3 decades ago: Reckoning eludes final surviving member". The Clarion-Ledger. Archived from the original on August 24, 2024. Retrieved August 24, 2024.
  2. ^ a b Pender, Geoff (August 11, 2016). "Court reverses, remands execution decision from 1990 murders". The Clarion-Ledger. Archived from the original on August 24, 2024. Retrieved August 24, 2024.
  3. ^ a b "Is Mississippi death row inmate Robert Simon faking amnesia?". al.com. June 10, 2015. Archived from the original on August 24, 2024. Retrieved August 24, 2024.
  4. ^ a b Gates, Jimmie E. (June 9, 2015). "Judge: Death row inmate faking memory loss". The Clarion-Ledger. Archived from the original on August 24, 2024. Retrieved August 24, 2024.
  5. ^ a b Beveridge, Lici (November 14, 2023). "New evidence is pending in a MS death row case in which state seeks execution date". The Clarion-Ledger. Archived from the original on August 24, 2024. Retrieved August 24, 2024.
  6. ^ a b c d Beveridge, Lici (November 16, 2023). "Mississippi man on death row is facing 2nd execution date, but may not be competent". The Clarion-Ledger. Archived from the original on August 24, 2024. Retrieved August 24, 2024.
  7. ^ a b c d e Beveridge, Lici (December 7, 2023). "MS Supreme Court orders AG to file rebuttal before it considers setting execution date". The Clarion-Ledger. Archived from the original on August 24, 2024. Retrieved August 24, 2024.
  8. ^ a b c Gates, Jimmie E. (April 26, 2017). "Son dies awaiting justice in 27 year-old murder case". The Clarion-Ledger. Archived from the original on August 24, 2024. Retrieved August 24, 2024.
  9. ^ a b "Sons: Mississippi needs to execute 2 men for 1990 killings". The San Diego Union-Tribune. August 27, 2016. Archived from the original on August 20, 2024. Retrieved August 24, 2024.
  10. ^ a b "Rites Tuesday for Carl Parker family". The Clarksdale Press Register. February 5, 1990. p. 2. Retrieved August 24, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ a b Fleming, Jeffrey M. (February 11, 1990). "Hard times preceded Delta family's deaths". The Commercial Appeal. pp. A1, A12. Retrieved August 24, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ a b c Simmons, Grace (February 4, 1990). "2 charged in family slaying near Clarksdale". The Clarion-Ledger. pp. 1, 13. Retrieved August 24, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ a b c d e "Two held in slaying of family of four". Sun Herald. February 5, 1990. p. 16. Retrieved August 24, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ a b c Mosby, Ray (February 5, 1990). "Farm couple, 2 children murdered". The Clarksdale Press Register. pp. 1, 2. Retrieved August 24, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ "Poor County Forced to Finance Killers' Appeals". Los Angeles Times. March 28, 1999. Archived from the original on August 24, 2024. Retrieved August 24, 2024.
  16. ^ Mosby, Ray; Weldon, Jeremy (July 7, 1990). "Simon sentenced to life for killing 9-year-old". The Clarksdale Press Register. p. 1. Retrieved August 24, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ a b Lawes, Carole (September 19, 1990). "Carr guilty of murders in farm slaying". The Clarion-Ledger. p. 9. Retrieved August 24, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ a b "Jury hands Simon death sentence". Sun Herald. October 14, 1990. p. 16. Retrieved August 24, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ "Simon found guilty; sentence decided today". The Clarksdale Press Register. October 13, 1990. p. 1. Retrieved August 24, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ^ Beveridge, Lici (November 10, 2023). "Mississippi has 36 prisoners on death row. See who they are". Hattiesburg American. Archived from the original on August 24, 2024. Retrieved August 24, 2024.
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