The FBI is investigating the hanging death of Bill Sparkman, 51, a U.S. Census field worker who was found near a Kentucky cemetery. His body was found Sept. 12th, but what has raised the interest of the FBI is the word "fed" which was scrawled on Sparkman's chest.

It's this new information that has raised this case to a national level. Original reports of Sparkman's death did not note the "fed" scrawling. At this point, it is unclear if the death was a murder or a suicide. Given the "fed" note, one must wonder if indeed this was a murder if the motive was related to anti-government sentiment.

Sept. 12th was the day that tea-baggers took to Washington, D.C. in protest of what they deem as overspending by the government, as well as too much government period.

While authorities seem unclear on the exact reason for Bill Sparkman's death, Census Bureau Executive Director Dr. Robert Groves, while notifying census employees of the incident by e-mail, seemed quite sure it was a crime.

He wrote that Sparkman “was the victim of an apparent crime and passed away this past weekend at the age of 51. I wanted all Census Bureau staff to know of this incident, and ask you to keep Mr. Sparkman’s family in your thoughts and prayers.”

Suicide would have seemed unlikely, if only because Bill Sparkman, who was also a substitute teacher, had also beaten non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma.  He was even profiled in a 2008 TimesTribune.com piece, which described how he entered teaching, first by volunteering at his son's school because of difficulties his son faced in the classroom.

Bill Sparkman worked for the Census since 2003. He covered five counties in the surrounding area. Officials indicated that much of his recent work had been in Clay County.

Originally on SNAFU-ed