Richard Parker letter bomb: Son-In-Law Charged With Murder (PHOTO)

Police Arrest Man for Package Bomb Murder of His In-Laws

Lebanon, Nashville – A retired lawyer by the name of Jon Setzer and his wife Marion were both killed as a result of a package bomb detonating in their rural home. Mr. Setzer, age 74, died at the time of the explosion and his wife, age 72, succumbed to her injuries this past Wednesday night at Vanderbilt Hospital.

Now, Richard Parker, their son-in law, has been arrested in connection with their deaths and charged with two counts of premeditated murder and two counts of murder. All of the charges are felonies and Parker is currently in jail pending a $1 million bond.

Thus far the police department is mum about what Parker’s motives were for the killing, but they are 100% confident they have their man.

He is their sole suspect and even lived next door to the victims. Police initially believed the bomb had been delivered by the Post Office, but no longer believe that. There would be additional felonies being charged if that were the case.

It may be that they have a handwritten letter that is alleged to have been part of the package. If so it would present a valuable piece of evidence linking Parker to the crime.

“Right now we feel like we have the person responsible for committing this crime in custody,” Wilson County Sheriff Robert Bryan said.

According to CNN, Parker was convicted of arson in 1993, for which he served four years on probation, the TBI said.

Amid the debris, investigators found a note they said may have been attached to the bomb, but would not divulge its contents.

“This is a very important piece of evidence, because now you may have handwriting,” said former ATF agent and bomb expert Joseph Vince.

CNN writes:

Officials said Setzer picked up the package from his mailbox, about 200 yards from the home. It detonated just inside the house, killing him and mortally wounding his wife.

“It doesn’t make sense at all,” family friend Ken Caldwell told CNN affiliate WTVF. “When I’ve heard it said that it was targeted, I thought, well, they must have targeted the wrong person.”

Neighbors told WZTV that officers checked other mailboxes on the street for similar devices.

“Of course, it makes us a little anxious to go check our own mailbox when we see something like this happen, because normally boxes are delivered and mail is delivered, and you don’t question it,” neighbor Tony Dedman told the affiliate.

On The Web:

Richard Parker letter bomb
http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/13/justice/tennessee-lawyer-letter-bomb-death/index.html

Son-in-law Richard Parker charged for Tennessee letter bomb killings
http://www.news.com.au/world/soninlaw-richard-parker-charged-for-tennessee-letter-bomb-killings/story-fndir2ev-1226827827985

Richard Parker letter bomb: Tennessee man accused of killing in-laws with bomb
http://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-tennessee-bomb-arrest-20140213,0,1275189.story#axzz2tP1wj4L7