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closeAuthorities cited a number of reasons supporting the conclusion that Sparkman killed himself.
For instance, there was no evidence that Sparkman had struggled with anyone. There were no defensive wounds on his body and no trauma such as a blow to the head, authorities said.
Tests ruled out any theory that he was drugged and unconscious when he was tied to the tree, making the lack of signs of a struggle more significant.
Sparkman's glasses were taped to his head with duct tape. The question that raises is why a killer would care whether Sparkman, who had poor vision, could see what was going on.
Police say Sparkman taped the glasses to his head to make sure he could see as he prepared to kill himself, Rudzinski said.
Also, Sparkman was not dangling from the tree the way people commonly perceive hanging.
His legs were bent at the knees and his knees were less than six inches off the ground, authorities said.
The rope was thrown over a limb and tied off to another tree. Sparkman leaned forward, which would have put the weight of his body on his neck and caused him to lose consciousness, authorities said.
At some point, however, Sparkman could have stood up, taken the pressure off his neck and not died, said Mike Wilder, head of the state medical examiner's office.
Sparkman's hands were bound by duct tape, but loosely, allowing him to move them shoulder-width apart, Rolf said.
The significance of that is that Sparkman, acting alone, could have created all the conditions found at the scene, Rudzinski said.
"We do not believe he was placed in that position" by someone else, Rudzinski said.
The final piece of evidence police wanted in order to reach a conclusion in the case were the results of DNA testing. The results, received last week, showed there was no DNA other than Sparkman's on the rope, the rag in his mouth or a similar rag found near his body.
Authorities say they don't think there was any single event that triggered Sparkman to take his own life, but rather a combination of problems. He had significant debt and didn't have a full-time job, Rudzinski said.
Sparkman, a native of Florida, had moved to Laurel County to work with the Boy Scouts of America. In addition to working part-time for the census, he was a substitute teacher.
He had gotten a degree to teach math but had not been hired full-time.
In addition to the insurance considerations, Sparkman might have been trying to spare his family from thinking he killed himself, Rudzinski said, though he left no note so there is no way to know exactly what he was thinking.
"Every suicide is that person's way of saying good-bye, ending their life," Rudzinski said.
Josh Sparkman, whom Sparkman, a single father, adopted and raised, declined to comment Tuesday. He earlier had said he didn't think his father killed himself.
Bill Sparkman's mother, Henrie Sparkman of Inverness, Fla., told the Associated Press Tuesday that she disagreed with the conclusion of suicide.
Investigators said they were confident in their findings. State police, the FBI, the medical examiner's office and the Clay County coroner agreed with the suicide conclusion.
"We did a thorough and complete investigation of all aspects surrounding Mr. Sparkman's death," Rudzinski said.
Authorities said they sympathized with the Sparkman family.
"Our hearts go out to him," Rudzinski said of Josh Sparkman. "He still lost his father at the end of the day."
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