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It has been nearly a year since former LaFayette police officer Sam Parker was charged with murdering his wife, Theresa.

Still, those handling the case aren’t saying much.

David Dunn, Parker’s public defender, said he’s waiting on the district attorney’s office.

“I have received some of the materials from them, but there are a number of other items that are crucial to our investigation of the case that I haven’t been able to receive yet,” Dunn said.

Floyd County district attorney Leigh Patterson said she cannot discuss the case publicly.

Patterson took over prosecution of the case after the Walker County district attorney’s office disqualified itself.

Patterson did say the state is not seeking the death penalty. She said the maximum punishment for Parker, if convicted, would be life in prison.

She declined to say when the district attorney’s office will file motions and take the case to trial.

She said the fact that Theresa’s body has not been found is not delaying prosecution of the case.

Meanwhile Parker is being housed in the Catoosa County jail.

Background on Parker case

Theresa Parker, a dispatcher with Walker County 911, has been missing since March 21, 2007.

Theresa and Sam had a house on Cordell Road, which is northeast of LaFayette in Walker County. They were undergoing divorce preparations and were not living together. She was living at the Cordell Road residence and he was living in his deceased father’s house in Trion in Chattooga County.

Sam, a sergeant with the LaFayette Police Department, immediately became a “person of interest” in his wife’s disappearance.

In early April 2007, Harbin “Ben” Chaffin, a corporal with the LaFayette Police Department and a good friend of Sam, was arrested for making false statements to investigators in the Parker case.

Also in early April, district attorney Herbert “Buzz” Franklin disqualified his office, which is headquartered in LaFayette, from the case. The case was turned over to the Floyd County district attorney’s office in Rome, Ga., with district attorney Leigh Patterson in charge.

Sam was fired from his LaFayette police job in mid-April after authorities found explosives in his work locker. In late July 2007, Chaffin was charged with tampering with evidence, violation of oath by public officer, and computer invasion of privacy. He is out of jail on bond.

In early February 2008, Sam was charged with and indicted with the murder of his wife.

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