By Don Jacobs
News Sentinel
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Sheriff’s officials suspect robbery was the motive in the shooting of a former Knoxville police officer who was found slumped over in a recliner in his North Knox County trailer.
Mike Parker, 63, was shot once in the head with a .22-caliber pistol about 11 a.m. Sunday, said Knox County Sheriff’s Office Capt. Clyde Cowan.
Parker was taken to the University of Tennessee Medical Center where his condition was unavailable because of medical confidentiality laws.
Cowan said detectives have recovered the weapon used in the shooting.
Detectives charged Douglas Andrew England, 41, of Garfield Avenue, with attempted first-degree murder. He was being held in jail in lieu of $100,000 bond.
Cowan said England was arrested Monday night after he came to the Sheriff’s Office downtown for questioning.
“He basically said he didn’t know anything about it,” Cowan said.
Authorities were alerted about 11 a.m. of the shooting at the 3021 Rifle Range Road trailer.
Parker, a former bodybuilder who competed regionally and nationally in law enforcement circles, recently had suffered a couple of heart attacks.
A woman was staying with him to help him during his convalescence.
Cowan said the woman was awakened Sunday when she heard England enter the trailer. When she greeted England, he “said something about something being wrong with Mike,” Cowan said.
Cowan said Parker and England were friends. The men had met several years ago when they worked together.
According to the KCSO, England has a criminal history including theft and aggravated burglary.
Parker is a former Knoxville Police Department investigator who attended night school for years to obtain a law degree.
In 1994, Parker was convicted of helping a man rob a Halls pizza business. He received a five-year prison sentence but was paroled in 1996.
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