By Traci Moyer
The Herald Bulletin
ANDERSON — Almost four years to the date an inmate was stabbed and killed at the Pendleton Correctional Facility, a jury of six men and six women heard opening statements at Clarence Parsley’s murder trial.
Parsley, 31, is accused of killing Timothy P. Knapp, 27, on May 28, 2011. He is charged with murder and prisoner possessing dangerous device or material, a Class B felony. If convicted, Parsley faces up to 65 years for murder and 20 years for the felony charge.
During Wednesday’s trial, testimony was given by correctional officers who said Parsley’s stabbing of Knapp was eerie, methodical and disturbing. About 10 officers watched Parsley stab Knapp in a caged outside recreational area as Knapp begged the officers to save him.
Evan Broderick, Parsley’s defense attorney, however, said his client was the victim that day, claiming Knapp was the one to peel back a corner of chain link fencing to attack Parsley with a homemade knife. Broderick said his client acted in self-defense.
Casey Cooperider, a correctional officer with more than two decades of service at Pendleton, testified he had never seen anything like the events of that day.
“It was very disturbing and still bothers me today,” he said. “Mr. Parsley was walking around him at a close distance with a knife in his hand. He was taking a minute of his time — like a hunter – and would line up for his next thrust.”
Inmates were said to have “chanted and cheered” as if watching a baseball game as Parsley repeatedly stabbed Knapp 40 times with a piece of metal about 8 inches long, called a shank. Policy prohibits correctional officers from disarming an inmate with a weapon. A specialized weapons unit at the prison must be called to handle situations where a weapon is involved, officers testified.
Several officers sprayed Parsley with pepper spray, but they said he refused to comply with their demands to drop the weapon and move away from Knapp.
“It was almost like we wasn’t there,” said Cooperider. “He wasn’t complying in the least bit. Never in my life have I come across anyone sprayed with OC in the eyes that it doesn’t force them to close. He is the first one.”
Cooperider testified Knapp was holding his hands up and trying to block Parsley as he was being stabbed.
“He was pretty much helpless,” he said. “I did not see him throw any punches, no.”
Correctional Officer Jessica Matthews testified it was unusual for Knapp to request time in the outside recreational area of the disciplinary segregation unit and evidence presented on Wednesday indicated he had only made the request twice before his death.
“Parsley was in Knapp’s cell with him,” Matthews said.
She said Knapp was shielding his face and begging officers to save him saying “help me, he is killing me.”
Although the stabbing took place in Knapp’s confined space, Broderick claims Knapp was the original aggressor and had decided to kill someone that day. He said unfortunately for Parsley, he was the inmate placed next to Knapp that day in the recreational area.
In 2003, Parsley was convicted of voluntary manslaughter in Sullivan County for killing a 55-year-old man who was dating his sister. He was given a 20-year sentence. According to police records, Parsley followed his sister and Lambert Sutton out of his home and then shot Sutton in the right temple with a .22-caliber handgun.
Parsley’s release date is scheduled for July 2018.
Knapp had only served about two months of his three-year sentence of arson at Pendleton prior to his death, according to court records. He was scheduled to be released in February 2013. Knapp had also served six months in jail for a 2010 battery and two years in jail for a 2006 robbery, according to the Indiana Department of Correction.
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Parsley in prison
Clarence Parsley, 31, was sentenced to prison in 2003 for voluntary manslaughter in Sullivan County. When he was 18, Parsley shot and killed a 55-year-old man who was dating Parsley’s 17-year-old sister in December 2002. His release date from prison is scheduled for July 5, 2018. While in prison, Parsley received the following sanctions:
2006: Parsley received a reprimand for spitting toothpaste. The Department of Correction rescinded the sanctions in 2010.
2008: Parsley was written up for the assault and robbery of two inmates at Pendleton Correctional Facility. He received one year in segregation and the loss of 180 days of earned credit time. Parsley claimed he was denied due process but his appeal was denied in US. District Court in Northern Indiana in 2012.