Tammy Parker, Brett Parker: Gambling Bets, Debts, Sex Led To ‘Friday The 13th’ Murder Of South Carolina Mom

Tammy Parker, aka Tammy Jo Parker, the wife and mother who was gunned down in her South Carolina home on “Friday The 13th,” along with family friend Bryan Capnerhurst four years ago, will be profiled on Scorned: Love Kills on Investigation Discovery. In the episode titled, “Heavy Betting,” a suburban couple living the good life faces a deadly setback after financial debts, a gambling addiction, and an illicit affair leads to murder. In this fascinating episode, you’ll see reenactments and hear commentary from police and family members. Tammy Jo Shealy Parker’s killer and husband, Brett Parker, is currently serving life in prison for the double shootings.

RT @Dakarai_Turner: Fedor now directing Brett Parker toward shootings, discussing shooting BC and finding Tammy pic.twitter.com/mVt8Y2gcqr

— News19 WLTX (@WLTX) May 24, 2013

It was Friday, April 13, 2012, when 911 dispatchers received a call from 42-year-old Brett Parker, stating that his wife and a friend were shot dead in his upscale Irmo home in Richland County. A tearful Brett Parker explained that he shot his friend and business partner, 46-year-old Bryan Capnerhurst, in self defense after Capnerhurst killed his wife, Tammy, during a home robbery. When officers arrived, they found Tammy Parker, who was still dressed in jogging clothes, dead on the floor. She had been shot five times and was still posed in a running position, as if she had tried to get away. Not far from Tammy Parker’s body, they found Bryan Capnerhurst in the attic with four gunshot wounds to the body. Detectives observed that he was also clutching a gun and had gunshot residue on his hands.

In the beginning, it appeared that Brett Parker was telling the truth about what transpired. However, an autopsy report showed that Bryan Capnerhurst had been shot in the arm, meaning there was no way he could have fired a gun.

People who knew Brett and Tammy said they made a wonderful couple in the beginning. Brett was a medical supplies salesman and an illegal gambling bookie, while Tammy Parker worked in pharmaceutical sales. Most would agree that Tammy Parker was quite a catch. She was the breadwinner of the family, earning a hefty salary, while still having time to keep fit, dote on her children, and enjoy family vacations.

Tammy Jo Parker is the last person anyone expected to end up dead in such a tragic way, according to WLOX-ABC-13.

“She was a pharmaceutical representative and one of the lead singers of the Columbia-based band Jumpstart, a band formed in 1992. Tammy was ‘a down home country beauty queen.’ Her talent and showmanship was balanced with an amazing voice, the website said. ‘One minute she’ll be leading the Electric Slide and the making grown men cry with a ballad.'”

WIS has exclusive video of a performance by murder victim Tammy Jo Parker with her band. http://t.co/LTui5poNyW pic.twitter.com/HaSYtslRpE

— WIS News 10 (@wis10) May 3, 2013

At trial, prosecutors say Brett Parker had already shot and killed Tammy Parker, then waited for Bryan Capnerhust to arrive so he could pay him the thousands of dollars in cash that he owed him. Instead, he shot Bryan Capnerhust and tried to frame him for Tammy’s murder.

With Tammy dead, Brett Parker could collect on the life insurance policy and the money from her investments to pay off his gambling debts. Lust was also at the center of the trial, where prosecutors alleged that emails found on Brett’s phone proved he was having an affair with a bank teller, a woman he often met at various motels for sex, according to ABC-Columbia.

“Mullins, a former bank teller who was separated from her husband at the time, says she met Brett Parker when he did business transactions at the bank where she used to work. She testified that she and Parker met several times for sexual encounters, one of which took place at the Parkers’ home. She also testified to Parker having told her he had a gun for protection and that he wanted to separate from his wife, but doing so would be hard financially.”

Get to know the case inside and out by tuning into Scorned: Love Kills this Saturday, May, 28, at 10/9 p.m. central on Investigation Discovery (ID).

[Image via 48 Hours/Facebook]