Fontana man accused of killing his son-in-law pleads not guilty
A frail-looking 83-year-old Richard Allan Parker shuffled into a San Bernardino County courtroom Friday afternoon after he allegedly shot and killed his son-in-law inside their Fontana garage earlier this week.
Parker pleaded not guilty for the murder of 50-year-old Joshua Fordham, a nurse at Emanate Health Inter-Community Hospital in San Bernardino. Oregon state court records showed that Parker previously served roughly a decade in prison for a manslaughter conviction related to the deadly shooting of his stepdaughter's boyfriend, Glen Clarke, in 1996.
On the night of Clarke's death, Parker told investigators that he heard Clarke shove his wife, so he grabbed a gun and shot him on the porch, according to the police report.
"Once he fell off the porch, Richard shot him five more times in the back," Parker's ex-wife Colleen said.
While he was charged with murder, a jury convicted Parker of manslaughter.
"He did the exact same thing in Oregon," Colleen said. "He just sat there and waited for the police and surrendered peacefully. He admitted that he did it. He never denied it."
Investigators say that Parker shot Fordham multiple times inside the garage. He was waiting at the front door when police arrived and took him into custody. He has been booked for murder and remains jailed without bail at the West Valley Detention Center.
