That's the current dossier on murder suspect William James Deparvine. Police continue digging for details on his life.
By LEANORA MINAI, CHRIS TISCH and WILLIAM R. LEVESQUE
Published January 17, 2004
He earned a degree in criminal justice. He likes to hunt and scuba dive. He says his youth was normal and free of abuse.
The past 16 years of his life are filled with legal entanglements, problems with the police and, finally, murder charges.
Beyond that, William James Deparvine is something of a mystery that police are eager to figure out.
On Friday, investigators continued to search for the missing pieces of his life, looking for clues in the deaths of a Tierra Verde couple he is accused of killing, as well as any links in the unsolved homicides of six other people.
"I can tell you, they're trying to do a good timeline," said Hillsborough Sheriff's Chief Deputy David Gee. "I know they're finding some gaps. But we're going to exhaust everything on this."
Deparvine, 51, is being investigated in unsolved homicides in Clearwater, St. Petersburg, Sarasota and Texas.
He was charged Tuesday with first-degree murder in the deaths of Rick and Karla Van Dusen of Tierra Verde, whose bodies were dumped in Hillsborough. In late November, Deparvine bought the couple's restored 1971 Chevrolet truck hours before their bodies were found.
State prison records reveal little about Deparvine's life beyond a few scant details about his interest in scuba diving and his experiments with marijuana as a youth. Much is still unknown about the ex-con who was released from a Florida prison in April 2003 after serving time on weapons charges.
Deparvine, born in Detroit, attended Wayne State University there. He graduated in 1979 with a degree in criminal justice.
Deparvine, police say, sometimes told people he attended or graduated from law school. His ex-wife told police he graduated from a Michigan law school.
But not one of Michigan's five law schools has any record of Deparvine attending.
"He just told a lot of people that he's been to law school," said Lt. Kent Head of the Hill County Sheriff's Office in Texas, which is investigating Deparvine in connection with a 1985 murder there. "But some of the job applications we have seen don't show any of that on his application."
Deparvine moved to Texas in the mid 1980s with drinking buddy Russell Kenburg, 30. They were going to start an RV rental business.
Investigators say Deparvine persuaded his friend in 1985 to take out a life insurance policy. After he did, Kenburg's body was found by the side of a highway. Deparvine collected $50,000, investigators said. The slaying is still unsolved.
About the same time, Deparvine applied to take the bar exam in Texas. But he never took it, according to the Texas Board of Law Examiners.
By 1987, Deparvine had moved to Pinellas and frequently found himself in civil and criminal court, starting with an arrest on charges of stealing a drill.
Prosecutors said Deparvine ran a host of sophisticated scams and swindles in Pinellas. He appeared to have an acute knowledge of the court system and public records, said Thane Covert, who prosecuted Deparvine on weapons charges in 1993.
In December 1989, he tried to swipe an elderly woman's St. Petersburg home by forging her name on the deed, along with a notary's signature, seal and stamp, prosecutors said.
Police said he also tried to burn a rental property he owned in St. Petersburg to collect $43,000 in insurance money. He poured gasoline around the home while the tenant and her children were inside.
Deparvine was charged with multiple counts of arson, grand theft and forgery. He was later sentenced to seven years in prison. He was out by 1993.
When he got out, police investigated Deparvine after he took out an ad offering to sell a $14,000 Harley Davidson motorcycle for just $4,000.
He never was charged in that alleged scam, though he was arrested on weapons charges when police found a pistol in his belongings. Because of his past criminal record, the charge for carrying a concealed handgun brought him a 15-year sentence, of which he served 10.
Through the late 1980s and 1990s, Deparvine was involved in repeated civil litigation.
In 1987, his $14,000 Sea Ray boat was repossessed, but not before lawyers accused Deparvine of hiding it from them. Homes he bought were foreclosed by banks. In 1988, he was evicted from an apartment with his wife.
And finally, on Dec. 22, less than a month after the Van Dusen's bodies were found, Deparvine filed an action in Pinellas County court seeking to obtain the title to the truck he had purchased from them.
"Prior owner claimed that he misplaced title and would assist me in obtaining new title," Deparvine's affidavit said. "Prior owner is dead."
- Times researcher John Martin and staff writer Shannon Colavecchio-Van Sickler contributed to this report.
