NEW BOSTON, Texas -- One of Taylor Parker's ex-husbands testified Thursday that he used a "spoof" phone number in September 2020 to warn Wade Griffin there was no way Parker could be pregnant.
Alex "Tommy" Wacasey was married to Parker from 2011 to 2018, he testified. He sent the message to Griffin on Sept.16, 2020 after hearing that Parker was telling people she was pregnant with Griffin's child.
"I'm reaching out to you because I feel like it's the ethical thing to do," Wacasey wrote in the message to Griffin. "In 2015, Taylor had a hysterectomy. She is not pregnant. She can't get pregnant. She is a con artist and is lying to keep you around."
He also wrote to Griffin that Parker "was in so deep she can't get out."
Parker is charged with capital murder and could face the death penalty in the Oct. 9, 2020, killing of expectant mother Reagan Simmons Hancock of New Boston and the taking of her unborn child, who also died. Parker has pleaded not guilty. She is represented by attorneys Jeff Harrelson of Texarkana and Mac Cobb of Mount Pleasant, Texas.
The trial is being held in the 202nd District Court in New Boston with Judge John Tidwell presiding.
Under questioning by Assistant Bowie County District Attorney Lauren Richards, Wacasey testified he met Parker in 2011 when she was 19 or 20 and they married within a few months. At the time they met, Parker had an 8-month-old daughter, Emerson. She and Wacasey had a son together in 2013.
"I thought she was beautiful, I thought she was a loving person, the wife everybody wanted," Wacasey said. "She was somebody I wanted to be with," he testified.
Parker's lies soon became a problem, Wacasey said.
"Looking back now, if I had known then what I know now, it would have never happened. It's like our whole marriage was a lie. You would confront her about it, it would turn into another lie," he said.
He testified that Parker was "very convincing, very manipulative."
Wacasey also testified that earlier in 2020, Parker called him and said she wanted to know if "something happened, and she split up with Wade Griffin, if Emerson could live with me." Wacasey said though he was not Emerson's biological father, he was "basically her dad" and told Parker he would take the girl if needed.
However he soon learned Parker and Griffin were still together and she was telling people she was pregnant.
"My son came home from her house that weekend and said his mama was pregnant," Wacasey testified. "I told him she could not be pregnant, but he said she was and she was going to have a girl."
Wacasey testified that he downloaded an app for a spoof phone number so he could contact Griffin without "causing drama."
"I didn't want him to know it was me at the time," he said.
He said at that time, he didn't know Parker had used spoof numbers to send messages to Griffin.
Harrelson questioned Wacasey about how quickly he and Parker moved in together. He also asked about medical procedures Parker had while they were together.
Wacasey testified that in January 2014, Parker had a tubal ligation.
In August 2014, she went to Tijuana, Mexico, with her aunt to have a gastric surgery, Wacasey testified. Her partial hysterectomy happened while she was in surgery to treat an ovarian cyst, he testified.
During that surgery, doctors found endometriosis and the ectopic pregnancy and asked Wacasey to "make the call" about performing a hysterectomy on Parker.
Texas Department of Public Safety Lt. Andrew Venable also testified Thursday about the "continuous fraud" for Parker's entire relationship with Griffin and the number of fictional people she allegedly created and the fake phone and email accounts she allegedly created for other people, including her mother, Shona.
"She's the puppet master of all these individuals," Venable said.
As part of the investigation into Parker, Venable said he has reviewed all of the emails and text messages between Parker, Griffin and the fictional people they communicated with. He compiled the messages in a timeline with a chart of all the characters, a portion of which was displayed in court.
Assistant Bowie County District Attorney Kelley Crisp questioned Venable about his report and "the layers" of Parker's deception and how keeping up with the different stories show the level of her competence.
"If Miss Parker was incompetent, we would not be having this trial would we," Crisp said
"Correct," Venable said.
"It's a game, isn't it?" Crisp asked.
"It's similar to how a con man would work," Venable replied.
Communication between Parker and Griffin also showed problems with their relationship.
In a text message dated April 30, 2020, Parker texted Griffin about her frustration with the amount of affection he gave her.
"I wish you would kiss me goodbye ... I want you to take into consideration you have not touched me in a month," she texted. "I deserve you to put your arms around me and give me a kiss. You need to open your eyes and realize I am carrying your child."
The text message continued, with more complaints. Griffin responded with a thumbs-up emoji.
After Wacasey sent Griffin the warning about Parker not really being pregnant, Griffin screenshot the message and sent it to Parker. Griffin believed the message was from Parker's mother, according to investigators.
Parker allegedly began researching home births at that time, according to investigators. She also began searching online for hospitals out of the area, since the message mentioned that local hospitals were aware Parker was faking a pregnancy.
"What's really happening is Wacasey's information to Wade is being put on fake Shona," Venable testified.
Also on Thursday, Melissa Mason, office manager of Northeast Texas Women's Health Clinic in Mount Pleasant, Texas, testifed that Parker had been a patient at the clinic when she had her two children and then later worked there as a receptionist.
Mason knew Parker had previously had a hysterectomy and knew she could not be pregnant again when she heard in the spring of 2020 that Parker was once again trying to get an appointment for prenatal care.
Mason also testified that Griffin called the clinic asking questions about the ultrasound and Parker's alleged pregnancy. However, she testified that she could not reveal information to him because of privacy laws.
Cobb asked Mason if hospitals were notified of the alleged false pregnancy. Mason testified that doctors at the clinic reported it to the hospital but she was not privy to the details of what was said.
Cobb also asked Mason if she or people in the clinic were ever concerned about how the false pregnancy story was going to end
"Never in our wildest dreams did we think it would end this way. It's something that happens in the movies and not in Mount Pleasant," Mason replied.
Testimony resumes at 9 a.m. Monday at Bowie County Courthouse.