Shana Parkinson

This may be the shortest blog you will ever see from me and I have to be fair in saying that I am irritated about that. I say this because this was a sensational crime and beyond finding a single article based on Shana Whitmore's arrest I found nothing more than really more blogs from other people. I am amazed at this. This was a double murder case and even if the perpetrator pleaded guilty there should have been news and yet I can find nothing.

I came across this case on an episode of Deadly Women and it made it to my list to be researched. I do not and will not base a crime or my opinion of such simply based on a television show, or even the sole opinion of other people. That being said, while I attempt to have as many facts of a case as possible, I try to say when things are not clear or I found a report here that said this or that but it was not something that was resounding so I cannot say the information is completely valid.

I could sit here and tell you that Shana Parkinson was abusive to her husband Gregg Whitmore throughout their marriage and he finally had enough and divorced her. That is one of the claims I found in a blog. I do not know this is true and in fact someone commented on that blog indicating that was not true and was a bias opinion. I could tell you whatever I wanted to tell you about how or why this murder happened and start rumors, but I do not do that.

So my plan here is to tell you what little information I do know and maybe I will learn more from the readers. I would appreciate if you do know more or could lead me to some more reliable and valid information so I too can learn more.

Around three in the morning of February 1, 2004 a child called 911 to report a shooting in her home in Rigby Idaho. The child was the daughter of twenty-nine year old Karen Cummings. Authorities arrived at the home to find Karen and her boyfriend Gregg Whitmore, age thirty-eight, dead in the home. Karen was found in the bedroom while Gregg was found in the kitchen. Both had been stabbed multiple times.

At some point, apparently not long later a woman called 911 from a convenient store just south of Rexburg, some 13 miles away from Rigby. The caller was Shana (sometimes spelled Shanna) Parkinson-Whitmore. She was telling the dispatcher that she was covered in blood but she was unsure why. Authorities responded and transported her to the hospital to be checked out. While she was there they learned she was the ex-wife of Gregg Whitmore, one of their victims in Rigby. Dots were connected and Shana was arrested and charged with burglary and two counts of first degree murder.

I can tell you that Shana was sentenced in 2005. Whether that was a sentence of 27 years or a life sentence in which she must serve 27 years is unclear. I found nothing on a trial; I found nothing on a plea agreement. I did find her on the Idaho Department of Corrections website but I am unsure that it helped in any of the confusion. I have read a lot of inmate information sites and this one indicates that she was convicted in a single count of first degree murder. According to the website she has a parole hearing in August of 2030 with an “earliest” release date being in February of 2031. She is listed under the name of Shana Voss Parkinson.

I want to know more. I want to know how things got to this point; I want to know more about her tango with the justice system. More should be known if for no other reason than to be reminded that these were two human beings who had their lives taken by someone else.

Help me out here! I know there are people out there with information!