(Editors note: This story originally was posted on Today in Fort Smith on February 21, 2018.)
In February of 2009, Sarah Fennell was found unconscious by the Fort Smith Police Department.
Fennell was in a comatose state due to a beating she had sustained and was rushed to the hospital. After several days, 25-year- old Sarah Fennell died.
This is where the story turns even darker.
Almost immediately, there was an outcry from the community and Fennell’s relatives regarding her death.
They alleged that Fennell was brutally murdered — beaten by a former boyfriend, who, according to Fennell’s friends and family, had a long history of alcoholism and violence towards women.
Oddly enough, according to court filings, Sarah Fennell’s death was officially ruled as “natural causes” by state medical officials.
One family member of Sarah Fennell (her uncle) has spoken out repeatedly about his outrage in the Fennell case and he suggests that investigators refused to hold Sarah’s boyfriend accountable for her murder.
According to Sarah’s uncle, “Sarah’s boyfriend committed disgusting acts on Sarah’s unconscious and unresponsive body.”
As an outlet for his outrage and quest for justice, Sarah’s uncle launched a website called Justice4Sarah. The site published several key documents in Sarah’s death investigation and also called for justice on behalf of his murdered niece.
This is where the story takes a strange turn. Sarah Fennell’s former boyfriend, after a long period of silence… finally spoke out.
Did he offer up an explanation or condolences?
No.
Instead, he filed suit in Benton County asking for damages due to ‘emotional and personal distress’ that he claims was inflicted upon him by the Justice4Sarah website.
In addition, Sarah’s former boyfriend specifically asked the judge to bar the website from further “defamation” and require the Justice4Sarah website to remove any mention of his name.
He didn’t take the time to assure Sarah’s family and friends that he was innocent.
His one and only goal was to distance himself from the mysterious death of his former girlfriend; have his name removed from the website, along with any mention of the word murder in conjunction with the name Sarah Fennell.
That’s it.
Astounding.
If, by chance, you have your hopes up that freedom of speech won out in this case, you will be sorely disappointed.
Because it didn’t.
Instead, the Justice4Sarah website was forced to remove all mentions of Sarah’s death, her former boyfriend’s name, and any real or perceived mention of injustice that surrounded the investigation (or lack thereof) into her death.
And just like that – poof – any mention of Sarah Fennell and her tragic demise isnno longer found on the Internet. In fact, it’s difficult to find any mention of Sarah Fennell at all.
So what DID happen to Sarah Fennell that led to her death?
In my opinion, the Fort Smith community should be demanding answers.
A young woman died in the prime of her life. There are obvious questions surrounding her death that are being ignored. And if the Justice4Sarah website was right … a murderer is walking free. For more information about the death of Sarah Fennell, visit:
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