Sarah Fennell, born May 16, 1983, died under suspicious circumstances on February 13, 2009. Her death, however, was ruled “due to natural causes.”
The following timeline of events was documented in the Fort Smith Police Department Incident Report #090004428-00.
10 – 11pm January 24, 2009: Sarah went on a dinner date with Adam Joseph Kuettel after she got off work. They met at Cheddar’s in Fort Smith.2 - 3 am: In the early morning hours of January 25, 2009, Sarah and her boyfriend were involved in a violent domestic fight at Amy Mansfield’s apartment; Amy was a co-worker friend of Sarah’s.(It is important to note that Amy Mansfield is now also deceased. She died roughly a year and a half after Sarah passed away.
Her obituary can be found here: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/55855219/amy-leigh_ann-mansfield.)
3 - 9 am: Adam left the apartment after the domestic assault and returned in different attire 6 hours later. There is no documentation of Adam’s actions after he claimed he left the crime scene, but the police incident report supports that he had changed attire after the fight.9 am: The next morning, Adam said, he returned to “check” on Sarah and found her lying on the floor, unconscious and unresponsive. He refused to call 911 for the next 4.5 hours or tell anyone where she could be located.
9:15 – 9:30 am: According to Adam’s statement to investigators, he stripped Sarah naked and got into the bathtub with her unconscious body.9:30 am – 12 noon: Adam called Sarah’s siblings in Tennessee and told them something was wrong with Sarah. He held the phone to Sarah’s ear after telling them to talk to her. Adam refused their repeated pleas to call 911 immediately. Adam also refused to tell anyone where she was.
12 noon – 1:20 pm: A family member in Arkansas was searching for Sarah’s location.1:25 pm: The family member finally located Sarah, who was lying naked on the floor of the apartment where she had been assaulted. Adam had to be forced out of the way so Sarah could be taken to the ER, less than a block away.
1:30 pm: Sarah arrived at St. Edwards ER in a coma, mortally wounded. She would live 19 more days.She passed away on February 13, 2009.1:45pm: St Edwards Mercy Medical security has to be called to remove Adam from the ER because he still adamantly refuses to allow anyone to help Sarah. (“Clinical Record”), (Incident Report)
2:40 pm: Adam is asked to come to the police station to give a sworn statement. He is asked what happen to Sarah. “She drank over a half gallon of vodka and just started attacking me for no reason unprovoked” He adds, when she started attacking me “I just curled up into a fetal position and took the beating, I never hit her back, not once”
Adam was then asked if he had ever hit Sarah before this incident, “Yes, I have hit her before, but I never hit her this time”
After police investigators recover Sarah’s ripped blouse from the crime scene and photograph damage to the apartment, they ask Adam if he can explain the busted door and how Sarah’s blouse may have become ripped, “ All I can think of is, it must have been damaged and her blouse ripped when I was trying to keep her off me”
Adam is then asked why he did not call 911 when he discovered Sarah unconscious and unresponsive at 9am. And why he dragged her to the bathroom, stripping her naked and getting into the bathtub with her, “because she was just drunk and I have been that drunk before, I was just trying to make her wake up”
At the conclusion of this interview, investigators will place in their report, “Adam keeps changing his story about what happened and in what order” (Incident Report)
Twelve hours after Sarah was beaten, she arrives at St. Edwards Mercy Emergency Room. Below is what they discovered.
According to a St Edwards Mercy clinical report written by Dr. Phillips, Under History of Present Illness:
Page 1: The patient was found to have multiple bruises all over her body”
Page 2: Has had multiple traumatic injury about her body”. It has been medically established, ‘Sarah was in a coma due to the restriction of blood and oxygen to her brain’.
Fort Smith Police Report page 2.
Officer J. Scarborough is the first officer to arrive at the ER, he will place in his report. ” The doctor advised me that Sarah had marks on her neck that was consistent with strangulation”
Officer R. Reed is the first Detective to arrive at the ER, he will place in his report: ” RN Time Green said Sarah was suffering from lack of oxygen to her brain” Detective Reed goes on to say: ”There are scratches on her chest and shoulder area. She had a red bump about the size of a quarter behind her right ear and what looked like a small cut in front of her right ear. “On her neck I saw what appeared to be redness on the right side and continuing to the left side”.
Detective M. Warren and Detective Reed meet with Fort Smith Prosecutors Dan Shue, DPA Ward, DPA Wagoner, DPA Houston and DPA Jennen. After this meeting Dan Shue will tell them; “They would wait to make any decisions when something could be proven.
According to a St Edwards Mercy clinical report written by Dr. Knubley, they have ruled out every possible health related causes for a stroke and why Sarah is in a coma.
Adam Kuettel insists to everyone that Sarah was drunk. His explanation to everyone of how and why Sarah was in the condition she is in is because of alcohol. Detectives will put in their report “Adam would change his story, about what happened, and in what order”. He stated in the police report and even told the ER staff “she drank over a half gallon of vodka”
According to another St. Edwards Mercy clinical report written by Dr. Yazbeck. Sarah’s blood alcohol came back normal. Another report, written by Dr. Ghussain states:
“She had a bruise in the right mastoid area. She had some redness on the anterior neck area”
There are some important facts to note from these reports: First, Sarah’s blood alcohol was negative at the time of admission to the hospital. So it’s clear that alcohol was not a contributing factor to her death. Second, Sarah was in a coma for an extended period of time.
There was a passage of 19 days. And in those 19 days her bruises and abrasions had time to heal. Think about that. Would the conclusion regarding her cause of death been different had Sarah passed away the night she was taken to the hospital?
Let’s break this down further:
(1) Sarah Fennell (victim), age 25, was in a coma at St. Edwards Mercy Medical Emergency Department as the result of an admitted violent domestic assault. She had 43 documented traumas to her body, including visible neck and head trauma. The treating physicians told Fort Smith investigators that Sarah was in a coma due to the ”restriction of blood and oxygen to her brain.”
(2) Sarah arrived at St. Edwards ER at 1:30 pm on January 25, 2009. This was almost 12 hours after she was assaulted. Adam J. Kuettel admitted to investigators that he and Sarah got into a fight in the early morning hours of that date, between 2 am and 3 am. (Incident Report)
(3) Fort Smith Police Officer J. Scarborough noted in his written report, “The Doctor advised me that Sarah had marks on her neck that was consistent with strangulation.”(Incident Report, pg 2)
(4) Five medical doctors and one RN recorded 43 visible marks of trauma to Sarah’s body, including visible trauma to her neck and head. Dr. Yarborough stated in a clinical report, “She has had multiple traumatic injuries about her body.” (St. Edwards Clinical Reports)
•Dr. Yarborough
•Dr. Knubtey
•Dr. Ghussain
•Dr. Yazbeck
•Dr. S. Phillips
•RN Tim Green
(5) Four police officers / investigators reported and documented visible traumas to Sarah’s body, neck and head area. (Incident Report)
•Officer J. Scarborough
•Unknown officer identified only as ‘CFS’ on page 3
•Detective Michael J. Warren
•Detective Reed
(6) St. Edwards Mercy Clinical Radiology Department confirmed that Sarah had “Internal Trauma” to her neck, head, and brain. Clinical test results show: ’Basilar Artery Occlusion and Kinking of the Left Vertebral Artery.’ (St. Edwards Clinical Reports)
(7) St. Edwards Mercy Medical Doc# 987795 quotes Dr. Yazbeck: “She had a bruise in the right Mastoid area.” This injury to Sarah’s head is repeatedly documented throughout the St. Edwards Clinical Record and the Incident Report.
(8) Detective Michael J. Warren reports, “I went into the room and took photos of Sarah Fennell. She had a knot on the top of her forehead and behind her right ear [this is the Mastoid area]. She had some red blotches around her neck.” (Incident Report)
(9) St. Edwards Mercy Medical Clinical Report Dr. S. Phillips “She has multiple bruises around her neck and right mastoid, she has had multiple traumatic injuries about her body”
(10) St. Edwards Mercy Medical Clinical Report -Department of Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Medical Imaging Job#20314. “Tilt of the Cervical Spine noted to the left.”
(11) St. Edwards Mercy Medical Clinical Report-Department of Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Medical Imaging Job#22425D: “Stenosis/Kinking of the left Vertebral at its exit from C2 foramina and additional stenosis/filling defect along the wall, slightly beyond this within the left vertebral artery. There is mild irregularity of the left vertebral artery just beyond this as well.”
With this preponderance of evidence, even a lay person can deduce that Sarah Fennell did not die of natural causes.
Sarah Fennell was beaten… to death.
Someone, somewhere knows what happened to Sarah Fennell. Please come forward. She deserves justice.
More to come.
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