(Editors note: It has been almost seventeen-months since we have revisited the circumstances surrounding the mysterious death of a Fort Smith woman in 2009 and the case definitely qualifies as "cold".
Today we ask again....who killed Sarah Fennell?)
By: LaDonna Humprey
In early 2009, Sarah Fennell was found unconscious in her residence by officers with the Fort Smith Police Department.
Fennell was in a comatose state due to a severe beating she had sustained and was rushed to the hospital. After several days, 25-year-old Sarah Fennell was pronounced dead.
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 her former boyfriend, Adam Kuettel, who, according to sources, had a long history of alcoholism and violence towards women.
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) spoke out repeatedly about his outrage in the Fennell case and he suggested that investigators refused to hold Adam accountable for Sarah’s 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 really takes a strange turn. Sarah Fennell’s former boyfriend… the one who had a long history of alcoholism and violence…. the very boyfriend who had been completely quiet during this entire twisted tale…. 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.
Disgusting, huh?
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 is no 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?
We 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.
The events leading up to Sarah’s death are what have people mystified and angry. It started with dinner at an area restaurant with her boyfriend and ended with her bruised and unresponsive in the emergency room.
According to a police report from the Fort Smith Police Department dated May 13, 2009, statements from the boyfriend indicated they went to dinner the night of Jan. 24. According to the boyfriend’s statements in the report, she drank too much and passed out when they returned home that evening.
In the police report, Sarah’s boyfriend states that when she passed out, she was completely unresponsive, and in an attempt to wake her up, he called her family in Tennessee in the hopes that the sound of their voices would wake her. Friends and family alike were baffled that he hadn’t called 911, and it would be several hours before Sarah would finally start receiving medical treatment.
“She had bruises up and down her legs on both sides and her arms,” said Nicole Frick, a co-worker and friend, describing the visual and evidentiary assessment of Sarah by police and physical and medical assessment by hospital personnel at the time as listed in the police report.
“We sat in the waiting room a good two hours before they let us back there to see her. She was in ICU, and when we went back there, all the marks and bruises were visible, so for me, for them to say natural causes, I just don’t understand it.”
In the 2009 police report, police noted, “Ms. Fennell had bruising all over her body and appeared to (have been) in a fight.” It was noted in the same report that Sarah had scratches on her chest and shoulder, and her right hand was... red and swollen, as if it had been broken, but X-rays showed that it was not.”
The boyfriend also had scratches, and his eye was swollen shut. Why did he have scratches and a swollen eye? This is a good question. A question that Sarah’s then boyfriend has never answered.
Frick also points out that in the boyfriend’s statement to police, he claims Sarah had a lot to drink, though, according to a statement from hospital personnel taken by police included in the report, ”... the drug and alcohol screens both came back negative for Ms. Fennell.”
What happened to Sarah Fennell? At this point the questions begs to be answered and someone, somewhere may have the answer to that question.
What do you think?
If you have any information about Sarah Fennell’s death, please contact Today in Fort Smith or call the Fort Smith Police Department at 479-709-5100.
You can remain anonymous.
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