Let's go see how far the story's gotten.
First, there's Politico, a DC-based political news source:
Sean Parnell’s military thriller “Man of War” contains graphic scenes of violence against female characters, raising additional questions about his attitude toward women in the wake of court testimony that he physically and verbally abused his estranged wife.
Parnell, who has emerged as the frontrunner in the Pennsylvania GOP Senate primary, portrays multiple scenes of men assaulting women in the 2018 novel, the first of four in a fiction series written by the Army combat veteran.
Those scenes are in a new light following his wife Laurie Snell’s testimony under oath Monday that her husband strangled her and assaulted their children. Those were among the explosive allegations made in a child custody hearing, an account of which was reported by the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Then there's this from Forbes:
Pennsylvania Senate candidate Sean Parnell’s wife accused her husband of physical abuse during a Monday court hearing, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported, a claim Parnell denied — as the Trump-endorsed Republican faces a child custody battle.
And then there's this from The Independent, in the UK:
The estranged wife of Republican senate candidate Sean Parnell has levelled serious physical and emotional abuse allegations against him.
Laurie Snell testified before a family court under oath on Monday over the custody of their three children that the Republican candidate from Pennsylvania choked her until she had to bite him to escape.
She also accused him of hitting their young children and said he used obscenities and insults against her, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
But this may be the worst news for Sean. The story's made it into People:
The estranged wife of leading Senate candidate Sean Parnell spoke under oath in Pennsylvania court on Monday about what she described as his harrowing history of violence toward her and their three young kids — which he adamantly denies.I could snark on how this story making it into People (PEOPLE!) is really bad, but I don't think that does this situation any justice. This is very serious. Other than the culture-wide reach of People, what's really bad (for Sean) in that piece is now much it relies on Paula Reed Ward's reporting from Monday in The Trib.
Ward supplied some coverage I hadn't seen elsewhere and it only serves to underscore the severity of the story:
Laurie Snell said that about three months into their relationship, she was talking about an ex-boyfriend when Parnell threw a chair across the kitchen.
“I’d never seen anybody get so angry,” Snell said. “It scared me to death. I left. I didn’t want anyone to hit me.”
She said she contemplated ending the relationship, but learned later that day that she was pregnant.
“It started from the beginning,” Snell said. “It just got worse and worse. It was constant.”
Snell testified that when she and Parnell were driving along Interstate 79 over Thanksgiving 2008 and she was several months’ pregnant, Parnell pulled over on the side of the highway.
“‘Get out of the car. Go get an abortion,’” she said he told her.
He drove off, but then backed up along the highway and she got back in the car.
The screaming continued for hours, Snell said.
And this was at the beginning of the relationship as it was three plus "several" months in.
Yea, nothing to snark about.
Again, for the record Parnell denied Snell's story:
In a statement released by his campaign, Sean Parnell disputed her claims and said he would “set the record straight” when he testifies next week.
“We anxiously await the opportunity to refute these hurtful, baseless allegations,” the statement said. “Let me emphatically state: I have never raised a hand in anger towards my wife or any of our three children. What happened today in court was not justice, nor did it have any basis in fact or truth. Next week, I’ll have an opportunity to present the truth to the court and I look forward to that opportunity.”
Everyone deserves his/her/their day in court. It's only fair.
