The estranged wife of Sean Parnell testified that he once “tried to choke me out on a couch and I literally had to bite him” to escape from the “strangling'
A screen grab from Sean Parnell’s speech at the 2020 Republican National Convention. Photo: Photo Courtesy of the Committee In sworn testimony at the beginning of a custody trial for their two children, the estranged wife of Pennsylvania Republican Senate candidate Sean Parnell claimed that he choked her and beat their kids.
The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that Laura Snell testified that Parnell once “tried to choke me out on a couch and I literally had to bite him” to escape from the “strangling.” In court in Butler, a town north of Pittsburgh, she claimed under oath that Parnell called her a “whore” and a “piece of shit” while pinning her to the ground and that he forced her to get out of their vehicle on the side of highway in 2008 after telling her to “go get an abortion.
Parnell has denied all allegations of abuse and in a statement on Monday, his campaign stated that he looked forward to presenting “the truth to the court” when he makes his case in the custody trial next week. In September, Republican primary challenger Jeff Bartos called Parnell “unelectable” due to two temporary protection-from-abuse orders that Snell filed against Parnell in 2017 and 2018.
A former Army ranger, Parnell was diagnosed with PTSD after seeing serious combat while stationed in Afghanistan. After former President Donald Trump endorsed him in September, he became the leading Republican candidate in the race for the open seat of GOP Senator Pat Toomey, who is not running next year.