The Murder of Sarah L. Greenhalgh
Hi, all! I know it’s been a while. If I’m being honest, I lost my passion for writing for a little bit. I realized that I still really enjoy it and want to get back into it. So, without further ado, here is a new case!
For this case, I watched an episode of People Magazine Investigates. It’s season 8 episode 2, titled ‘A Story to Die For.’
Background
Sarah Libbey Greenhalgh was raised in Potomac, Maryland. Sarah’s family moved there for the horses. Sarah had two passions, horses and photography. Sarah also loved journalism.
Sarah attended an elite boarding school in Maryland for high school and then studied journalism at Columbia. She then moved back to Maryland and started working for several local newspapers.
By 2012, Sarah lived in Virginia in a one-bedroom cottage and was still working for several local newspapers.
The Fire
On Monday, July 9, 2012, a call about a fire. The police department was also called because the body of a woman had been found in the bedroom.
The victim was identified as Sarah Greenhalgh. Her car was found in the yard in a bamboo grove. Sarah’s belongings were found inside the trunk.
Sarah had been shot in the neck and leg. There were shell casings all over the floor of the bedroom and bullet holes in the walls and doorway. A pour pattern was also found on the floor. It was clear the fire had been started to get rid of evidence.
The Investigation
The news of Sarah’s death spread quickly. A new reporter had broken the news to Sarah’s co-workers when they were called to the scene.
The police tried to collect evidence of fingerprints, but the cottage was severely damaged.
During the investigation, the police learned that Sarah had posted on Facebook just hours before she was killed. The post said:
Sarah’s post was put up around 11:30 pm. Her body was found around 8 am the next morning.
Those closest to Sarah were asked about who she could have been talking about. Sarah didn’t disclose too much information about her personal life but did speak about online dating. However, she never used anyone’s real name.
Sarah’s co-workers found a slip of paper at her desk with the name John on it. It also had the words crazy and batshit crazy boy on it.
The First Suspect
The police identified John as John Kearns. John lived in Gainesville, Virginia, about 30 minutes from Sarah.
On Saturday, 2 days before Sarah’s body was found, she and John had a loud argument. Witnesses reported that John was angry that Sarah showed up at his apartment unannounced. They argued for a bit and then Sarah left.
John agreed to be interviewed at the police station. He had a cold reaction to the news about Sarah’s death.
John said he was angry that Sarah showed up because he had been dating another woman and wanted this new relationship to work.
The police noticed that John had cuts on his knuckles. But John was a black belt in martial arts and said it was from that.
The police didn’t have any evidence against John and he was allowed to leave the station.
The Other Suspects
While searching for other leads, the police were told to look into the landowner’s son, Colin. He and Sarah were close in age. Colin agreed to go to the police station for an interview. Colin wasn’t on the property at the time that Sarah was killed. He had been at a friend’s house and didn’t come home until about 7:30-8 am on Monday.
The police were skeptical and asked Colin if he’d be willing to take a polygraph. He passed and was eliminated as a suspect.
The police looked into if Sarah was killed because of her job. Sarah had been working on a story about animal abuse and about a man named Russell Ebersole. Aberdeen Acres was a pet care facility that Russell had opened. A former employee had made allegations against Russell abusing animals.
Russell had called Sarah after her stories ran in the newspaper. Russell had sued Sarah for defamation. There were also court issues based on whether Sarah could testify against Russell in court.
The police were able to clear Russell as a suspect.
The Crazy Boy
John came up again as a suspect when his ex-wife, Debby came forward about his past behavior.
John and Debby met in 2004. Debby said John could be the life of the party and be charismatic. She said John treated her as if she was the center of his world.
In July 2011, Debby and John had separated. Debby had moved into a townhouse that she was renting.
On July 31, Debby received text messages from John. John was telling Debby that he wouldn’t give up on her. Debby finally told him to stop. John called her and showed up at her home a few days later. Debby’s son from a previous relationship told her that John was outside. Debby called the police.
Debby saw through the window that John had a knife with him. John had patted the knife and told her, “You’re dead.”
The police finally arrived and John left. Debby filed for a protection order after the incident.
On August 4, 2011, John burned all of Debby’s stuff. Debby left the state until her protection order went into effect.
Two days after he burned her items, he got into a road rage incident. John kicked and hit a motorcyclist after he was cut off. John was arrested for assault.
John was told by the court to take anger management classes and to attend counseling.
The police learned that John had deleted emails between him and Sarah once a search warrant was obtained for his home.
An Open Investigation
An attorney ruled that the evidence against John in Sarah’s case was circumstantial and couldn’t be prosecuted.
Weeks and months eventually turned into years. The Fauquier County police are still investigating Sarah’s case.
FINAL THOUGHTS
My heart goes out to Sarah’s family and friends. My heart also goes out to Debby and her family. John is just out there still out on the streets, probably thinking he got away with it (if he was the one who killed Sarah). Sarah seemed like a wonderful person and journalist and was killed because she crossed paths with the wrong person. I hope that one day, Sarah’s case will be solved because she and her loved ones deserve justice.
Sources
https://people.com/sarah-greenhalgh-murder-people-magazine-investigates-8734602