Sean Parnell: Wife of senate candidate endorsed by Trump says he choked her

Laurie Snell says she had to bite Sean Parnell in one instance so she could escape being choked

File: Sean Parnell speaks in McCandless town as he announces his candidacy for Pennsylvania’s open US senate seat (AP)

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.

Mr Parnell is a decorated army veteran and has served in Afghanistan in the past. He was endorsed by former president Donald Trump for his election campaign earlier in September and is eyeing an open, highly contested senate seat in Pennsylvania which will go to polls in 2022.

Ms Snell said that “he [Mr Parnell] tried to choke me out on a couch and I literally had to bite him.”

“He was strangling me,” she said.

She alleged that her husband slapped one of their children hard enough to leave fingerprint-shaped welts through the back of the minor’s T-shirt and that the Republican candidate was verbally abusive and called her “w***e” and “piece of s**t” while pinning her down.

She testified that after a Thanksgiving trip in 2008, he forced her out of a vehicle and left her on the highway during an argument when he told her to “go get an abortion”.

He also punched a closet door with such force that it swung into one of their children’s faces and left a bruise, she said in her testimony, adding that Mr Parnell told his child that it was his fault.

The Parnells have been living apart for three years and have split custody of their children equally. She added that Mr Parnell was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder along with a “traumatic brain injury”.

Following the allegations, Mr Parnell disputed his wife’s claims in a statement released by his campaign.

“Let me emphatically state: I have never raised a hand in anger towards my wife or any of our three children... Next week, I’ll have an opportunity to present the truth to the court and I look forward to that opportunity,” it said.

The candidate reportedly became friends with the former president’s son Donald Trump Jr and landed a speaking slot at the 2020 Republican national convention.

He wrote a memoir of his time in Afghanistan, which went on to become a bestseller in the US. Mr Parnell has also written four action novels and has been a regular guest on Fox News programmes.

Ms Snell had reportedly earlier sought two protection-from-abuse orders – similar to restraining orders – against him.