The murder of Harold “Hal” Sasko will be the feature story on the latest episode of Snapped , a popular crime documentary that airs weekly on the Oxygen Network. Each week, Snapped delivers a new case of murder that was committed by a woman who just snapped. This week’s gripping story will be about Sarah McLinn, the woman with multiple personalities who slashed her former boss’ throat and then vanished after the killing. According to Oxygen’s Snapped , the following people will help tell the story.
- Carl Cornwell — Sarah’s attorney
- Steve Fry — Journalist for The Topeka Capital-Journal
- David Melton — Chief assistant district attorney
- Sarah Plake — Reporter for KSHB-TV
- Ariana Alexa — Reporter for WIBW-TV
- M.T. Brown — Lawrence police detective
Trial of Sarah McLinn for the murder of Harold Sasko is underway follow tweets from the court. http://t.co/z2G3tmfg8E pic.twitter.com/EhCzH5b9il
— WIBW (@wibw) March 19, 2015
The episode trailer for Snapped shows that Sarah Mclinn was a typical 19-year-old teen. People who knew her say that she was an outgoing person with a nice personality. But police say one of her personalities wasn’t so nice. The person inside of her known as Alyssa was one of the many people who existed inside Sarah, according to a doctor who stated that she suffered from Multiple Personality Disorder. And it was Alyssa who killed Hal Sasko.
Sarah Mclinn was Sasko’s live-in-roommate, boss, and some speculate, lover. His dead body was discovered after police arrived at the home in Lawrence, Kansas, to do a welfare check on Sarah.
Sarah Mclinn’s father had grown worried when he failed to contact her by phone. But instead of finding Sarah, Lawrence police detectives found the dead body of Harold “Hal” Sasko, a 52-year-old CiCi’s Pizza owner in the area.
When they arrived at the home, police noticed that the door was locked. But after peering through a back window, the victim’s feet were visible. Once they made entry, investigators found Hal on the floor lying in a pool of blood. His feet and hands had been bound behind him. And even more shocking, his neck was sliced almost in half.
The nearly-decapitated man had died an agonizing death. What was more, his roommate, Sarah, was missing. To solve the case, police needed to find out what kind of relationship Sarah Mclinn had with Hal Sasko.
Detectives learned that Hal was like a father figure and mentor for Sarah. The restaurant owner enjoyed helping people, which prompted him to allow Sarah to live in his home after she began having problems with her own family. Sarah Mclinn was also one of Hal Sasko’s employees at one of his restaurants. What Hal didn’t know was that Sarah had secrets and her problems were much more than he would have been able to handle.
The community was shocked to hear of the tragic circumstances surrounding Hal Sasko’s death. Before the murder, Lawrence was not the kind of town that was used to such violent murders.
MORE: Jury finds Sarah McLinn guilty of 1st degree murder in death of Harold ‘Hal’ Sasko: http://t.co/RbjeJSOWKk pic.twitter.com/nY0MdAmh49
— KSHB 41 News (@KSHB41) March 20, 2015
Sarah Brook Gonzales Mclinn eventually confessed to investigators that she drugged Hal Sasko before killing him. Her confession was captured on video, according to LJ World.
“In the video, McLinn was seen speaking with Brown and detective Jaime Lawson. She spoke nonchalantly and without tears, telling the investigator that she knew why he was there and admitting to drugging Sasko with five sleeping pills, zip-tying his wrists and ankles, feeling for his artery and plunging the knife into his neck. She had Brown lay his head on the table, placed her left hand on Brown’s head, which was facing her, and gave a stabbing motion with her right hand. McLinn then described writing on the wall in Sasko’s blood, showering off his blood, packing her clothes in trash bags and putting her dog in Sasko’s Nissan Altima.”
For her crimes, Sarah Mclinn was sentenced to 50 years to life. To learn more facts in the case, watch Snapped this Sunday, January 21, at 6/5 p.m. Central on Oxygen. If you get time, take a look at another case that involved mental illness. It was the case of Donna Scrivo, which aired on Snapped last week.
[Featured Image by John Milburn/ AP Images]