Loved ones reveal new information in death of woman found badly decomposed in Iona University housing
According to Sackett’s family, her body was discovered badly decomposed in her bedroom days after her death on Nov. 4 inside her Iona-owned residence on President Street in New Rochelle.
Karen Sackett appeared to have it all, but behind closed doors, loved ones are exclusively revealing to News 12 that the woman, who was found deceased in Iona University housing this month, was allegedly in an abusive relationship and living in fear.
According to Sackett’s family, her body was discovered badly decomposed in her bedroom days after her death on Nov. 4 inside her Iona-owned residence on President Street in New Rochelle. They say she lived there for seven years with her boyfriend, who worked for the school.
“They were having problems and she wanted to get away from him,” says Karen’s brother Chris Sackett.
Her family believes the circumstances surrounding her death are suspicious and provided photos that appear to show Karen with a bruised hand, fingers and chunks of hair ripped out, but New Rochelle police tell News 12 that the evidence recovered at the scene appears to show Sackett died of natural causes and that they’re waiting on toxicology tests to confirm.
“The lack of urgency or anything just blew me away. The detective was like, ‘I think it was a medical issue.’ That’s not for him to determine. The medical examiner told me she found no physical reason that she should be dead," says Sackett.
Sackett was being evicted by Iona and her family says they are worried about how the university and police are handling the investigation.
They claim the college’s eviction attorney David Rifas, who signed legal papers to Sackett in October, showed a lack of concern when a relative notified him of her death by text and replied, “Great, then we’re done. Have a nice day.”
News 12 called a phone number obtained for Rifas, but a person who answered hung up when asked for comment.
Family members tell News 12 the medical examiner believes Sackett, who worked as a dental hygienist at several facilities in Westchester, died Nov. 1 - on her 47th birthday.
They allege the house was immediately scrubbed clean of any sign of the woman while her ex-boyfriend’s things remained.
“There wasn’t a bar of soap in the bathroom. There was nothing,” says Chris Sackett. “The entire place was scrubbed down. You could smell sanitizer. She had tons of clothes [and I] had to buy her a dress for the funeral.”
Sackett’s family and friends are asking authorities to take a closer look at the case.
News 12 first reported on the woman’s death on Wednesday.
Since then, Sackett’s co-worker, who asked to remain anonymous, sent this email outlining a history of alleged abuse.
“She told me her boyfriend would throw her down the stairs and kick her and pull her hair out. Around Christmas last year she said she was sleeping in her car because she was afraid of him. I begged her to leave him. She said she couldn’t as he has friends that are police, and he would tell them stories about her, and they would arrest her. Karen believed he could control her future. She lived in fear for her own safety and that of her dogs. She told me a story that one night, police came to the house as they were looking for someone that the boyfriend knew was in the basement and was a drug user and dealer. If she was limping she would say she fell walking her dog or she fell in the shower. I hope you find out what happened to her. Really find out. She believed the boyfriend knew the cops all of them and that Iona employed him so they would believe him not her.”
New Rochelle police say they never arrested Sackett and that there’s no record of calls to the home for domestic violence or any other illicit activity.
The family says the couple's two dogs were inside the residence when Sackett's body was discovered, and that one of the animals, who was 17 years old, died while in the temporary care of the Humane Society. They say the other dog is now being cared for by a person related to Sackett's ex-boyfriend.
Sackett’s brother says her ex notified the family that she died and told them she was discovered after he called campus security from out of state for a welfare check.
The family also wants to know why Sackett’s phone records appear to show she received a call several few weeks before she died from the phone of the head of Iona security, who’s a former New Rochelle police captain.
“I don’t understand why they wouldn’t be looking at any of this stuff,” says Chris Sackett.
Iona issued a statement saying Sackett had no ties to the school and offered their condolences to her family. They referred our questions about the case to the police.
News 12 is not naming Sackett's ex-boyfriend since he has not been charged with any wrongdoing. Her family says he claims to remain out-of-state. News 12 left a message at a phone number obtained for him, but has not received a response.
