By David Lohr
October 25, 2007
CENTERVILLE, Ind. (Crime Library) — In September, two sisters were found dead in their family home fewer than six days apart. One death was labeled a homicide, and the other was initially listed as "suspicious." Earlier this month, police arrested 19-year-old Erin Stanley's boyfriend, James McFarland, Jr., 23, in connection with her death. Yesterday, the case took an unexpected twist when the county coroner ruled natural causes in the death of Erin's sister, 18-year-old Kelly Stanley.
In a written statement released yesterday by Coroner Kevin Fouche, he stated that two sets of toxicology tests were conducted on Kelly, and results in both were negative. Additional tests purportedly showed no suspicious cause of death. According to Fouche, his findings suggested that Kelly died of a seizure. He added, "psychogenic (non-epileptic) seizures may be stress induced."
"We investigated her (medical) history," Fouche said. "But I cannot release what we found."
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| Kelly Stanley |
The coroner's ruling surprised many residents of Centerville. Several of Kelly's friends have expressed their own shock on Kelly's MySpace profile. Yesterday, a friend of Kelly's, identified only by her MySpace screen name "Ashley," posted the following comment to her web page:
"Kelly, I guess only you will ever know that truth as to what happened to you... I know you are probably angry like everyone else, but I also know that you aren't a selfish person, and seeing him put away for Erin's murder will give you some closure. I can't help but ask, was he in your room that night? I think so, but I'm not a medical examiner. We love you, Kelly. My only hope is now that the case is closed, he will slip up and brag or eventually confess, even though he doesn't have a heart, or, in my opinion, a soul..."
While the coroner did not make it entirely clear whether Kelly died as a result of PNES (psychogenic non-epileptic seizures), it is interesting to note that such seizures are a manifestation of psychological distress.
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