A Missouri doctor died unexpectedly at her fiancé's residence earlier this month -- marking the second time in just over three years that a woman was found dead at the same man's home. Dr. Sarah Sweeney, 39, was found dead at 6:39 a.m. on January 13 at the home of local fire chief Robert Daus in the Westwood area of St. Louis, as reported by First Alert 4.
Daus is now facing a wrongful death lawsuit from the family of his last fiancée, who died at his former home. Frontenac Police are investigating but said there were no apparent signs of a struggle and classified it as a sudden death.
Mysterious Deaths
The Frontenac Police Department informed Fox News Digital that there were "no apparent signs of trauma" on the body. Although autopsy results are pending, the investigation into Sweeney's death is being treated as a sudden death, as stated by Cpl. Tim Duda.
Sweeney, who had recently opened her own podiatry practice, and her fiancé Daus first met when she was working an emergency room shift shortly after relocating to the St. Louis area, her grieving mother said.
Daus is listed as the 911 caller in the incident report obtained by Fox News Digital.
In a previous incident almost four years ago, in July 2020, he made a 911 call from his former residence in Creve Coeur, reporting that his then-fiancée, Grace Holland, allegedly shot herself in the head in his presence, as reported by Fox.
Holland, a mother of four, was later determined to have died by suicide.
However, Holland's family has claimed that Daus either killed her or that she "took her life after years of being subjected to physical and mental abuse" by him.
Her family believes the investigation was compromised due to Daus' status with the fire department and connections to local law enforcement.
Investigation Ongoing
In crime scene photos, Holland's $20,000 engagement ring was visible, but it later went missing, as reported by Fox News Digital. Following Holland's death, her family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Daus.
According to the filing obtained by Fox News Digital, in the months leading up to Holland's death, Daus allegedly had control over her finances and had threatened to end the relationship multiple times. The family also harbored suspicions of domestic violence involving him.
"My brothers in blue are not going to do anything to me. I've already taken care of that. You're the crazy girlfriend," a relative allegedly overheard Daus telling Holland at one point.
Text messages obtained as part of the lawsuit revealed the couple's frequent arguments, with one instance where Daus wrote, "I absolutely cannot b w [sic] you. I'm not marrying you." The wrongful death litigation is currently ongoing.
After Sweeney's death on Saturday, an attorney for Holland's family said: "We are saddened to learn of another death, especially of such a young person.
"We hope that the Frontenac Police do what the Creve Coeur Police and the County Medical Examiner didn't do in the past and fully investigate this tragedy."
Sweeney's mother, Teresa Sweeney Light, said: "We just wish we could have her back. We just want closure, we want it to be truthful and fair, and as of right now, we're still in shock."
Upon learning about Holland's death, Sweeney's family shared the news stories with her, the late doctor's mother told Fox News Digital. By November 2021, Sweeney stopped responding to messages from her mother and stepfather.
"She was a grown adult, a doctor and a woman. We didn't know what to do," Light said.
Light refrained from speculating on her daughter's cause of death but mentioned that the physician had mast cell activation syndrome, a condition that can be life-threatening but is typically managed with medication.
Sweeney also coped with a bone disorder, as reported by First Alert 4, citing court records from November 2022 in which the doctor asserted that she had been harassed by her former employer. The records mentioned that the West Virginia native had been hospitalized and intubated the previous year.
