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She promised it wouldn’t happen again, but it did again and again. The abuse worsened over the next two years. David controlled her money, monitored her phone calls, and isolated her from her friends. Sara was trapped, too ashamed to tell anyone what was happening behind closed doors. On September 15, 2017, David was found dead in his home office with three gunshot wounds to the chest. Sara discovered his body when she returned from a client meeting.
She called the police, but the police immediately suspected her. The evidence was overwhelming. Sara’s fingerprints were on the murder weapon. Gunpowder residue was found on her hands. Neighbors testified that they heard them constantly arguing. Her lawyer tried to argue that it was self-defense, but the prosecution painted her as a cold-blooded killer who had planned her husband’s murder. The jury deliberated only four hours before convicting her of first-degree murder.
The judge sentenced her to death. Now, 18 months later, Sara sat in her cell awaiting death for a crime she swore she hadn’t committed. The only one who believed her was a dog named Max. It was a cold February morning in 2016 when Sara first saw Max. She was driving home from a difficult court case when she saw something lying on the side of Highway 6. At first, she thought it was just debris, but as she got closer, she realized it was a dog.
Sara stopped and found a young German Shepherd, barely alive and covered in blood. Its left paw was severely injured, and its ribs were visible through its matted fur. Someone had left it to die. “It’s okay, kiddo,” Sara whispered, wrapping it in her coat. “I’m going to help you.” She rushed it to Dr. Marcus Thompson’s veterinary clinic in town. Dr. Thompson was a kind man in his 60s who had been treating animals for over 30 years.
She worked for three hours to save the dog’s life. “He’s lucky you found him,” Dr. Thompson said after the operation. Another hour and he would have died. “Do you know who his owner is?” Sara shook her head. “I found him abandoned on the highway. He wasn’t wearing a collar or tags. Can you check if he has a microchip?” The scanner didn’t detect anything. The dog had no ID and no one to claim him. Sara looked at the sleeping animal and made a decision that would change everything.
“I’ll take him home,” he said. “He needs someone to take care of him.” Sara named him Max, and from that day on, they were inseparable. Max recovered slowly but completely. He followed Sara around the house and seemed to sense when David was in a bad mood. During the worst fights, Max would stand between Sara and her husband and growl softly. David hated the dog. “That mutt is a mess,” he would yell. “He’s nothing but trouble.” But Sara refused.
Max was her only solace in a marriage that had become a nightmare. When David hit her, Max licked her tears away. When she cried alone in her room, Max rested his head in her lap. After Sara’s arrest, her sister Rebeca took Max in. Every week Rebeca took him to the prison to visit her. The dog pressed his muzzle against the glass partition and whined softly, as if he understood that Sara was trapped and couldn’t go home.
Those visits kept Sara sane during the darkest months of her incarceration. Max never stopped believing in her innocence, even when everyone had turned against her. Warden Crawford returned to his office with Sara’s words still fresh in his mind. In 28 years of working at the prison, he had never received such a request. Animals were strictly prohibited in maximum security areas, especially on execution day.
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