Court records detail alleged abuse before Oak Harbor woman’s death

Published 1:30 am Friday, June 5, 2026

Island County prosecutors are seeking to upgrade charges against an Oak Harbor man accused of killing his wife after newly filed court records detailed an alleged history of domestic violence marked by repeated injuries, hospital visits, police contacts and concerns raised by family members and friends before her death in 2024.

Prosecutors allege that Phadell D. Saddler murdered his wife, Chanell Saddler, a 35-year-old mother of two children.

Based on the newly filed information, the Island County Prosecutor’s Office is seeking to amend the charges against Saddler to include first-degree murder with domestic-violence aggravating factors, as well as additional assault charges.

Prosecutors originally charged Saddler with second-degree murder and assault. He has remained in jail since his arrest after a judge set bail at $750,000.

Phadell D. Saddler’s attorney, Jon Ewers of Everett, plans to argue a motion to sever and an opposition to joinder, which means he opposes combining charges into a single case, according to court documents. Defense attorneys often argue that evidence of past crimes is prejudicial, while prosecutors argue that such details show a common scheme or plan.

Jenn Gravel, a former detective with the Oak Harbor Police Department, investigated the case after Chanell Saddler was found dead inside an apartment on Northeast Seventh Avenue in Oak Harbor on Oct. 7, 2024. Police responded to the apartment after receiving a report that a man had called a family member, said his wife was dead and indicated that he was contemplating suicide, according to the police report.

Police officers knocked on her apartment door Monday night and were met by a boy who said his mom wouldn’t wake up. They discovered the body of Chanell Saddler propped up on her bed, according to the police report. A toddler was also in the apartment.

The older boy told officers that his stepfather, Phadell Saddler, lived there but wasn’t home. He said Phadell Saddler and his mother fought often. The boy said he heard banging that night and the sound of his mother “yelping” and a scream.

While police were investigating the scene, Phadell Saddler returned to the apartment parking lot in a car. An officer arrested him at gunpoint, and officers found a shotgun in the trunk of the car.

The autopsy showed that Chanell Saddler had bruises on her abdomen, sides, chest, arms, buttocks, back and neck. Her death was caused by internal bleeding from her spleen, which was freshly torn but also showed signs of old injuries. The spleen injury and “broken and rebroken ribs” were “probably from a kick or possibly a punch or a strike with a weapon or other instrument,” the report states.

Injuries showed signs of sexual assault, Gravel wrote.

Chanell Saddler also had a severely broken and disfigured arm, but the injury was found to be a break that occurred before the fatal injuries because it had already begun to heal. X-rays also showed old fractures to her collarbone and both arms. She also had evidence of internal injuries from both recent and previous assaults, including adhesions to her colon and diaphragm.

Gravel’s report states that the Oak Harbor Police Department responded four times to reported domestic violence incidents at that address involving Chanell and Phadell Saddler, but no arrests were made. On Aug. 27, 2024, for example, a neighbor reported the sounds of a man and woman screaming. Phadell Saddler answered the door and stated he had been in the shower, and the children stated they were watching a movie, the report states.

“I watched the body-worn camera video from the officers who responded to this last incident, and observed the children weren’t watching the television and instead kept looking back to the back of the apartment as if looking at someone while Phadell was at the door,” Gravel wrote.

The report doesn’t indicate that officers spoke to Chanell Saddler.

Investigators obtained medical records that showed Chanell Saddler had been treated for injuries before her death at a WhidbeyHealth clinic, Island Hospital in Anacortes and by ambulance crews; she also scheduled medical appointments at Peace Health in Sedro Woolley.

“I know from training and experience that individuals suffering abuse will often go to different hospitals to avoid any one medical provider from seeing a pattern that indicates abuse,” Gravel wrote.

She was treated for a broken arm, abdominal pain and a hematoma on her ear. The detective spoke with a doctor who treated her arm, which showed signs of being rebroken from a previous injury; he said her explanation that she tripped over a dog didn’t match the radiographs.

In July 2024, she was transported by ambulance after complaining of arm and leg pain, as well as a scalp contusion. She said she had been drinking the night before and didn’t remember how she got injured. She told the ambulance crew that the bruises on her body were from aggressive clients, as she worked as a home health care aide. It turned out, however, that she was no longer employed at the time, the report states.

Earlier that month, Chanell Saddler went to a walk-in clinic for ear pain, which she said was from being hit with a baseball. The next day, she called an ambulance and was transported to Island Hospital for an ear injury.

As part of her investigation, Gravel interviewed numerous witnesses who reported seeing injuries on Chanell Saddler and her son, witnessing or hearing alleged assaults, or hearing Chanell Saddler recount abuse.

A friend who used to live near the Saddlers reported that Chanell Saddler would come to her house and “beg” for food or diapers because her husband controlled the money. She said she would see bruises on Chanell.

The woman said Chanell Saddler showed up with “side-to-side” knife marks on her throat and said Phadell Saddler had cut her throat with a knife, Gravel wrote. Chanell Saddler told her more than once that Phadell Saddler threatened to kill her and that he broke her arm by slamming it in a door, the report states.

Gravel interviewed a middle school student who was friends with Chanell Saddler’s son. He said he witnessed Phadell Saddler pin Chanell Saddler against a wall and hit her, the report states. He also said that his friend would come to school with bruises that he said were caused by his stepfather, Phadell Saddler, punching him, Gravel wrote.

Other friends and co-workers of Chanell Saddler reported being concerned about her welfare after seeing bruises on her body. She allegedly told one woman who asked about the injuries that Phadell Saddler suffered from PTSD.

The prosecutor’s proposed amended information charges Phadell Saddler with murder in the first degree, murder in the second degree, two counts of assault in the second degree and two counts of assault in the fourth degree.

All of the proposed charges would be filed as domestic violence crimes and include six aggravating factors that could support a sentence above the standard range. Specifically, prosecutors allege Phadell Saddler committed the crimes with deliberate cruelty; as part of an ongoing pattern of psychological, physical and severe abuse of the victim over a prolonged period; within sight and sound of a child; and with egregious lack of remorse. Prosecutors also allege the offenses involved intimidation and had a destructive and foreseeable impact on persons other than the victim.

If convicted of murder in the first degree and the assault charges, Phadell Saddler could face up to 34 years in prison under the standard sentencing range, with aggravating factors potentially increasing the sentence.