Heather Brennan thought her fiancé, Travis Nickel, was a perfect match until she learned he fed her rats,was engaged to another woman and had a child from a prior relationship, she alleges in a federal lawsuit.
Her 10-month love affair with Nickel, a member of the U.S. Coast Guard, ended after he left her in July, two weeks before their wedding, she said. Broken-hearted and broke, the jilted bride is seeking $125,000 to recoup cancelled wedding costs and other debts, as well as compensation for the humiliation and mental anguish she endured.
The lawsuit, which Brennan prepared and filed herself in federal court in Scranton, accuses Nickel of a host of other misdeeds, including giving her the engagement ring that belonged to a different woman.
Contacted by phone in Kentucky, where he now lives, Nickel, 26, denied most of Brennans allegations. He claims Brennan broke off their relationship after she learned he had a 6-year-old son who was previously unknown to him. He said the suit is simply a means to harass him.
Brennan, 21, of George Avenue, insists she has evidence to support her claims including the admittedly bizarre allegation that Nickel began mixing boiled, blended-up rats into her food some time after she moved to Arkansas with him in November 2004.
In an interview Tuesday, Brennan conceded the allegation is strange. But she said doctors have told her eating rats can cause an illness similar to salmonella poisoning. Blood tests show irregularities that support her contentions she was fed the rodent
Her 10-month love affair with Nickel, a member of the U.S. Coast Guard, ended after he left her in July, two weeks before their wedding, she said. Broken-hearted and broke, the jilted bride is seeking $125,000 to recoup cancelled wedding costs and other debts, as well as compensation for the humiliation and mental anguish she endured.
The lawsuit, which Brennan prepared and filed herself in federal court in Scranton, accuses Nickel of a host of other misdeeds, including giving her the engagement ring that belonged to a different woman.
Contacted by phone in Kentucky, where he now lives, Nickel, 26, denied most of Brennans allegations. He claims Brennan broke off their relationship after she learned he had a 6-year-old son who was previously unknown to him. He said the suit is simply a means to harass him.
Brennan, 21, of George Avenue, insists she has evidence to support her claims including the admittedly bizarre allegation that Nickel began mixing boiled, blended-up rats into her food some time after she moved to Arkansas with him in November 2004.
In an interview Tuesday, Brennan conceded the allegation is strange. But she said doctors have told her eating rats can cause an illness similar to salmonella poisoning. Blood tests show irregularities that support her contentions she was fed the rodent
