BERKS COUNTY, Pa. (TCN) — A 41-year-old woman faces a mandatory life sentence without parole after killing her two children, ages 8 and 4, who were found hanging from the basement several years ago.
The Berks County District Attorney’s Office announced Sept. 26 that a judge found Lisa Snyder guilty following a seven-day bench trial on two counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of her kids, Conner and Brinley. Snyder is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 17.
In a 2019 press conference posted by WFMZ-TV, Berks County District Attorney John Adams said that on Sept. 23, 2019, Snyder called 911 after finding her children hanging and unresponsive. Responders arrived and found wire wrapped around the victims’ necks, and two chairs had reportedly been knocked down on their sides. The children were pronounced deceased three days later.
Adams called it a “horrific, tragic incident” and said it was an “emotional investigation.”
According to the district attorney, investigators searched the home and learned Snyder ordered the wire on Sept. 22, 2019, and she picked it up the following morning. Pennsylvania State Police interviewed Snyder, who purportedly said her son was bullied and “wanted to die.” The mother allegedly claimed her son was scared to go to the basement alone, so he brought his sister.
Snyder also claimed her son told her he “hated school.” However, surveillance video from the boy’s school bus did not show any evident signs of distress. The district attorney said Conner “appeared to be a happy child.”
Another individual who lived in the house reportedly said the boy never mentioned being bullied in school, and other witnesses also said Conner never complained about similar issues. Additionally, the district attorney said an occupational therapist determined Conner was not physically capable of killing himself or hurting his sister in that manner.
According to Adams, Snyder told investigators her children often played in the basement, but the other individual who lived in the residence said the kids “hardly ever played in the basement.”
During a digital search, authorities saw that Snyder looked up various topics such as carbon monoxide, hanging yourself, and effective ways of hanging a person. Per The Associated Press, Snyder also searched episodes of documentary crime series “I Almost Got Away with It.”
A coroner determined the victims died by hanging, and their deaths were ruled homicides.
According to Adams, as for motive, Snyder had allegedly “expressed to a friend that she had enough.”
During the investigation, authorities also recovered digital evidence that reportedly revealed “photos and conversations regarding sexually explicit messages about the dog performing sexual acts on the defendant.”