John Jefferson
Left: Commissioner Paul Schnell (KMSP). Right: Julie Myhre-Schnell (Ramsey County Jail).
The estranged wife of Minnesota’s prison commissioner stands accused of trying to murder their wheelchair-bound son by dumping crushed-up anti-anxiety pills into a feeding bag at his group home in December, several months before texting a claimed confession to the victim and allegedly making remarkable admissions about her intent to law enforcement.
Julie Louise Myhre-Schnell, a 64-year-old from St. Paul who is reportedly locked in divorce proceedings with Minnesota Department of Corrections Commissioner Paul Schnell, on Dec. 3, 2023 is accused of visiting her 33-year-old son, for whom the Schnells reportedly served as foster parents starting when he was three months old.
The victim was not named in the complaint obtained by Law&Crime, but he was described as “vulnerable.” The Star Tribune detailed that he is wheelchair-bound with spina bifida, needs a ventilator, and needs care 24 hours a day.
He was receiving that care at a group home in Vadnais Heights, within Ramsey County, when Myhre-Schnell last year allegedly tried to murder him by Lorazepam overdose “hoping he would go to sleep forever,” according to the complaint. Documents said that the victim told investigators that “he liked his residence and had everything he needed” and “talked about his friends and what he enjoys doing in his spare time, including volunteering weekly at the zoo.”
The Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office alleges that Myhre-Schnell not only “admitted to multiple people,” including the victim, that she crushed up her Lorezepam pills and tried to kill her son, but also admitted even more to investigators when questioned in June.
“On June 15, 2024, Investigator Hughes spoke to Defendant about her confessions. During this Mirandized statement, Defendant admitted she did in fact attempt to kill Victim in December 2023. Defendant stated she refilled her Lorazepam prescription at the beginning of the month and received 31 pills,” the complaint said. “Investigator Hughes was able to confirm that Defendant had visited Victim at his group home on December 3, 2023.”
“Defendant admitted that she crushed up the remaining Lorazepam pills and put them into a ‘slurry’ of water in a container to bring to the facility. Defendant brought the ‘slurry’ in its container, carrying it in her pocket, until she emptied the container into Victim’s feeding bag that night prior to leaving,” the complaint continued.
According to investigators, Myhre-Schnell said that “the whole time, I knew I was gonna try to do this” and that “all night, I was like, am I really doing this? Am I doing this? Am I doing this? I can’t believe I’m doing this.”
The defendant allegedly recalled thinking “I’m going to go to jail,” worried about a toxicology report implicating her after the victim survived respiratory failure, and allegedly said she “completely regretted he survived.”
“I was worried about them finding out through the toxicology, and I was probably trying to figure out what I’m going to do. I’m just going to go to jail,” Myhre-Schnell allegedly told authorities.
By July, authorities said, evidence also showed that two days prior to the alleged attempted murder, the defendant refilled her Lorazepam prescription. But what investigators say happened in early August, just weeks before Myhre-Schnell’s arrest, is even more shocking.
“On August 6, 2024, Defendant texted Victim, confessing to him that she put her medicine in his feeding bag hoping he would ‘go to sleep forever,”” the complaint said. “Investigator Hughes received copies of these messages. Victim texted Defendant that he was ‘on the fence’ about deleting her number. In response to Investigator Hughes question about how Victim was feeling after learning about what happened, he responded, ‘I made it, I’m still here.’ In describing his reaction to Defendant’s confession, Victim stated ‘it was heavy’ and ‘it’s a lot to process.’”
It’s unclear if Myhre-Schnell has an attorney, but she was booked into the Ramsey County Jail on Wednesday in the attempted first-degree murder case and remains behind bars as of Friday.
Her estranged husband, the prison commissioner appointed by Gov. Tim Walz (D) in 2019, reportedly declined to comment to local NBC affilate KARE about Myhre-Schnell’s arrest, saying it would be “inappropriate” to do so at this time.
Local Fox affiliate KMSP reported that Myhre-Schnell was experiencing mental health issues in the months before the alleged crime.
Read the complaint here.
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