John Jefferson
Inset: Lisa Snyder (Berks County DA’s Office). Background: Authorities at the home where Snyder hanged her two young children (WGAL).
A 41-year-old woman in Pennsylvania will spend the rest of her life behind bars for killing her two young children, using a dog leash to hang the kids from a beam in their basement five years ago.
Berks County Court of Common Pleas Judge M. Theresa Johnson on Thursday ordered Lisa Snyder, of Kempton, Pennsylvania, to serve two consecutive sentences of life in a state correctional facility for the horrific slayings of 8-year-old Connor and 4-year-old Brinley, authorities announced.
Following a seven-day bench trial in September, Snyder was convicted on two counts of first-degree murder in her kids’ deaths. She was also convicted on charges of endangering the welfare of a child and tampering with physical evidence. She was sentenced to an additional 8 1/2 years to 17 years on the lesser charges.
Authorities said that Snyder intentionally killed both of her children and attempted to stage the scene as though her son had killed his younger sister and then took his own life.
As Law&Crime previously reported, Snyder on Sept. 23, 2019, called 911 to her Albany Township home regarding her two kids. Upon arriving at the scene, paramedics found Connor and Brinley hanging from a beam above two flipped-over chairs.
Paramedics at the scene later testified that Snyder appeared “very anxious” and “very nervous” at the scene. The children were airlifted to a hospital and placed on life support but died three days after they were found.
Snyder went on to claim that Connor told her he wanted to die by suicide because he was the victim of bullying and that he had previously expressed to her that he was afraid of dying alone. However, multiple witnesses told authorities that the boy always seemed happy and would never have done anything to harm himself or his little sister.
A week after the children’s deaths, Snyder texted a friend that she needed “two strong drinks.” The friend testified that while they were drinking, Snyder admitted that her arrest was likely inevitable. The friend further claimed that Snyder admitted to performing internet searches about suicide while using her son’s Google profile.
Investigators said that one of those searches was about hanging methods and that the suspect ordered the dog leash used to hang the children one day before their deaths. Snyder also performed searches about suicide via carbon monoxide poisoning and watched episodes of the true crime series “I Almost Got Away With It.”
A judge last year refused to accept a plea deal that would have allowed Snyder to plead no contest but mentally ill to charges of third-degree murder.
Alberto Luperon contributed to this report
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