A 41-year-old Pennsylvania mother will spend the rest of her life in prison after killing her two small children five years ago by hanging them from a beam in their basement with a dog leash.
Lisa Snyder, of Kempton, Pennsylvania, was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences in a state jail prison on Thursday by Berks County Court of Common Pleas Judge M. Theresa Johnson for the horrible deaths of 8-year-old Connor and 4-year-old Brinley, according to authorities.
Snyder was found guilty of two counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of her children after a seven-day bench trial in September. She was also convicted of child endangerment and tampering with physical evidence. She was sentenced to an extra 8 1/2 to 17 years for the lesser crimes.
Snyder was accused of purposefully killing both of her children and attempting to fabricate the scene as if her son had murdered his smaller sister before killing himself.
Snyder, as previously reported by Law&Crime, contacted 911 to her Albany Township house on September 23, 2019, concerning her two children. When paramedics arrived at the scene, they discovered Connor and Brinley dangling from a beam above two flipped-over chairs.
Paramedics on the site reportedly stated that Snyder appeared “very anxious” and “very nervous” at the time. The children were evacuated to the hospital and given life support, but they died three days later.
Snyder went on to allege that Connor informed her he intended to commit suicide because he had been bullied and that he had previously communicated to her his fear of dying alone. However, many witnesses informed officials that the youngster was always joyful and would never injure himself or his younger sister.
A week after the children died, Snyder told a friend that she wanted “two strong drinks.” Snyder acknowledged to a companion while they were drinking that her arrest was almost certainly inevitable. The buddy further stated that Snyder admitted to making internet searches regarding suicide while using her son’s Google identity.
According to investigators, one of those searches focused on hanging methods, and the suspect ordered the dog leash used to hang the children the day before their deaths. Snyder also looked up suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning and watched episodes of the true crime series “I Almost Got Away With It.”
Last year, a court refused to accept a plea agreement that would have allowed Snyder to plead no contest but mentally ill to charges of third-degree murder.
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