Warning: the details of this story are disturbing.
A 37-year-old Pennsylvania woman accused of passing off the first-degree murders of her 8-year-old and 4-year-old children as suicide by hanging from a dog a leash had no reaction to chilling witness testimony in court on Wednesday.
In a jarring juxtaposition, Lisa Snyder offered no visible reaction in court to harrowing testimony, while a Pennsylvania Trooper who did not know her children–Conner, 8, and Brinley, 4–“fought back tears” on the stand about the day he helped paramedics carry them out of a basement on stretchers.
The Morning Call reported that Snyder’s attorney Dennis Charles actually asked Trooper Jeffrey Hummel why he was so upset.
“I’m human,” Hummel reportedly answered.
The backstory of the case contains similar details of an alleged lack of remorse and/or response.
One of the paramedics Hummel helped, Eric Bubbenmoyer, described Snyder’s behavior on that day in Sept. 2019 as “very anxious, very nervous.”
“She was not crying,” he said.
The story Snyder allegedly told is that her son Conner had been bullied, killed his sister and took his own life (they were found on Sept. 23 and died three days later after being taken off life support). But witnesses said he was a happy child and couldn’t have done it. A week after their deaths and well before Snyder’s December arrest, the defendant allegedly texted her friend Jessica Senft that she needed “two strong drinks.”
Senft claimed that the ensuing liquid truth serum caused Snyder to admit she thought she would eventually be arrested. Senft also claimed that an admittedly depressed Snyder said she would kill herself–she presumed–when let out on bail. Sneft further claimed that Snyder admitted making internet searches about suicide while using her son’s Google profile.
Authorities allege that one of those searches was about hanging methods and that the suspect ordered the dog leash the day before the crimes.
Snyder faces a number of charges, all of them disturbing. The charges include first-degree murder, third-degree murder, tampering with evidence and endangering the welfare of children. According to the New York Post, Snyder has also been charged with animal cruelty and for allegedly having sexual intercourse with the family dog. Authorities say they found sexually explicit images to support the lattermost charge during their investigation.
Snyder has pleaded not guilty, and her attorney says that cops have no evidence she killed her kids, just “speculation and guesswork.”
Charles maintains that the case is purely circumstantial.
[Image via WGAL screengrab]
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