A Pennsylvania mother who allegedly hanged her two children with a dog leash in 2019 sobbed her way through her trial as her surviving adult son disavowed her.
Lisa Snyder, 41, began her trial last week, facing first- and third-degree murder charges in the death of her two young children, Connor, 8, and Brinley, 4.
The boy and girl were both found hanged by the same dog leash in the basement of her Albany Township home in September 2019. They were taken to the hospital, but died three days later after being taken off life support.
Her surviving son, Owen Snyder, testified against his mother on Tuesday.
“I just don’t see her as my mother anymore,” Owen Snyder, 22, said while Lisa Snyder sobbed from her seat, as reported by the Mainline Times & Suburban.
Lisa Snyder previously claimed her innocence, pinning the blame on Connor and claiming that his depression drove him to kill himself and Brinley. Owen Snyder unequivocally denied the claims at the trial, adding that Connor’s short stature would’ve made it difficult for him to hang anyone.
“He was a happy-go-lucky kid,” Owen Snyder said.
“He always wanted to be doing something. He was always playing with his little sister.”
The trial also parsed through Lisa Snyder’s phone records, which included Google searches for “how to hang yourself” and recent watch history for the show “Almost Got Away With It” just days before her children were hung.
Prosecutors are advocating for Lisa Snyder to face the death penalty. Even so, she will face a minimum of life in prison if convicted on the first-degree murder charges.
No one has been executed in Pennsylvania since 1999, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
The wooden kitchen chairs used for the hanging were also brought before the judge who will decide her fate since the case has no jury.
All the while, Lisa Snyder remained emotionless, only shedding tears when Owen Snyder spoke out against her.
Her defense attested that she did not hang her children, but even if she had, they claimed, she was clinically insane and should be sent to a psychiatric hospital rather than prison.
Authorities said that Lisa Snyder had bought a dog leash the same day her children were found hanged in her basement, authorities said.
She made the initial 911 call reporting her son’s suicide, but police were immediately suspicious and found no evidence to support her claim.
