READING, Pa. — Three years ago, two young children were found hanging in the basement of their Pennsylvania home. Their mother was found guilty of murder and given two life sentences without the chance of release.
Four-year-old Brinley and eight-year-old Conner were found dead in their home in Albany Township, Pennsylvania, in September 2019. Lisa Snyder, 41, was found guilty last month of two counts of first-degree murder. The children were taken off life support and died three days after they were found.
Snyder didn’t say anything at Thursday’s meeting in Berks County; the Reading Eagle reported that he only spoke to say he didn’t want to speak in court. President Judge Theresa Johnson gave the defendant an extra 8 1/2 to 17 years in prison for child endangerment and tampering with evidence. She said it was the most violent murder she had ever seen and that the defendant had never shown any regret.
Owen Snyder, 22, the older brother of the teens who were killed and was 17 at the time, called the defendant a “monster” and said he no longer thought of her as his mother. They would have been great aunts and uncles to his new son, but they would never get the chance to be. He will never see the people they would have become.
He said, “I would go back in time just to hear their voices.”
Snyder told police that her son was being picked on and that she had threatened to kill him, but the police said they couldn’t find any proof to back up her claim. A school bus security film from that day showed no signs of trouble with the boy. After the fact, an occupational worker said the kid wasn’t physically able to hurt himself or his little sister in that way.
Police also said that the defendant looked up information about suicide, hanging death, and how to kill someone online. They also said that the defendant watched parts of the documentary crime show “I Almost Got Away With It.” The doctor said that both children were killed by hanging and that they were killed.
The defense tried to get the defendant found not guilty but failed, saying that the case was based on theory and “guesswork.” Snyder wanted to plead not guilty but mentally sick to third-degree murder, but the judge said no to the deal.
