Mom Lisa Snyder Arrested For Murder Of Son, 8, And Daughter, 4, Found Hanged In Basement
Dec. 3 2019, Published 10:37 p.m. ET
Lisa Snyder was arrested for the first-degree murder of her two young children who were found hanging in the basement of the family home.
Snyder, 36, claimed her son Connor, 8, was suicidal when she called 9-1-1 to report that she found him and his younger sister, Brinley, 4, hanging from a dog lead in September.
She told the operator the little boy wanted to end his life because of bullying at school and that he "didn't want to go alone.”
Months later the mother has been arrested and charged with first-degree murder, third-degree murder, tampering with evidence and endangering the welfare of children.
She was also charged with animal cruelty and sexual intercourse with a dog. The District Attorney said photographs of Snyder and a dog were discovered by police during their homicide investigation after her children’s death.
“This was a horrific, tragic incident,” Berks County District Attorney John Adams said during a press conference on December 2.
"Eight-year-olds, generally, that I am aware of, do not commit suicide so of course, we had questions almost immediately,” he said about the suspicious incident.
Adams said that when officers arrived at Snyder’s home, she did not accompany them to the basement where the children were hanging.
“I would agree that we all may think that a mother of children who are found hanging would make every effort possible to save them,” he said about the incredulous behavior. “That was not done in this situation.”
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Snyder told police that when she found the children in the basement she was unable to help because her "anxiety spikes," The Morning Call reported. The children had been tied to the dog lead and the family's dining room chairs were on the ground underneath them, as if they had been kicked away by the children.
Authorities said the children were hanging from a dog lead that she had purchased the day before from a local store and had picked up the morning they died. The family dog is a 50 pound black and white bulldog that authorities located during the investigation after Snyder told them she had given the pet away.
Adams said that Connor and Brinley were rushed to the Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest on September 23 but died were taken off life support three days later.
Court documents in the case reportedly revealed that Snyder searched “hanging yourself” on Google the day before the children were found hanging in the basement. She also searched “how long to die” from carbon monoxide and searched “almost got away with it,” in reference to a television show about true crime.
Adams said during the press conference that several people close to the family denied Connor had been bullied and investigators spoke with school faculty who also denied the claims made by his mother.
The District Attorney said they had not decided whether to pursue the death penalty against Snyder for the murder of her two children.
Snyder is being held without bail in the Berks County Jail.