A mother on trial for the alleged hanging of her two children with dog leads was left in tears as her eldest son gave damning testimony against her. Lisa Snyder, 41, stands accused of murdering her eight-year-old son Connor and four-year-old daughter Brinley in their Pennsylvania home’s basement in 2019.
The siblings tragically passed away after being removed from life support three days later. Snyder had defended herself by suggesting that Connor was suicidal due to bullying at school.
Yet, investigators uncovered Snyder’s internet searches on topics such as suicide methods, hanging deaths, ways to kill, and even looked up episodes of the crime series “I Almost Got Away With It”.
Officials quickly doubted her story of suicide, citing a lack of corroborative evidence. Footage from the school bus security camera showed no signs of distress, and an occupational therapist testified that Connor could not have physically harmed himself or his sister.
The coroner concluded that the cause of death for both children was hanging and ruled the cases homicides, according to Mirror US.
During the court proceedings on Tuesday, Lisa Snyder’s 22-year-old son Owen delivered a heart-wrenching statement, leading to Snyder’s emotional breakdown. Owen declared, “I just don’t see her as my mother anymore,” when questioned about his use of ‘Lisa’ instead of ‘mum’.
Owen also suggested that Connor had physical limitations that would have made it challenging to arrange the hangings. Initially, Snyder was also accused of engaging in sexual activity with her pit bull just before the killings, based on evidence found in her Facebook account.
However, a judge decided that these allegations would not be included in the murder trial after the defence team argued that they would prejudice the jury.