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Dusty
01-29-2011, 06:13
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/01/28/police-tampa-mom-shot-killed-teen-kids/




Wonder if they'll notice that no hi cap mags were used in this murder?

TAMPA, Fla. – When police responded to a call from a concerned relative and found Julie Schenecker on the back porch of her Tampa home, they said she was covered in blood and made a gut-wrenching admission: She had killed her teenage son and daughter because they were "mouthy."

Police said the military officer's wife, described by her mother as depressed, shot and killed her son on the way to soccer practice, then drove to their upscale home and shot her daughter in the head while the girl studied at her computer.

"I think we will never understand how or why a mother could take the lives of her children," police spokeswoman Laura McElroy said. "That was the only reason she provided to our detectives."

Schenecker was charged with two counts of first-degree murder. Wearing a white jumpsuit, she was led into a county jail on Friday, shaking and being supported by a sheriff's deputy.

Now authorities are trying to understand what triggered the killings.

Schenecker's mother had called police from Texas at about 7:40 a.m. Friday because she was unable to reach the 50-year-old woman, whom she said was depressed and had been complaining about her children.

McElroy said Schenecker left a note detailing her plans to kill her children and then herself, saying "they talked back and were mouthy and that she was going to take care of it." She provided the same motive to police who interviewed her, authorities said.

"During a post-Miranda interview with detectives, the suspect confessed to killing her two children," police said in a statement. "She described the crimes in detail."

Schenecker's husband, Army Col. Parker Schenecker, is stationed at the headquarters of U.S. Central Command at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa. The father had been away for several days, said CentCom spokesman Lt. Col. Michael Lawhorn, describing him as a career Army intelligence officer.

Police said Parker Schenecker was in Qatar and was told of his children's deaths on Friday.

Officers found the body of Schenecker's daughter, Calyx Schenecker, 16, in an upstairs bedroom, McElroy said. The body of her son, Beau Schenecker, 13, was found in a sport utility vehicle in the garage.

An arrest affidavit said Schenecker shot her son twice in the head "for talking back" as she drove him to soccer practice Thursday night. She drove home, went inside and shot her daughter in the back of head while the teen sat at a computer doing homework, then shot her in the face, the affidavit said.

McElroy said investigators believe the teens "never saw it coming." Both were killed with a .38-caliber pistol. Police said the weapon was purchased five days earlier, The Tampa Tribune reported.

The family's home is on a cul-de-sac in a gated country club community in north Tampa.

Charanun Soodjinda, 38, lives across the street. He said the Scheneckers moved in about two years ago and "fit right in." The couple's two children often played in the cul-de-sac with other neighborhood kids, and Julie Schenecker seemed to be at home a lot.

"They seemed like a nice family," Soodjinda said. "I never thought this would happen. How could you do that to your children?"

Seena Jain, who carpooled with the Schenecker children and her own daughter, Sheema, 15, told the St. Petersburg Times that recently Parker Schenecker had picked up his wife's carpooling shift while she recovered from a serious car crash that happened about a month ago. Details of the accident weren't immediately available.

The Times also reported that the Department of Children and Families said it investigated a complaint involving the family about two months ago, but that the tip was determined to be unfounded and the case was closed. Agency spokesman Terry Field told the paper he could not elaborate.

Media outlets described the students as active at school, with Beau playing soccer at Liberty Middle School and Calyx in the pre-International Baccalaureate program at King High School, where she ran cross-country and started a Harry Potter fan club.

Sylvia Carroll, who attended Muscatine High School in Iowa with Julie Schenecker, said she was a popular and athletic student who excelled in basketball in the late 1970s. They reconnected about a year ago on Facebook.

"I'm just in shock," said Carroll, who now lives in Austin, Texas. "I can't believe this."

uplink5
01-29-2011, 06:20
Very sad, prayers to the family....

Pete
01-29-2011, 06:50
People joke about stuff like this during the teenage years - but to kill your own kids?

Sad, real sad.

MtnGoat
01-29-2011, 08:44
Very sad, prayers to the family.

My Prays go out!!

ryno
01-29-2011, 08:58
My kids are mouthy too, but damn! I can only imagine what her husband is going through right now having lost everything all at once. My prayers go out to him.

On a side note, why does the media always have to point out if the firearm was purchased recently?

Dusty
01-29-2011, 09:29
On a side note, why does the media always have to point out if the firearm was purchased recently?


If that question is a serious as opposed to rhetorical one, I'll answer it. It's because the press, for the most part, is comprised of liberals who went into journalism not to report but to bring about Utopia.

Richard
01-29-2011, 09:46
On a side note, why does the media always have to point out if the firearm was purchased recently?

Why not? It's a fact - part of their charter to attempt to answer the who, what, when, where, how, and why of a story.

As far as teens go - PTSD (Punk Teen Stress Disorder) - when I was 17, my brothers were 15 and 14, and my Mom was taking Librium and breathing in a paper bag on a regular basis to deal with our antics. We had a gun cabinet full of rifles and shotguns, and might have been lucky that my Mom, who had found her father after he had taken his life with a shotgun while depressed, was so afraid of guns that she would never touch them. We never doubted our Mom's love for us, but on any given day we were never quite sure just how much she may have disliked our behavior and seriously considered the idea of performing a retroactive abortion.

My sympathy goes out to the family - a sad situation. :(

And so it goes...

Richard :munchin

ryno
01-29-2011, 10:00
If that question is a serious as opposed to rhetorical one, I'll answer it. It's because the press, for the most part, is comprised of liberals who went into journalism not to report but to bring about Utopia.

A reasonable answer, thanks. I just find it irrelevant to the story as a whole. I also find it interesting that if someone stabs or bludgeons their family to death the media is not concerned with how long the perpetrator owned the knife or Louisville slugger used in the act.
Anyway, my question was based on a random observation that unfortunately shifted the focus from the tragedy at hand. I apologize for the distraction and pray that Col. Schenecker has other family and close friends to help him through this difficult time.

Dusty
01-29-2011, 10:06
A reasonable answer, thanks. I just find it irrelevant to the story as a whole. I also find it interesting that if someone stabs or bludgeons their family to death the media is not concerned with how long the perpetrator owned the knife or Louisville slugger used in the act.
Anyway, my question was based on a random observation that unfortunately shifted the focus from the tragedy at hand. I apologize for the distraction and pray that Col. Schenecker has other family and close friends to help him through this difficult time.

Who knows what was in that woman's mind? It is sad, but I doubt it was the availability of the handgun that prompted her to do it; the press, however, would be ecstatic were that conclusion drawn by everybody.

Sohei
01-29-2011, 12:42
That's absolutely horrible. It doesn't get much worse than that. The Colonel lost his entire family that day. My condolences to the Colonel and RIP kids. Prayers out to the rest of their family and friends.

orion5
01-29-2011, 15:34
RIP Calyx and Beau. Prayers to Col Schenecker and family. Unbelievable.

rdret1
01-29-2011, 20:47
Horrible and terrifying incident. Our prayers are with the family.

wet dog
01-29-2011, 22:47
My kids are mouthy too, but damn! I can only imagine what her husband is going through right now having lost everything all at once. My prayers go out to him.

On a side note, why does the media always have to point out if the firearm was purchased recently?

Two seperate issues, however, one sells better than the other.

Prayers out.

mojaveman
01-29-2011, 23:03
A very sad trajedy.

Reminds me of the time back in the day when an O-4 B Team CDR in 3/5 was shot by his wife with a .357 Magnum

wet dog
01-29-2011, 23:15
A very sad trajedy.

Reminds me of the time back in the day when an O-4 B Team CDR in 3/5 was shot by his wife with a .357 Magnum

Was he alseep?

mojaveman
01-29-2011, 23:17
Was he alseep?

Happened during a domestic dispute. Seriously wounded him but didn't kill him.

wet dog
01-29-2011, 23:23
Happened during a domestic dispute. Winged him good but didn't kill him.

Lesson learned,

No 1. Keep gun(s) away form domestic disputes.

No. 2. Have a mediator

No. 3 If the shit is bad, go to the SGM's house, throw a poncho liner on the back porch, offer to cook breakfast or take kids to school, have coffee with said SGM's wife, talk it out.

No. 4 Don't go home. BTDT.

glebo
01-30-2011, 04:46
A very sad trajedy.

Reminds me of the time back in the day when an O-4 B Team CDR in 3/5 was shot by his wife with a .357 Magnum
mm, I remember that, it was Hank Miesner....RIP. I also believe it was Doc Melvin who was called to go assist before the law got involved...IIRC.

Back to the OP,

RIP kids, and sincere condolences to the Col and his remaining family.

I couldn't fathom what he's going through now...

RIP Sir.

AngelsSix
01-30-2011, 16:45
My kids are mouthy too, but damn! I can only imagine what her husband is going through right now having lost everything all at once. My prayers go out to him.

On a side note, why does the media always have to point out if the firearm was purchased recently?

One word: Premeditation. You would be surprised how much weight that carries in a court of law. Kind of makes the "I'm crazy" thing seem like B.S. If I was on the jury, you would have a damn hard time convincing me that the woman did not premeditate if she went out and took the steps to buy a handgun. Period.

Saoirse
01-30-2011, 19:21
I read this article: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/01/30/florida-mom-charged-killing-children-returns-jail-hospital-release/ ... yesterday. In it they pointed out:

Before Friday's arrest, Schenecker had no criminal record in Florida. On Nov. 8, 2010, she was involved in a car crash in Tampa, according to records from the Florida Highway Patrol, and cited for careless driving.

The crash caused bodily injury and $26,500 of property damage, records show, but it does not explain who was injured or what property was damaged. Schenecker paid a $151 fine and attended traffic school, the report said.
That particular part of the article was interesting in that there was another article "connected" to it recalling a case of a man who had also been involved in a car accident and sustained a minor brain injury. Four days after his release from the hospital he murdered his family and then killed himself. (cannot recall names in order to find that article).
I have to wonder if the press isn't presenting a defense here.

This is such a tragedy and my prayers go to the family and friends who will surely miss them. It's always so sad when children lose their lives to such violence.

1stindoor
01-31-2011, 08:51
I've been following the story since it first broke. Truly tragic. It was reported elsewhere that the cops were pretty traumatized by the scene.

Saoirse
01-31-2011, 09:02
I've been following the story since it first broke. Truly tragic. It was reported elsewhere that the cops were pretty traumatized by the scene.

1st...yes, I read where they had to bring in special counsellors for the LEOs because they were just so overwhelmed. When I was a cop, the worst cases for me were always the children....its a wonder I never became an alcoholic over it. It really is hard to wrap your brain around how a mother can hurt her children. Some of the things I have seen....its a wonder I never hid a body out on the ranges at bragg! Though the sentiment was there with many of us!! :mad:

Pete
01-31-2011, 12:05
Dead teen told Tampa police in November that her mother abused her

http://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/crime/article1148694.ece

I'll not really comment on the story other to say - good thing social services never listened in on some of the rows when D1 was 16 & 17. Teenagers know how to push your button and I swear have SS on speed dial

"TAMPA — Julie Schenecker was suspected of abusing her teenage daughter just three months before police say she shot her children to death, according to a report released Monday......................."

Dozer523
01-31-2011, 14:00
I've been following the story since it first broke. Truly tragic. It was reported elsewhere that the cops were pretty traumatized by the scene.Read mom got the daughter in the back of the head and followed up with one in the face. That is some serious hate.

ryno
01-31-2011, 14:17
One word: Premeditation. You would be surprised how much weight that carries in a court of law. Kind of makes the "I'm crazy" thing seem like B.S. If I was on the jury, you would have a damn hard time convincing me that the woman did not premeditate if she went out and took the steps to buy a handgun. Period.

Ahhh....a light bulb went on. An excellent point I hadn't considered. Thank you.

1stindoor
01-31-2011, 14:30
Ahhh....a light bulb went on. An excellent point I hadn't considered. Thank you.

It was also convienant that she did the deed while her husband was deployed.

Sohei
01-31-2011, 14:32
As sad as this entire situation is, it's one of those cases where we may not know the "rest of the story" until it has been completely adjudicated. However, it's possible that it won't take too long before some type of motive is uncovered.

I know that in several of the homicides that I have worked over my career, the most unanswered question of them all is the "why". There are several homicides that are solved without ever having been able to prove the exact "why". Often times, the suspect receives their sentence and does their time without ever providing their reason(s) for their actions. We will have to wait for the "rest of the story".

Pete
05-13-2011, 09:21
Colonel sues wife over teens' violent deaths

http://militarytimes.com/blogs/outside-the-wire/2011/05/10/colonel-sues-wife-over-teens-violent-deaths/

".....Schenecker told the St. Petersburg Times that since his divorce filing, his wife wanted $40,000 for a lawyer, $10,000 for a forensic accountant, alimony, health insurance, and her diamond engagement ring.

“I was incredulous,” he said..........."

Sad thing is she'll probably get it and a good chunk of his retirement pay - but I hope not.

Saoirse
05-13-2011, 09:32
Colonel sues wife over teens' violent deaths

http://militarytimes.com/blogs/outside-the-wire/2011/05/10/colonel-sues-wife-over-teens-violent-deaths/

".....Schenecker told the St. Petersburg Times that since his divorce filing, his wife wanted $40,000 for a lawyer, $10,000 for a forensic accountant, alimony, health insurance, and her diamond engagement ring.

“I was incredulous,” he said..........."

Sad thing is she'll probably get it and a good chunk of his retirement pay - but I hope not.

I would hope the common sense would prevail in this situation. Wouldn't this fall under "benefiting from the crime"?