from people.com

Tragedy struck Tampa Thursday night. Julie Powers Schenecker, 50-year-old wife of a US Army colonel, has admitted to killing her teen son and daughter, say police.

She first shot son Beau, 13, twice in the head with a .38 caliber pistol for "talking back" as she was driving him to soccer practice in suburban Tampa, according to the arrest affidavit.


 The police report says she then drove to her $448,000 family home and shot her daughter Calyx, 16 – a high school cross country running star – in the face as she sat studying at the computer.

The explanation she gave police was that the teens were being "mouthy." "She described the crimes in detail," Police spokeswoman Laura McElroy says adding, "That was the only reason she provided to our detectives."


An anxious call from Schenecker's mother in Texas (who had received an e-mail from her daughter stating that she was depressed and having trouble with the kids) lead police to the home on Friday morning. There they found Schenecker covered in blood on the back porch. She was taken, reports the Associated Press, wild-eyed and shaking uncontrollably, to a Tampa hospital.

She will not appear in court Saturday – charged with two counts of murder – because she's being treated at a hospital for an unknown condition.


Her husband, colonel Parker Schenecker, who is attached to US Central Command in Tampa, was reportedly in the Middle East at the time of the murders.

Saturday afternoon, Parker Schenecker's Facebook page shows a photo of Calyx, smiling and surrounded by running teammates. A comment posted by Julie Schenecker on Oct. 20 reads: "that's my baby! doin' something i could never do-3.2 miles!!"

I swear... shit... I don't even know what I swear. Far fewer humans should be allowed to procreate, I know that. And selective breeding based on genetic testing - I am ALL for it! And yes, I am serious.

My thing is, kids mouth off all the time. that is what kids do.

scriptgirl said:

My thing is, kids mouth off all the time. that is what kids do.

It's what SOME kids do. And as much as I hate kids (which is really, REALLY a lot) there is no reason in the world to take a childs life. I may not feel that way about an adult. But at 13 and 16 you haven't experienced enough life to have yours taken (including punishments for murder or rape - let them sit in a prison for the rest of their life, because that would be a deserving punishment). But for mouthing off? Take away their "toys". Ground them. Make them do more chores. Take away the access to a car, money, bank card, etc. This lady should never have had kids to begin with, because something in her melon is CLEARLY not right.

Cerebus said:

scriptgirl said:

My thing is, kids mouth off all the time. that is what kids do.

It's what SOME kids do. And as much as I hate kids (which is really, REALLY a lot) there is no reason in the world to take a childs life. I may not feel that way about an adult. But at 13 and 16 you haven't experienced enough life to have yours taken (including punishments for murder or rape - let them sit in a prison for the rest of their life, because that would be a deserving punishment). But for mouthing off? Take away their "toys". Ground them. Make them do more chores. Take away the access to a car, money, bank card, etc. This lady should never have had kids to begin with, because something in her melon is CLEARLY not right.

of course it wasn't!

people don't normally call the police if someone is having some "trouble" with kids

there were obviously serious warning signs here that were missed prior to incident

scriptgirl said:

My thing is, kids mouth off all the time. that is what kids do.

No, it's what all kids try at some point - that part is normal...but letting them get away with it is where parenting goes wrong.

Anyway, sad story.

And why do they list the value of their home in this article?

Here is a pic of the woman:

[img:$uid]http://i55.tinypic.com/15fi2pj.jpg[/img:$uid]

[Edited 1/29/11 16:42pm]

JustErin said:

And why do they list the value of their home in this article?

I noticed that, too. I assumed it was an attempt to show that they lived in an affluent neighborhood, or that they weren't poor. Either way it didn't make much sense in regards to the crimes being discussed and could certainly have been written much better.

scriptgirl said:

Here is a pic of the woman:

[img:$uid]http://i55.tinypic.com/15fi2pj.jpg[/img:$uid]

[Edited 1/29/11 16:42pm]

Whoa!!!

Aw hell naw...

scriptgirl said:

Here is a pic of the woman:

[img:$uid]http://i55.tinypic.com/15fi2pj.jpg[/img:$uid]

I'm not going to judge her by a half second snap of a camera lense. It's very possible that she's being advised to "act crazy", had decided to do so herself before confessing, or that it's just a bad photo. The evidence against her is damning enough. IMO, nobody in full control of all their mental capacities could do such a thing and then supply her "reason" for the act. Whether or not her being "crazy" had anything to do with the crimes is for the courts to decide. And let me be clear that I'm not saying I necessarily think she IS crazy. I think that term gets tossed around far too liberally as an excuse for bad behavior these days. I'm just saying that something isn't right up there in her melon. It could be an anger or control issue, both of which can exist without having anything to do with a neurosis or psychosis.

Wow ...

Maybe it's me being cynical, but nothing in that comment she made on her daughter's facebook page seems crazy. Something tells me she was fine and just "snapped", committed the murders, and is playing crazy now to get a lighter sentence. And honestly, because she's a woman with a military husband (and probably a clean record prior to this), it will probably work. Sad, but true.

I think she snapped

Why would they give her a ighter sentence cause her hubby is in the service?

scriptgirl said:

Why would they give her a ighter sentence cause her hubby is in the service?

Not solely because of that, but because of the whole package. Yes, she killed her kids, but she never had any run-ins with the law prior to that and part of her defense could be that she was becoming unstable because her husband was away in active duty for so long.

And it's no secret that women tend to get lighter sentences for the same crime than men do.

at least they arent putting them in ovens anymore...:-/

scriptgirl said:

from people.com

Tragedy struck Tampa Thursday night. Julie Powers Schenecker, 50-year-old wife of a US Army colonel, has admitted to killing her teen son and daughter, say police.

She first shot son Beau, 13, twice in the head with a .38 caliber pistol for "talking back" as she was driving him to soccer practice in suburban Tampa, according to the arrest affidavit.


 The police report says she then drove to her $448,000 family home and shot her daughter Calyx, 16 – a high school cross country running star – in the face as she sat studying at the computer.

The explanation she gave police was that the teens were being "mouthy." "She described the crimes in detail," Police spokeswoman Laura McElroy says adding, "That was the only reason she provided to our detectives."


An anxious call from Schenecker's mother in Texas (who had received an e-mail from her daughter stating that she was depressed and having trouble with the kids) lead police to the home on Friday morning. There they found Schenecker covered in blood on the back porch. She was taken, reports the Associated Press, wild-eyed and shaking uncontrollably, to a Tampa hospital.

She will not appear in court Saturday – charged with two counts of murder – because she's being treated at a hospital for an unknown condition.


Her husband, colonel Parker Schenecker, who is attached to US Central Command in Tampa, was reportedly in the Middle East at the time of the murders.

Saturday afternoon, Parker Schenecker's Facebook page shows a photo of Calyx, smiling and surrounded by running teammates. A comment posted by Julie Schenecker on Oct. 20 reads: "that's my baby! doin' something i could never do-3.2 miles!!"

oh hell no, that's fucked up

JustErin said:

scriptgirl said:

My thing is, kids mouth off all the time. that is what kids do.

No, it's what all kids try at some point - that part is normal...but letting them get away with it is where parenting goes wrong.

Anyway, sad story.

JustErin said:

And why do they list the value of their home in this article?

I was thinking the samething.

I'm still wondering what snapped in that woman to do something like that.

Cerebus said:

JustErin said:

And why do they list the value of their home in this article?

I noticed that, too. I assumed it was an attempt to show that they lived in an affluent neighborhood, or that they weren't poor. Either way it didn't make much sense in regards to the crimes being discussed and could certainly have been written much better.

They do that because it creates a double standard. They think something like this only happens in "the hood", which, let's face it, that's what the United States has always been: "a hood". They're trying to "separate" the "hood" and call it a "peaceful, affluent suburb". "No problems ever occurred until so and so..." which is a bunch of bullshit.

Timmy84 said:

I'm still wondering what snapped in that woman to do something like that.

No sane person could do some shit like that. Goodness o' Life, this is a messed up world we live in.

Ottensen said:

Timmy84 said:

I'm still wondering what snapped in that woman to do something like that.

No sane person could do some shit like that. Goodness o' Life, this is a messed up world we live in.

Understatement.

Ottensen said:

Timmy84 said:

I'm still wondering what snapped in that woman to do something like that.

No sane person could do some shit like that. Goodness o' Life, this is a messed up world we live in.

Totally disagree. Insanity is not an excuse for doing dirt. Millions of perfectly sane people do evil deeds of various sizes on this planet everyday. The extremity of this action makes it no different in that regard.

Cerebus said:

Ottensen said:

No sane person could do some shit like that. Goodness o' Life, this is a messed up world we live in.

Totally disagree. Insanity is not an excuse for doing dirt. Millions of perfectly sane people do evil deeds of various sizes on this planet everyday. The extremity of this action makes it no different in that regard.

She's sounding like Marvin's father. Of course if you attack the parent, some repercursions will come, but murder? Come on.

Timmy84 said:

Cerebus said:

Totally disagree. Insanity is not an excuse for doing dirt. Millions of perfectly sane people do evil deeds of various sizes on this planet everyday. The extremity of this action makes it no different in that regard.

She's sounding like Marvin's father. Of course if you attack the parent, some repercursions will come, but murder? Come on.

I don't think you understand what I'm saying. I'm not defending the Mother at all. Her actions are inexcusable. All I'm saying is that I do not believe "insanity" should be given as an immediate cause (which would lead to it being used as a defense) for those actions. Are gang members insane? Are drug dealers insane? Are all types of criminals insane? Are all child abusers, rapists and murderers insane? If any of the former was true our prisons would be nearly empty. Are bullies insane? Are big money executives insane? Are soldiers and those who give them their orders insane? Are government leaders insane? etc etc etc Because all of those people (and many more) do "evil" to one degree or another according to the standards of a civilized society.

What this woman did is so nasty that it's difficult for a lot of people to wrap their heads around it, so it's easy to assume that "she mus be crazy". I'm saying I don't think that's true. A lot of completely sane people live in darkness.

I was agreeing with you.

[Edited 1/30/11 15:24pm]

Timmy84 said:

I was agreeing with you.

[Edited 1/30/11 15:24pm]

Apologies. I hate it when I do that. I totally wasn't sure, though. Didn't understand the "Marvin's father" part.

Cerebus said:

Timmy84 said:

I was agreeing with you.

[Edited 1/30/11 15:24pm]

Apologies. I hate it when I do that. I totally wasn't sure, though. Didn't understand the "Marvin's father" part.

No problem. I think the confusion was I quoted you and that made it seem as if I was responding to you when I wasn't. It really wasn't a response to anyone, I meant in general anyways. It's all good.