Mother Charged In Siblings Hanging Death

Berks County District Attorney John Adams held a press conference yesterday stating that Lisa Rachelle Snyder, the mother of 8 year old Connor and 4 year old Brinley, has been charged with their murder.

On September 23rd, the two siblings were found hanging from a dog lead in the basement of the family home.

“Eight-year-olds, generally, that I am aware of, do not commit suicide, so of course, we had questions almost immediately,” Adams said.

Snyder agreed to be interviewed by authorities twice and investigators state that she continued to tell them that Connor was bullied at school and suicidal.  They stated that Synder had told them, "He tells me he hates school.  Every day he tells me he doesn't want to go to school."

Investigators were not able to find any evidence though, to support her assertion that Connor was bullied.  Even in video footage pulled from the bus ride on his way home the day the children were found hanging showed no indications that he was suicidal.

“The video showed no signs that Conner was in any distress whatsoever. In the video, he appeared to be a happy child,” Adams said.

During the course of the investigation, police found that Snyder had searched for “carbon monoxide in a car how long to die” on September 17th and three days later, “Almost Got Away With It best episodes.”  On September 22nd, she searched for “hanging yourself" and evidently placed an order for a 250 lb limit dog lead which she picked up the morning of the 23rd.

The family dog which was being searched for after the children were found was eventually located and weighed.  The dog is reported by investigators as weighing about 50 pounds.

Another individual interviewed during the course of the investigation stated that Snyder had informed them that she was "depressed" and "didn't care anymore about her kids."

Snyder has been charged with two counts each of first degree and third degree murder as well as additional charges of tampering with evidence, endangering the welfare of children, animal cruelty and sexual intercourse with a dog.