Mom ‘who had sex with dog then hanged her kids’ makes emotionless court appearance
Snyder is charged with murdering her children, four-year-old Brinley and 8-year-old Conner, by hanging them on opposite ends of a heavy-duty dog lead in the basement of her home.
A mother accused of having sex with a dog then hanging her young kids showed no emotions as she walked into court.
Lisa Snyder, 37, appeared in court in Reading, Pennsylvania on Wednesday for a preliminary hearing that was moved from Hamburg district court because of security concerns regarding the high-profile case.
Snyder is charged with murdering her children, four-year-old Brinley and 8-year-old Conner, by hanging them on opposite ends of a heavy-duty dog lead in the basement of her home.
She claimed Conner killed himself because he was bullied in school, but did not want to alone so he killed his sister as well. However, prosecutors said ‘Conner was incapable of doing this to himself’ during Tuesday’s hearing.
Snyder is also charged with animal cruelty and sexual intercourse with a dog after investigators uncovered sexually explicit photos of Snyder with the family dog, which Snyder allegedly sent to an unidentified man. Those charges are unrelated to the murder charges.
Brinley and Conner were found hanged and unresponsive in the basement of their home on September 23.
They were revived, but died three days later after being taken off life support at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest.
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Snyder said Conner killed himself and his sister because he was bullied, but prosecutors found no evidence of bullying.
Investigators also said Snyder Googled ‘hanging yourself’ and visited a website explaining effecting ways to hang a person. She also searched ‘how long to die’ from carbon monoxide’ and ‘almost got away with it,’ which is a reference to a true crime show, according to court records.
According to a police affidavit, Snyder also sent a man messages on Facebook, describing a dog performing sex acts on her. Police wrote that she also sent a photo of a ‘black and white dog performing oral sex on her.’
In court Wednesday, prosecutors said Conner had physical problems that made it impossible to manipulate the clasp on the dog lead by himself.
‘Conner was incapable of doing this to himself. He was incapable of doing this to his sister,’ Assistant District Attorney Margaret McCallum said.
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Witness Jessica Senft testified that she spoke to Snyder a week after her children died. She said Snyder expected to get out on bail if she was charged, and she planned to kill herself after she was released, according to The Morning Call.
Kimberlynn Watson, Snyder’s cousin, testified that she spent a lot of time with Conner, but the boy never mentioned being bullied.
However, Snyder’s lawyer, Dennis Charles, insisted there was not enough evidence to take his client to trial.
‘All you have is speculation and guesswork. You don’t have any evidence that Lisa Snyder hanged these children,’ he said.
Judge Kim Bagenstose disagreed and ruled that there was enough evidence to merit the charges.
Snyder’s formal arraignment was set for March 12 and she will be held in jail until then.