ALBANY TOWNSHIP, Pa. — A Pennsylvania woman is accused of killing her two young children, who were found hanging in the family's basement.
Lisa Rachelle Snyder, 36, of Albany Township, was charged Monday in the September deaths of her 8-year-old son and 4-year-old daughter, WGAL reported. Snyder was charged with first-degree murder, third-degree murder, endangering the welfare of children, tampering with evidence and cruelty to animals, the television station reported.
According to police, Conner Snyder, 8, and Brinley Snyder, 4, were found Sept. 23 hanging by a dog lead wire cable wrapped around a support beam, The Morning Call reported. The children were in full cardiac arrest when first responders arrived and were resuscitated, KYW reported. However, both children died three days later, the television station reported.
According to court records, Lisa Snyder told police her son had been bullied at school and talked about taking his own life, WGAL reported. However, school officials and family members said the boy never said he was bullied or suicidal, the television station reported.
Video taken the day Conner Snyder was found in the basement showed no evidence of distress, Berks County District Attorney John Adams told the Morning Call.
“The video shows no sign that Conner was in distress whatsoever,” Adams told the newspaper. "In fact, (in) the video he appeared to be a happy child.”
According to a criminal complaint, Lisa Snyder used Google on Sept. 17 to search for information about suicide and murder, the Reading Eagle reported. The complaint alleged she typed "carbon monoxide in a car how long to die" in a search bar, the newspaper reported.
Three days later she looked up "almost got away with it" and "I almost got away with it best episodes," the complaint alleges.
Adams said Snyder ordered a dog cable a day before her children were hanged and picked it up from a local Walmart, KYW reported.