A mother who had sex with her pitbull before giving the dog away and murdering her children by attempting to stage their suicide will face execution if convicted.
According to Metro, prosecutors have pushed for the mother to be tried for capital murder.
Aggravating factors including the age of her victims, 4 and 8, and the fact that the murders were committed with another felony, intercourse with a dog, are being weighed up as to whether the mother should face the death penalty.
National File originally reported:
A mother-of-two has been charged with the murders of her two children after they were found hanging by a dog leash in the basement of her home.
Lisa Snyder, 36, has been accused of having sex with her pet dog in the weeks before hanging her eight-year-old son, Conner, and her four-year-old daughter, Brinley.
According to local police, Snyder had attempted to stage the double suicide of both of her children at their home in Albany Township, Pennsylvania.
Snyder called 911 and claimed her “bullied” son “had made threats of doing this but didn’t want to go alone” before they were discovered hanging at their home.
Reports claim that both children died in hospital three days after they were found unresponsive.
Both siblings were hanging from the same dog leash.
According to the Mirror, Snyder will stand trial, accused of the murders after she had confided to a witness she had killed her children before attempting to take her own life.
When the children were discovered, Snyder was the only adult in the house.
It was later revealed that her children were placed in care, away from their mother. However, it remains unclear as to why the children were returned.
In the initial murder scene, Snyder allegedly attempted to stage a double suicide, as “a cord was wrapped around the support beam of their basement and two chairs were overturned nearby–to make the crime appear as a double suicide.”
National File continues:
Authorities said that computer records found that Snyder had searched various methods of how to hang an individual, crime shows, and whether an idling hybrid car was able to produce sufficient carbon monoxide.
Despite Snyder’s claims that the children had hanged themselves, the local district attorney said “Eight-year-olds, generally, that I am aware of, do not commit suicide, so of course we had questions.”
Claims of the eight-year-old’s being bullied were also proven to be false.
Snyder reportedly denied the charges, including first and third degree murder, tampering with evidence, endangering the welfare of children, and sexual intercourse with a dog.
A friend told the court that Snyder admitted to wanting to kill herself if she was freed on bail.
Snyder’s procedural hearing will commence on June 29.
