Mom ‘who had sex with pit bull then hanged her two children with dog leash’ shows off new look at murder trial as shock internet searches are revealed
A Pennsylvania mother who allegedly had sex with a pit bull before hanging her two children on a dog leash showed up at her murder trial with a slimmed-down new look.
Lisa Snyder, 41, looked much slimmer than she did in a photo taken in September 2019 when she appeared in Reading District Court on Friday.
The judges trying her were shown the silver dog leash she is said to have used to hang her eight-year-old son Conner and four-year-old daughter Brinley five years ago.
Snyder remained unmoved as two officers wearing blue plastic gloves produced the macabre piece of evidence before the trial.
The slimmed-down Lisa Snyder, 41, is charged with first-degree murder, child abuse and tampering with evidence in the September 2019 deaths of her two children
She denies murder and claims that Conner, who was bullied at school, committed suicide to escape the torment, and that he killed his sister at the same time because he did not want to die alone.
Snyder was also initially investigated after she claimed she had sex with her pit bull shortly before the murder, but police dropped that investigation as the murder investigation continued.
Her trial began Monday with a hearing on her actions, which involved searching Google for “How to Hang Yourself” and the best episodes of the series “Almost Got Away With It.”
Snyder’s children were taken off life support and died three days after they were found in the home in Albany Township, about 60 miles (95 kilometers) northwest of Philadelphia.
Snyder blamed her son for the murder of his sister and then himself, claiming he was suicidal because of bullying
Snyder allegedly spent the weeks, days and hours leading up to the children’s deaths searching the internet for the “best ways to commit suicide and how to get away with murder”
During testimony this week, the tall wooden kitchen chairs from which Conner and Brinley had been suspended were brought into the courtroom, directly in front of Snyder.
But the focus for both the prosecution and the defense this week has been on the internet searches Snyder allegedly conducted in the weeks, days and hours leading up to the children’s deaths.
Examples include visits to a website with detailed instructions on how to hang yourself, and searches for the television program “Almost Got Away With It.”
Snyder’s defense argued in its argument that the suicide instruction website could also potentially link to suicide prevention information.
On Friday, the dog leash that Snyder allegedly used to hang the case was brought into the courtroom.
Two police officers wearing blue gloves stood before the judge and extended the silver lead.
Snyder showed no emotion throughout the interrogation and the evidence was placed in front of her along with the chairs.
Footprints were found on the chairs, one of which is believed to be Conner’s.
During testimony this week, the tall wooden kitchen chairs involved in the incident that led to the deaths of the two children were brought into the courtroom, directly in front of Snyder. She is pictured here in a 2023 photo
Lisa Snyder is scheduled to appear in Berks County District Court in Reading, Pennsylvania in 2023
Brinley, 4, and Conner, 8, were found hanging from the ends of the same dog leash in the basement of their Pennsylvania home
Both children were in cardiac arrest when they were found by authorities, but were resuscitated. The children died a few days later in hospital.
Snyder, the first 911 caller, had told police her son was being bullied and was threatening to commit suicide. Authorities were immediately suspicious of her suicide claim, however, saying they had found no evidence to support it.
The boy showed no signs of trouble in school bus security footage that day, and an occupational therapist later said he was physically incapable of causing so much harm to himself or his sister.
Snyder also admitted that on the day the children were found hanging from the dog leash, he had gone to a store to buy a dog leash, authorities said.
The youths were found hanging from a dog leash. Two wooden dining room chairs were found overturned nearby.
Snyder later called for help and said she couldn’t get the straps out of where they were hanging because she suffered from extreme anxiety.
Both boys were rushed to a nearby hospital, where they died three days later after being taken off life support.
A coroner determined that both children had been killed by hanging and ruled the deaths a homicide.
A much larger Snyder is seen during an earlier court hearing in 2020
Police have discovered Snyder’s Google searches related to suicide by hanging. She is pictured here during her first arrest in December 2019
“I don’t think I can stand here, and no one can, explain the horrific loss of two innocent children’s lives. I don’t think it needs explaining,” Adams, the prosecutor, told reporters when Snyder was arraigned in December 2019, more than two months after the killings.
The defense had planned an insanity plea, citing a “chronic history of serious mental illness.”
According to her attorney, Snyder suffered from severe depression, borderline personality disorder, dissociative disorder and other mental illnesses at the time of the killings.
Prosecutors have indicated they are pushing for Snyder to receive the death penalty, but she could face life behind bars if convicted of first-degree murder.
It is up to the judge, not the jury, to make that decision.