“They Hung Themselves” Pennsylvania Mom Kills Kids and Blames Bullying | Lisa Snyder Case

A Pennsylvania mother calls 911 to report her children hanging in a basement

Now part of the Darkcast network. Welcome to Indie Podcasts with a Dark side. A mother calls 911 to report her children hanging in a basement. But nothing about her story adds up. What investigators uncovered next would turn this case into one of the most disturbing child murders Pennsylvania had ever seen. Today I tell you the case of Lisa Snyder right now on Murder.

Love and Murder is a weekly true crime podcast about relationships that turn to murder

Welcome lambs. Welcome to Love and Murder, Heartbreak to Homicide, your weekly true crime podcast telling you cases of relationships that turn to murder. I’m your host, Kai, and if you are new here, thank you so much for joining me. Take a seat, take a listen all the way to the end. And if you like my retelling of this case, please don’t forget to subscribe for today’s case. I would suggest that you do some positive breathing before you get into this case because we about to be flipping all kind of desks over. This case is so hard. Before we begin, I want to thank the sponsors of this episode and Love and Murder as a whole. Our lamp. Patreons. Patreon.com uh, loveandmurder with your support, we’re able to continue bringing out these victims stories and getting their cases heard. If you want to be a sponsor of Love and Murder, you get case extras, bonus episode, you get intro free episodes. So like with this whole intro, you don’t get that as a lam Patreon we get right into the case, add free episodes so you don’t get interrupted by commercials, bonus episodes and so much more. Patreon.com loveandmurder but if you’re not ready to be a sponsor, you can still sign up for free. And you do get some benefits for being a free subscriber and in whatever capacity that you decide to support Love and Murder, be it free or sponsorship, I appreciate you either way. Patreon.com forward/loveandmurder now let’s grab our butts, grab our delicious glass of apple juice because you know I love apple juice and let’s get into this Love and murder.

Lisa Snyder discovered her two children hanging in the basement on September 23

At, uh, 4:33pm on September 23, 2019, a 911 call came in from a rural home in Albany Township, Pennsylvania. On the line was 36 year old Lisa Snyder. Her voice was calm, too calm for what she was claiming. Lisa told police that she discovered her two children hanging from a support beam in the basement of their home. She said they were hanging from opposite ends of the same dog leash and there were two overturned chairs beneath them. My son has been bullied. He’s been making threats about doing this, but he didn’t want to go alone. When emergency responders arrived at the house they found a scene that they all probably would have to fight to scrub from their minds. 8 year old Connor Snyder and his 4 year old sister Brinley hanging about 3ft apart by dog leashes in the basement. Both children were alive but in full cardiac arrest. I honestly I couldn’t be a cop, I couldn’t be a first responder. I would never be able to forget this. And I’m um, and I’m not saying that people who do this are, they do it, you know, they do it to help people. I, I agree but this would probably cause me to self harm. Like I, I couldn’t deal with this so I commend people who do this type of work. I know you’re in it to help people. I really commend you. I, I, I couldn’t, I couldn’t do it. They were rushed to Lehigh Valley Hospital and for three days they remained on life support in the pediatric intensive care unit. During questioning Lisa told police that Connor wanted to build a fort in the basement with his sister and he took two kitchen chairs and ah, a newly purchased dog leash down with them. She claimed that she then folded clothes, took the dog outside, smoked a cigarette and later went to check on the children at which point she found them hanging. Wait a second, hold on, hold on, hold, hold on, hold on. Okay, wait a second. I just realized something. She then called 91 1. They uh, came and the children were still hanging. As a mother, everybody stop what you’re doing as a mother and even if you’re not a mother or father, even if you’re not a father, if you went in the basement, you did all this stuff. So just think of hypothetical situation. You went in the basement and you found your children or children hanging. What is the first thing you’re going to do? Are you going to be like I should call 911 and have a calm voice? Hello 91 1. Yes, I saw children hanging. My son said he wanted to kill himself. Oh, where are they now? Still hanging. I’ll wait for 911 to arrive. And 911 arrived and they’re still freaking hanging. Immediate, immediate. I will be judge, jury. Look. Oh my God. I just thought about that. They were still hanging when first responders arrived. If I went and saw somebody hanging in a basement or anywhere, the first thing I’m doing is I’m trying to hold that person up. If I can’t cut you down, I’m going to be holding you up. And then I’ll try and dig my phone out while I’m holding you up to try and call 91 1. If I can’t hold you up while I’m getting my phone, then I’m getting a chair trying to reach and cut you down. And then I’ll call 91 1. Either way I’m trying to save you. My first thought is to save you. I don’t know how. Throughout my research, writing this, all of this, I don’t know how. That just hit me as I’m recording now. Diabolical. Dia freaking. Oh my God. Anyways, whoo.

Connor and Brinley were pronounced dead on September 26, 2019

Back to what I was saying. She mentioned owning a dog that she kept outside on a wire cable leash with plastic coating and that she had since given the dog away. She said that Connor was being bullied at Greenwich lenshartville, I think elementary school where he was in third grade. Lisa told police that Connor had said he’d wanted to end his own life but was afraid to die alone. Quote, he, he doesn’t say much because he knows that I will call the school. He just comes home and he is just angry. On September 26, 2019, 14 minutes apart, both Connor and Brinley were pronounced dead after they were taken off of life support. Shockingly, the coroner listed their deaths as homicides, which isn’t as shocking now that I realized that this bit had these children still hanging. While she called 911 and sat there waiting for 911 to come, the investigation started. During this time, police served at least five search warrants getting cell phones, computers from the home and an Xbox One warrant that was issued on October 2nd was looking for a dog, a black husky pit bull mix weighing 50 pounds that according to Lisa had been conveniently missing for a week. Investigators wanted to weigh the dog to help them in reconstructing what happened on uh, the day of the 911 call, first responder police had taken notes and pictures of the basement. They noticed two bar height wooden chairs overturned near the beam and noted that the dog leashes were vinyl coated. In the first four warrants, police had gotten Lisa’s cell phone, the plastic coated wire. The children were found hanging from the wooden chairs from the basement, two iPads, a laptop computer and the Xbox game and console. They got all of this to inspect for clues into the deaths. Then uh, police Learned from Lisa’s 17 year old son, her only other child, that she had multiple phones. So they went back and got two more cell phones from her. So it’s like, okay, so number one, you left the Children hanging while you called police and waited for first responders to arrive. Then when police asked you for your phone, you were like, oh, yeah, here’s one. But you withheld others. I’m telling you, judge and jury right there, she would already be guilty to me. Throughout all of their investigation, police noticed that there were no signs of forced entry and no suicide notes. So basically saying, you can’t blame this on somebody else. And there’s no suicide note, Which, I mean, do kids really leave suicide notes? Which, unfortunately, that’s a sentence that had to come out of my mouth. There were also no evidence that Connor was being bullied at school. Police spoke with multiple family members, school officials and classmates who all said that Connor was a happy child who had never been bullied at school and showed no signs of being suicidal. School bus security video from the afternoon of the incident showed Connor getting off of the bus and running up to his house, showing absolutely no signs of distress. Remember, she said he got out, uh, he got off from school and he would always be angry. Uh, this is showing something completely different. Basically, what their investigation concluded was there was absolutely no way that Connor could have hung both himself and his sister. Other damming pieces of evidence came out during the investigation. Police found search history between September 17th and 23rd, which included, quote, carbon monoxide in a car. How long to die. Quote, almost got away with it. Uh, best episodes this bitch, Best episode. Oh, my God. Quote, hanging yourself. Quote, how to hang yourself. Quote, does a hybrid car produce carbon monoxide? Also visits to sites about short drop hangings and suicide techniques, and quote, how to kill someone. Who does these kind of searches. I mean, even me, who freaking does true crime. You wouldn’t imagine my search history. Literally none of this is in my search history. Are you freaking crazy? And her watch history showed that she watched the true crime show, almost got away with it, just days before her children were hanged. Is that how you think you get away with, quote, unquote, murder or whatever? Watched a true crime show, almost got away with it, to find out what they, uh, you know what, if you’re diabolical enough to hang your own children, sit there while they’re hanging and waiting for first responders to come, then you’re just stupid enough to search this up. So then police found out that the leash that was used to strangle the kids had been bought just one day earlier, on September 22, 2019, at a Walmart in Hamburg. The leash was purchased online and set to pick up. Surveillance footage confirmed Lisa made the pickup. The receipt was timestamped at 9:30am this contradicted the idea that Connor spontaneously used a readily available item for suicide. Although police had this information, one critical device that they didn’t have was a Samsung Galaxy Note, which was believed to have been used to order the leash, which. I mean, you saw her pick it up, so do you really need the phone? Also, how many phones does this woman have and why? Also, in interviewing witnesses, they reported that Lisa was looking agitated at the scene. A paramedic who responded described Lisa as, quote, very anxious, very nervous, but noted, quote, she was not crying when he saw her on the front steps talking on her cell phone. Okay, okay, okay, okay. Wait a second. Wait a second. So while your children are still hanging, you’re sitting, chilling on the front steps, talking on the cell phone to the point that when they pulled up, they saw you talking on the cell phone, chilling like it was just another Sunday. Not crying, just talking to your. Just talking to your friend. Yeah, no, I’m just waiting for first responders to get here. Why? Oh, no, girl. Nothing. There was just an episode that happened at the house. Nothing to really talk about. But anyways, how’s Graham doing? Are you freaking kidding me? Ah. Uh, this is giving me a headache for real. And also, I also wanted to point this out. And I’m not saying for this bit here, I’m saying in general. So you know how they were saying she wasn’t crying? This is just, you know, weird. This isn’t the emotional response people expect. But you do have to remember that some people handle stress and tragedy in different ways. For instance, if someone with a childhood of constant and absolute tragedy had this happen to them, they might have learned to disassociate a long time ago. So in scenarios where we would be wailing and crying and, you know, just beside ourselves, this isn’t what we would have to expect from them. They may. They may be calm and rational acting to us. So this, in my opinion, isn’t really evidence. What is evidence, though, is she’s sitting there chilling, talking on the phone while her children are still hanging. Because these other people that I’m talking about who might be calm and rational, they’ll still be trying to get, you know, they’ll still be trying to help their children. They wouldn’t just be sitting there like, yep, I’m just disassociated. No, they’d still be trying to help. They just wouldn’t be wailing and, you know, wringing their hands like we would.

Lisa Snyder was charged with murder, child endangerment and evidence tampering

Later, Lisa posted on Facebook saying, quote, words Scar rumors, destroy, bullies, kill. Shut the up. So this post also made police suspicious. Look, I’m telling you, as soon as I got there, I would have been suspicious. I would have already said she was guilty. I wouldn’t even been suspicious, just guilty. In December 2019, Lisa was arrested and charged with two counts of first degree murder, child endangerment, evidence tampering, and she was also facing, uh, charges of third degree murder. Online records also initially indicated charges of animal cruelty and sexual intercourse with a dog. Although the final conviction details primarily focused on the murder, child endangerment and evidence tampering charges. I mean, what, uh, an absolute freak. Now don’t ask me more about this. This was just a passing thing in my research, never to be mentioned again because of how brief it is. Normally I wouldn’t have included it, but it came out of such left field that I was like, I have to let my lambs know this bullshit. Prosecutors indicated that they would seek the death penalty. However, because Lisa accepted a bench trial instead of a jury trial, she was ineligible for a death sentence. So a jury trial, the jury decides, you know, guilty or not guilty, a bench trial, the decision is up to the judge. In September 2024, Lisa’s trial started. Owen Snyder, Lisa’s now 22 year old son, gave his testimony. When asked why he no longer referred to Lisa as, quote, mom, Owen said, quote, I just don’t see her as my mother anymore. He called Lisa a, quote, monster and expressed his profound sorrow that his younger siblings would never have the chance to be an aunt and uncle to his newborn son. That day, I didn’t just lose my brother and sister, I lost my mother as well. The courtroom sat silent as Owen described the loss of his siblings. Quote, connor loved video games, school, and making people laugh. He didn’t do this, she did. He described Connor as happy, playful and excited about school. He never expressed suicidal thoughts. If something was bothering him, Owen said, quote, he would have told me. A cousin described how Brinley liked to wear bows in her hair and had just started learning to write her name. Oh my God. She was only four, remember? And now both are gone. Killed by the one person who was supposed to protect them. Connor’s teachers and school officials also agreed that Connor was a happy kid who showed no signs of depression or being suicidal. An occupational therapist from Kutztown school district testified that due to Connor’s fine motor skill challenges, it would have been extremely difficult for him to manipulate the clasp of the dog leash or tie it tightly enough to cause death. She said that due to his motor skill challenges, he couldn’t even tie his own shoes yet. Wow. So how do you supposedly go from not being able to tie your own shoes to tying a leash and even putting it around yours and your sister’s neck? Yeah, that doesn’t add up, does it? Lisa. Lisa’s cousin, uh, Jessica Wadlick. I think that’s how you say her last name, who once called Lisa her, quote, best friend, testified that the children were terrified of the basement and almost never played there. She also revealed that in 2014, Lisa had once confessed to wanting to place, quote, cords and bottle caps in Connor’s crib, hoping he would choke. What? The defense. Uh, y’all already know how I feel about the defense.

Lisa Snyder was found guilty of murdering her two children on September 24, 2024

Let’s get into it, LaMs. The defense pointed out Lisa’s documented mental illness. Of course they did. They said that she had bipolar disorder with psychotic features, borderline personality disorder, PTSD, and chronic suicidal ideation dating back to 16. What the hell does all of this have to do with murdering her children and then blaming it on her son? Let’s just throw a bunch of diagnoses in there and say this is why she did it. Freaking, really? Defense attorney Dennis Charles told the court, quote, if she did this, she’s not a bad person, she’s a sick person. You know, I really hate when people try to use mental health as a defense when it actually shouldn’t be used, but when it’s actually the case, they completely ignore it. Absolute bullshit. He revealed that Lisa had been sexually abused between ages 5 and 7, which he said contributed to her psychological state. The freak. Does that have to do with anything going on here? Psychiatrist Dr. Deng Tran testified that Lisa had a psychotic break when the murders occurred. But get this, LaMs. On the cross examination, he admitted that he was just speculating. I’m just spitballing here. He wasn’t even present during the crime and based his opinion on interviews from three years later. What? However, prosecutors countered these arguments, presenting evidence of Lisa’s calculated actions leading up to the deaths. A prosecution mental health expert also disagreed with the defense’s assessment, stating that there was nothing indicating that Lisa wouldn’t know right from wrong at the time of the children’s deaths. And I frickin concur. Then, uh, the defense tried to strike a plea deal. Oh. Oh, that didn’t work, you, Honor. Okay, okay, okay. Let’s try this instead. Lisa would plead no contest, but mentally ill to two counts of third degree murder. Huh? The judge said no. The trial lasted just under five days. On September 24, 2024, Judge M. Theresa Johnson found Lisa Snyder guilty of, uh, two counts of first degree murder, child endangerment and tampering with evidence. In Pennsylvania, a, uh, first degree murder conviction carries an automatic sentence of life in prison. During the sentence in Hearing on Thursday, October 18, 2024, Lisa was given two consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole. Judge Johnson also imposed an additional eight and a half to 17 years in prison for the child endangerment and evidence tampering convictions. Lisa showed no emotion as the verdict was read. No apology, no explanation. Judge Johnson described the crime as, quote, the most violent murder she had ever seen during her time on the bench and slammed Lisa for showing, quote, no remorse and said, quote, the fact that an individual could put their hands on another individual to commit a murder makes it so much worse than if you stood across the street and fired a gun at them. And the fact that you put your two children on a dog leash and hung them up to basically just choke to death and you sat there and watched them for some time and then you calmly went upstairs. Oh my God. I don’t want to think about it. Don’t think about it. I want to think about it. Prosecutor Med McCollum said, quote, her sole job in life should have been to protect and care for Connor and Brinley. She failed at that. She chose to harm her children and they suffered as they hung by their necks, gasping for air. And you know what another thing is? She could have just given these children to their brother. Say, I don’t want anything to do with them anymore. I’m literally thinking about killing them, take them. Like there were so many other different avenues she could have gone, given it to her parents, told her best friend, like, so many different avenues she could have taken. This was the one she chose. Berks County District Attorney John T. Adams expressed satisfaction with the verdict, saying, quote, we are very pleased that Lisa Snyder will never see the light of day and will spend the rest of her life in jail where she belongs. I don’t think that I could stand up here, nor can anyone explain the horrific loss of two innocent children’s lives. I think it goes without explanation. You know, if you don’t want your children anymore to the point that you’re thinking like you’re literally planning on murder, murdering them, please go drop them off anonymously at a hospital, at a fireplace, or with friends and family if you’re worried about how people would judge you. People will judge you more if you murder them, you frickin moron. Not that I’m calling you a frickin moron, but I’m just saying people will judge you harsher and more. More. And among other things that will happen to you if you murder your children or if you abuse your children. If you don’t want your children, please give them to somebody who wants children or at least loves your children and will take care of your children. Lisa Snyder will die in prison. But for those who loved Connor and Brinley, justice doesn’t bring peace. As one relative said, quote, we’ll carry this forever. And I’m literally saying, uh, this, like if for some reason you’re listening to this episode and you’re sitting here searching how to commit a murder or listening to this episode to find out how to get commit one without getting caught, instead of taking your time and your brain cells to do that, just put the kids in a car, drive to the nearest fire station and drop them off. You will not get in trouble for that. What you will get in trouble for and you will get caught for no matter how many preparations you do is for murdering or harming your children. Drop them off at the fire station, drop them off at a hospital, drop them off with family or friends and just chuck the deuce and said you’re not coming back. That is far more better than if you’re thinking of harming your children. This is just a sad, sad and demented case. And Lisa actually never said why she did it. She never even said she did it. And like the judge said, uh, she never actually showed remorse for doing it. I feel so bad thinking about the children’s last thoughts. It’s not like she even had them drugged throughout this. Like, I can’t even imagine. I also feel horrible for Owen. That was his brother and sister like. And to know that this is what your mother did. Ugh. Uh, I feel so bad for Owen. Owen, I really hope that you’re getting help. You’re talking to somebody about this so you don’t like, let this weigh on you. Anyway, LaMs, let me know your thoughts about this case in the comments below. I was planning on reading your comments from previous cases, but I, I just, I don’t have it in me. I. I have to stop recording.

Please give your children to somebody who wants to take care of them

Anyways, that’s all I have for you for today. As we end each full episode, I remind you that it’s all love and no murder. And I’m serious, no murder. Like, if you feel like you’re going to harm your children, like, I, I’m not even playing when I was saying any of this. Please, just give your children to somebody who wants to take care of your children so you won’t get in trouble for doing that. Please. All right, Lam. Bye.