commentary by Patrick H. Moore
Julie Schenecker’s first-degree-murder trial for shooting and killing her two children – 16-year-old Calyx and 13-year-old Beau — is winding down and little is left other than the closing statements and, of course, the jury’s deliberations.
Here on All Things Crime Blog we’ve attempted to achieve some semblance of balance in analyzing this case by posting a compassionate (and passionate) post by our resident humanitarian psychiatrist, Starks Shrink, in which Starks (with that name wouldn’t you expect him to be a rather proper English butler?) makes a strong case that the fact Ms. Schenecker’s suffers from major mental illness, Bipolar Disorder I with psychotic features, should clearly result in a not guilty by reason of insanity verdict.
I mean, my god, all you have to do is look at Ms. Schenecker and much of the time it’s obvious that she is an extremely sick woman.
In response to Starks, our resident legal expert Rick Stack (the man with an encyclopedic grasp of nearly everything), clearly and succinctly defined the difference between ‘medical insanity’ and ‘legal insanity’ and gave us insight into how the 1984 IDRA (Insanity Defense Reform Act of 1984) legislation made it much harder to win acquittal by reason of insanity. The IDRA legislation was passed after the nation (or at least the nation’s law-makers) reacted (or over-reacted) with consternation after John Hinckley Jr. was acquitted by reason of insanity after shooting, though not killing, President Reagan and one of his cabinet members, shortly after Reagan’s election to the nation’s highest office.
As an aside, I much prefer the Canadian phrase, not criminally responsible, to the harsh American handle, guilty by reason of insanity. But ours is a harsh land and we love rough-edged terms such as “punishment” and “retribution.”
I walked away from Rick Stack’s helpful analysis with a sinking heart, thinking that Ms. Schenecker’s jury was liable to decide that based on the evidence, she did possess the requisite mens rea (intent) to kill her children; that is, she knew right from wrong and knew exactly what her intentions were, when she purchased the gun she used to shoot her two kids. Thus, it seemed likely that she would be convicted.
Today, however, on the last day of witness testimony, Julie’s husband, U.S. army colonel Parker Schnecker, took the stand and essentially told Julie’s life story – the good, the bad, and the in between. It so doing, he may have humanized her sufficiently to persuade one or more jurors to vote for acquittal by reason of insanity. I very much doubt the whole jury will vote to acquit, but one or two holdouts would lead to a mistrial and we would be back at square one.
Utilizing a martial metaphor, Parker Schenecker stated that Julie’s mental illness was a constant “drum beat” in their 20-year marriage. He said that Julie had talked about suicide and suffered from depression.
“She had mentioned suicide but not that she was planning on acting on it,” he said referring to her behavior during the last agonizing months, and then explained that his hope was that her energy level was too low for her to actually go through with it.
In describing how he met Julie in the military in 1990, Parker painted the picture of a vibrant young woman with excellent qualities. He was a young army officer at the time. Oddly enough, she was a military interrogator. She coached his volleyball team and was attracted to her athleticism and her “ability to stand up and take notice of things, take responsibility of things.”
Translated, Parker saw her as an ethical person with the courage of her convictions.
They married in Arizona a few years later, and she left the military after 10 years. Theirs appears to have been a typical military existence, as Parker rose through the ranks both before and after Julie gave birth to Calyx and Beau. They lived in Hawaii, Maryland, Virginia and Germany.
Parker was certainly aware that Julie “had some lower energy” and suffered from depression at the beginning of their marriage, but the Colonel said she was a good mother to the children when they were born.
It’s hard for someone who has never lived with a person with major mental illness to understand how difficult it is and how great their suffering is. Those of us who are merely neurotic like yours truly, or even mentally healthy like Rick Stack, should thank whatever kind fortune has smiled down upon us.
As the years trickled by, and Julie’s troubles showed no signs of rescinding, she visited doctors around the world and even entered into a nine-month clinical trial for her depression at the National Institute of Mental Health. This period is somewhat mysterious and Parker testified that although, he received updates about how she was faring during her treatment regimen, Julie would not allow him access to her mental health records or her doctors.
In my experience, it is not uncommon for an individual under the care of a psychiatrist to somewhat jealousy guard their private interactions with their therapist.
* * * * *
The family moved to Tampa in 2007. By now the kids were getting older. According to Parker, a rift developed between Julie and her mother.
Julie Schenecker was in a car crash in November of 2010, several months before the killings. Parker was convinced she had been drinking and told her she needed to be in rehab.
It’s scary to contemplate being on a battery of psychiatric drugs and drinking heavily. My heart goes out to anyone in that situation.
Julie agreed to go into rehab. When she arrived home after Thanksgiving, she stayed in bed for weeks and Parker’s mother came to help care for the kids.
Parker explained that at this point, he communicated with his wife mostly through email due to his being stationed at U.S. Central Command in Tampa. He told her that the kids were afraid to be in the car with her following the accident, and that he agreed she shouldn’t drive them places.
“‘I MUST protect them, they are telling me they feel unsafe,’” he wrote.
Nonetheless, in mid-December, when Parker’s mother went home, Julie began driving the kids to school and resumed cooking dinner. As for Parker, whatever his rationalizations may be, the fact he wasn’t around much suggests he simply could not cope with Julie in her state of profound unrest.
* * * * *
The defense also called psychiatrist Dr. Wade Myers who reviewed Schenecker’s medical records and interviewed her following her arrest.
Dr. Myers stated Julie “was a great mother, a loving mother, when she was well”. He believes, however, that she was insane at the time of the shooting.
“At the time she killed her children, Ms. Schenecker had a delusional belief this was in the best interest of their children,” said Myers.
If she is convicted, Julie would receive a life sentence. If acquitted by reason of insanity, she would be hospitalized until she is no longer a danger to herself or others.
* * * * *
Will Parker Schenecker’s seemingly candid and apparently balanced testimony result in a mistrial? If I were a gambler, I would pick up my chips and walk away from the table.
Update: On Thursday, the jury convicted Julie Schenecker of two counts of first-degree-murder. The was sentenced to two life sentences without the possibility of parole to be run concurrently.
Click here to view All Things Crime Blog’s earlier Julie Schenecker posts:
Julie Scheneker Trial Highlights the Difference Between ‘Medical Insanity’ and ‘Legal Insanity’
The Julie Schenecker Tragedy: Negligence, Finger-Pointing and the Death of Children