August 17, 2020

Episode 28: The Murders of Conner and Brinley Snyder

22 minutes

This case had relatively widespread social media coverage by those believing it was a sad suicide story, but the truth has come out.

On September 23, 2019 at 4:30 PM, dispatchers were called to a home at 2442 Route 143 Kempton, Albany Township, Berks county, Pennsylvania by Lisa Snyder. A mother who says her son, Conner Seth Snyder, age 8, committed suicide by hanging himself with a dog lead from the rafter of their basement after telling her he wanted to build a fort with the new dog lead she had purchased. She claimed he was severely bullied in school and kept saying he wanted to die, but did not want to go alone, so, there hanging with him was his little 4-year-old sister, Brinley Louise Snyder, on the same dog lead.

First responders responded to the 9-1-1 call about 11 minutes later, to find that Lisa claimed she had only briefly tried to get Brinley down from the lead but became sweaty due to her anxiety. The children passed away 3 days later on September 26, 2019. A large police investigation ensued, as this case was shady from the beginning, and on December 2, 2019, Lisa Snyder was finally arrested. She remains in prison while awaiting sentencing to see if she will receive the death penalty. There was no evidence suggesting Conner had ever been bullied.

Sources:

Egan, Leigh. (2019, December 3). Full affidavit of mother accused of hanging her children in basement, having sex with family dog. https://www.crimeonline.com/2019/12/03/read-full-affidavit-of-mother-accused-of-hanging-her-children-in-basement-having-sex-with-family-dog/

Chiu, Allyson. (2019, December 3). A mother said her children, 8 and 4, hanged themselves. She’s now been charged with their murders. https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/12/03/lisa-rachelle-snyder-murder-conner-brinley-hanging/

Schroeder, Laurie & Lehman, Pamela. (2019, December 2) Conner and Brinley Snyder: Happy children who were not bullied, DA says after mom charged in their deaths. https://www.mcall.com/news/breaking/mc-nws-berks-hanging-who-were-conner-brinley-20191202-ztyyw7pm6zhltmv7yitlkn2upi-story.html

Harris, Chris. (2019, December 2). Pa. Mom Accused of Hanging Kids, Staging Murder-Suicide Allegedly Fabricated That Son Was Bullied. https://people.com/crime/pennsylvania-mom-accused-hanging-kids-fabricated-son-bullied/

Schroeder, Laurie, & Lehman, Pamela, & Gamiz, Manuel. (2019, December 2). 'It hits us in the heart’: Pennsylvania mom charged with murder, accused of hanging her children. https://www.mcall.com/news/breaking/mc-nws-berks-child-deaths-arrest-20191202-n3awtpbfgjaqtoh3lk4pyqlcjy-story.html

The Associated Press. Penn Live (2020, June 30) Mom accused of killing kids found hanging in Pa. home says she can’t afford lawyer. https://www.pennlive.com/news/2020/06/mom-accused-of-killing-kids-found-hanging-in-pa-home-says-she-cant-afford-lawyer.html

Audio:

CrimeOnline-9-1-1 Dispatch: https://soundcloud.com/user-815495581/berks-county-children-911-call

Press Conference 6ABC Philadelphia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btWRIY4hKfg

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