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Source

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — The wife of a military officer shot and killed her son on the way to soccer practice, then drove to their upscale home and shot her daughter in the head while she studied at her computer, police said Friday. Afterward, the woman told detectives she killed the teens for being "mouthy."

Julie Powers Schenecker admitted the slayings after officers found her covered in blood on the back porch of her home Friday morning, police spokeswoman Laura McElroy said. Schenecker's mother had called police from Texas because she was unable to reach the 50-year-old woman, whom she said was depressed and had been complaining about her children.

Schenecker's husband, Parker Schenecker, is an Army colonel stationed at the headquarters of U.S. Central Command at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa. The father had been away for several days when the killings happened, said CentCom spokesman Lt. Col. Michael Lawhorn, describing him as a career Army intelligence officer.

Police said Parker Schenecker was in Qatar and was told of his children's deaths on Friday.

Julie Schenecker left a note detailing her plans to kill her disrespectful children and then herself, saying "they talked back and were mouthy and that she was going to take care of it," McElroy said. She provided the same motive to police who interviewed her.

"I think we will never understand how or why a mother could take the lives of her children," McElroy said. "That was the only reason she provided to our detectives."

The body of Schenecker's daughter, Calyx Powers Schenecker, 16, was found in an upstairs bedroom, McElroy said. The body of her son, Powers Beau Schenecker, 13, was found in an SUV in the garage.

An arrest affidavit said Schenecker shot her son twice in the head "for talking back" while driving him to soccer practice Thursday night. She drove home, went inside and shot her daughter in the back of head while the teen sat at a computer doing homework, then shot her in the face, the affidavit said.

McElroy said investigators believe the teens "never saw it coming." Both were killed with a .38-caliber pistol.

Julie Schenecker was jailed and charged with two counts of first-degree murder. Wearing a white jumpsuit, she was led into a county jail later Friday visibly shaking and being supported by a sheriff's deputy.

Her Facebook page says she earned a bachelor's degree in physical education from the University of Northern Iowa.

Sylvia Carroll, who attended Muscatine High School in Iowa with Julie Schenecker, said she was a popular and athletic girl who starred in basketball in the late 1970s. They reconnected about a year ago on Facebook.

"I'm just in shock," said Carroll, who now lives in Austin, Texas. "I can't believe this."

The family's home is on a cul-de-sac in a gated country club community in north Tampa. Hillsborough County property records show that the Scheneckers bought the house in 2008 for $448,000. It now has a market value of $261,000.

Vitreous
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BTowns
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That's depressing. I can't believe someone would actually do that to their kids. I guess if she was depressed though, then she isn't thinking rationally. This is another reason why I believe they shouldn't sell guns commercially, and if I had my way, they wouldn't make guns at all. She was an army wife, and so there was guns in the home. Guns in the home is bad enough already, especially with teenagers, but throw in mental instability and that's a recipe for disaster. I hope her husband is okay On a side note, the names of her children are ridiculous, and that might have been the first indicator of mental instability. Sorry for making jokes, but that's how I cope with sad information, by making light of it. It's horrible she did that to her husband though, now he has nothing to come back to Even the value of his home is depreciated I wouldn't be able to handle it. I don't even know what to post, so I'm going to stop running my mouth...fingers.

Master Stalfos
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the_casualty
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I'm actually not suprized at all by this. Disgusted? Yes. Freaked out? Yes. Society is really messed up today. It doesn't take a pessimist to realize this, anybody with their head on straight can see it. Although I do hate society pretty much as a whole, there are good people out there. But the number of them is shrinking... arrgh.

Rant rant ranty rant rant.

Cerebus
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Honestly, she probably would have shot the husband too if he had been home.

But yeah, my first thought was "WTF is up with those names" myself. I also look for humor.

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That is crazy. How could you kill your own kids! I hope that woman never sees the light of day again.

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For being mouthy??? Yeah right, why was she going to soccer practice with a .38-caliber pistol in first place. Almost as if she knew what she was doing. Plus the story doesn't make sense, the daughter at the computer wasn't being "mouthy" the moment she got shot (from the sound of it) she got shot in the back of the head probably by surprise. Seems premeditated to me unless we can get more info from her. Plus being married to someone in military doesn't help, probably why she went nuts since her husband was gone for long periods of time. If she was a stay at home mom, there is even more reason to go insane.

---

(last edited by JigSaw on 01-29-11 03:47 AM)

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"If she was a stay at home mom, there is even more reason to go insane."

really? That's what you think the problem was? She was a stay at home mom and that drove her insane?

Give me a break. Maybe she had a chemical imbalance in her brain or a mental illness or something.

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Well, a chemical or hormonal imbalance accompanied by her mental instability and depression, and since she's a stay at home mom she might have spent lots of time alone, and due to her illness she wouldn't have many friends. Having a mental illness and spending too much time alone makes it worse, so I think you're both right, actually.

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BTowns : yeah, but the suggestion that only because she was a stay at home mom meant she would go crazy and kill her kids doesn't cut it....

sure, it may have been a factor.... but there are millions of mothers who have stayed at home who haven't killed their kids....

Muck
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You can major in PE?

Anyway, really makes you wonder how much choice we actually have in our actions when the question of mental stability comes up. I think it's often over simplified making it seem as though they had no choice at all, when they probably did. I'm not exactly an expert on the subject, though.

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The thing is that there is no mention of her being mentally unstable. A bit depressed, yes, but not every depressed person goes out and commits murder. Also, her letter that she left behind indicated that she had planned to kill herself as well, yet she didn't... if her depression was a factor, I don't think she would have not finished her plan.

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That crazy somebody need to ki** that bit** I would if I wouldnt go to prison or knew I wouldnt get caught.

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She should be sentenced to execution. Especially since she shot both of her kids.


If her kids were being mouthy, why didn't she just like ground them or send them to boarding school. Its a lot better than to be grounded.

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Gameplay01
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This is a surprise indeed to think to she killed her own kids. I talked back to my mom one my punishment was taking my ipod for a month. Now seeing this I relized how far "talking back" can go.

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This just sickens me . If her excuse is they were "being mouthy" then something deeper seems to be wrong here...

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Those kids must of had a "blast"! Zing!

But really, this whole world is going nuts. "The world is burning...and we're laughing."

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That's just insane. People these days, doing things so violent over trivial matters.
Although, I think her depression might have affected her way of thinking. And she probably would've shot not just her kids, but her husband, or any one else that ever talked smart to her for that matter.

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I further heard that afterward she covered them with blankets and took a nap before police arrived. That is just cold, really cold.

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Seriously this doesn't surprise me either. It's pretty bad when a tragedy like this no longer surprises you. People are so messed up these days I can't stand it. I don't care how 'mouthy' they are, you never hurt your kids. Ever. Period. At least the woman who drowned her 5 kids in the bathtub gave a better reason than 'they were being mouthy'.

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I know, right? I mean, they were TEENAGERS! Being mouthy is a job requirement!

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