Wife's Murder Conviction Gives Colonel Sense of Relief

Mom Guilty of Killing Kids While Husband Deployed
Tampa Tribune
by Elaine Silvestrini
May 16, 2014

TAMPA -- Apologizing profusely, Julie Schenecker wept Thursday night as she told a judge she believes the two children she shot to death "are in no pain and they are alive and enjoying everything and anything heaven has to offer, Jesus protecting them and keeping them safe until we get there."

Schenecker had just been convicted of two counts of first-degree murder in the Jan. 27, 2011, slayings of her children, Calyx, 16, and Beau, 13. Jurors took less than three hours to reach their verdict, rejecting defense arguments that Schenecker was insane at the time she shot her children.

Following Schenecker's emotional statement, Circuit Judge Emmet Lamar Battles, saying the case was "almost too much for most to comprehend," sentenced her to the mandatory sentence of two life terms without parole.

Schenecker's former husband, Parker Schenecker, told reporters afterward that the verdict "gives my family a sense of relief."

The retired Army colonel, who was on deployment in the Middle East when his children were murdered, thanked the Tampa community for its support in the past three years.

"While this decision doesn't bring my children back," he said, "it does give my family an opportunity to move forward and honor their memory with the important work that we've been doing with Calyx and Beau Schenecker Memorial Fund, and remembering how they lived."
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