Mother who shot children: Insanity defence rejected

A Florida mother who shot her two teenage children in the head says she knows what she did — but not why she did it.

Julie Schenecker apologised to “everyone in the courtroom” following her conviction on two counts of first-degree murder.

Crying as she spoke, Schenecker told the judge and jurors she would have plenty of time in prison to “try to understand” why she killed her 13-year-old son, Beau, and 16-year-old daughter, Calyx.

The jury delivered its verdict within two hours, agreeing with the prosecution that the 53-year-old former military linguist knew exactly what she was doing when she aimed a .38-calibre handgun loaded with hollow-point bullets at her children’s heads.

The defence argued that Schenecker was legally insane.

Earlier in the trial, jurors heard from Schenecker’s former husband, Parker, who was on a 10-day deployment to the Middle East when the children were shot.

Parker Schenecker said his wife’s depression and mental illness was a constant “drum beat” in their relationship.

A psychologist told the court that Julie Schenecker called herself “a failure” because she didn’t succeed in committing suicide after killing her children.

For the defence, Dr Eldra Solomon said she has no doubt Schenecker was insane when she killed the children in January 2011.

Dr Solomon told the jury she reviewed all Schenecker’s medical records and that she had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder with psychotic features.