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Horrible Story from Tampa Palms
TAMPA ? A 50-year-old woman who complained that her two teenage children were mouthy was accused Friday of shooting them to death at their home in Tampa Palms, police said.
Julie Powers Schenecker faces two charges of first-degree murder in the deaths of Calyx Schenecker, 16, and Beau Schenecker, 13, said police spokeswoman Laura McElroy.
Schenecker admitted the killings, McElroy said.
The father of the children is Army Col. Parker Schenecker, 48, who is stationed at Central Command at MacDill Air Force Base. He was overseas and was notified that his wife had killed their children at their home, 16305 Royal Park Court, police said.
"I don't think there's an explanation that could make us understand," McElroy said. "She did tell us that they talk back and they were mouthy."
The shooting occurred Thursday evening. Police say that at about 7 p.m., Julie Schenecker armed herself with a .38-caliber pistol that she had purchased Saturday and shot her son twice in the head "for talking back to her" as she drove him to soccer practice, an arrest affidavit states.
She left him in the garage and went upstairs, where she shot her 16-year-old daughter in the back of the head while she did homework on the computer, the affidavit states.
The children were not found until Friday morning, when a police officer responded to the house after an out-of-state relative became concerned when the family couldn't be reached, police said.
No one answered at the house. At the back door, a police officer found the mother covered in blood. Inside, police found the bodies of the children and a note from the mother detailing how she would kill her children and then herself.
In the garage, police found Beau shot in the side of the head. Calyx was found dead in an upstairs room. There did not appear to have been a struggle, police said.
"It appears that the children never saw it coming," McElroy said.
Calyx was in the 10th grade pre-International Baccalaureate program at King High School. Powers was in the 8th grade at Liberty Middle School.
Seena Jain, who carpooled with the Schenecker children and her own daughter, Sheema, 15, described the family as quiet. Jain said Col. Schenecker was home a few weeks ago picking up the carpooling shift while his wife recovered from a serious car crash a month ago.
Jain said Calyx was well-mannered and ran track and cross-country.
"Calyx was a very sweet girl, always soft spoken, always quiet," Jain said. "A real sweetheart. I just can't comprehend why this has happened to them."
The police Critical Incident Stress Management team, which provides counseling to investigators in stressful situations, was at the "devastating crime scene," McElroy said.
"It's truly a heartbreaking scene," McElroy said.
Mrs. Schenecker was led from Tampa Police Department headquarters dressed in a white, plastic outfit, the type given to suspects when their clothing is seized as evidence.
She did not answer questions from reporters and appeared to be talking to herself or those around her while she was taken to the Orient Road Jail.
Lt. Col. Mike Lawhorn, a U.S. Central Command spokesman, said Parker is assigned to CentCom's "intelligence directorate" and that he has worked for CentCom for over two years.
Schenecker was on a temporary duty assignment overseas the past few days, Lawhorn said. He would not say where but noted Schenecker was working in CentCom's area of responsibility, which includes much of the Middle East.
Lawhorn would not comment about any ties between Schenecker and the National Security Agency, referring questions to the NSA. He is a career military intelligence officer with 28 years of service, according to CentCom.
Re: Horrible Story from Tampa Palms
DX: 6/9/2011: Azoo ICSI/IVF only option for biological child
IVF #1: ER - 9/26 * ET - 10/1 * beta#1 10/13 - 140 * beta#2 10/17 - 477 * beta#3 10/20 - 1101
1st u/s at 6w6d - one hb * 2nd u/s at 8w3d - no hb detected 11/10/11 * natural m/c 11/13/11
FET #1 Jan/Feb 2012 - 3 delays - cancelled 2/13
FET #1.2 - May/June 2012 - ET 6/6/* beta#1 6/15 - 95 * beta #2 6/19 - 322 * beta #3 6/22 - 940
7/6 1st u/s @ 7 weeks - one beautiful hb - released from RE
EDD 2/22/2013
PAIF/SAIF/PGAL welcome
I was thinking the same thing.
DX: 6/9/2011: Azoo ICSI/IVF only option for biological child
IVF #1: ER - 9/26 * ET - 10/1 * beta#1 10/13 - 140 * beta#2 10/17 - 477 * beta#3 10/20 - 1101
1st u/s at 6w6d - one hb * 2nd u/s at 8w3d - no hb detected 11/10/11 * natural m/c 11/13/11
FET #1 Jan/Feb 2012 - 3 delays - cancelled 2/13
FET #1.2 - May/June 2012 - ET 6/6/* beta#1 6/15 - 95 * beta #2 6/19 - 322 * beta #3 6/22 - 940
7/6 1st u/s @ 7 weeks - one beautiful hb - released from RE
EDD 2/22/2013
PAIF/SAIF/PGAL welcome
OMG this is horrible. I'm thinking too that she had some mental health issues. They mentioned she was in a car crash a little while ago, I wonder if that had something to do with it (head injury or something?)
It's incredibly sad either way.
I love my crazy child!
My Bio
My silly Lily is almost 4.
My thoughts exactly. My mouth was hanging open the whole time reading this. How tragic.
I am mess between this and reading Kelle Hampton's blog.
And to be honest, unless it was a mental illness, I do not understand. I pushed limits as a teenager. Yep, I was h3ll-fire mouthy, too (still am.) But to be shot for it?
I cannot process this.
That's a good point. From what I've heard, people often become severely depressed after a head injury.
In any case, it is so, so tragic. I feel like every headline I see lately is about someone being shot and killed. It makes me so sad.
This was my first thought. How horrible.
I feel so bad for her poor husband, who's overseas in the Middle East. My dad's retired Army, but he works for a contractor based out of CENTCOM at MacDill and I'm sure that they're trying to deal with ths now. I don't understand how anyone could do this to anyone, let alone their own children.
Married Bio