ChiefsPlanet - News Mom Killed Her Own Kids

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TAMPA - With a .38-caliber revolver she bought five days before, Julie Schenecker shot her 13-year-old son twice in the head as they drove home from soccer practice Thursday evening, police said.

She then parked the family's SUV in the garage of their New Tampa home, went upstairs and shot her 16-year-old daughter in the back of the head and in the face as she did her homework on the computer, authorities said.

When an officer arrived at the home in the gated Ashington Reserve community early Friday in response to a call from a worried relative, Schenecker was on the back porch in slippers and a bloody robe.

She told investigators she killed her children because "they talked back, they were mouthy and she was tired of it," police spokeswoman Laura McElroy said.

Schenecker, 50, was arrested on two counts of first-degree murder.

McElroy said she showed no remorse.

Clad in a white jumpsuit, a wide-eyed and haunted-looking Schenecker shook uncontrollably as she was led in shackles to Orient Road Jail.

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Her son, Beau, was an eighth-grader at Liberty Middle School and an "amazing goalkeeper."
Her daughter, Calyx, was a sophomore at King High School, where she was in the International Baccalaureate program and a member of the cross country team.

Schenecker's husband Parker is a colonel in U.S. Army intelligence and is in Qatar.

In the military for 28 years, he is assigned to U.S. Central Command, where he works in the intelligence directorate, said Centcom Lt. Col. Michael T. Lawhorn.

Centcom officials at MacDill Air Force Base notified Parker Schenecker of the tragedy at the request of Tampa police.

Friends of the Schenecker children were distraught.

"My son is uncontrollably crying," said Lottie Creech, whose son Hunter played soccer with Beau and hung out with him at McDonald's on Fridays after school.

King High junior Emily Kolilas last saw Calyx at Thursday track practice.

"She always, always had a smile on her face every day at practice," Kolilas said. "Everyone loved Calyx. I loved her. She was just an outstanding young woman. She was amazing. I just can't believe it."

King High Principal Carla Bruning said Calyx was "probably the perfect little child."

"She never missed school," Bruning said. "Today was her first absence."

Police received a call just after 7:30 a.m. Friday from Julie Schenecker's mother, who lives in Texas. She said she was concerned because she couldn't reach her daughter, whom she thought was depressed, McElroy said.

Officers arrived at the home at 16305 Royal Park Court six minutes later but got no answer at the front door, so they went around back and where they discovered Julie Schenecker.

Beau's body was found in the SUV's front passenger seat in the garage, police said. Calyx's body was in the upstairs bedroom.

Schenecker told investigators she had planned to kill the children and herself, police said. They said she left a detailed note with her plans.

After being booked, Schenecker immediately was taken to the jail's medical ward because of her shaking, sheriff's spokesman Larry McKinnon said. She likely will stay there for a couple of days for observation and then placed in an individual cell to allow closer monitoring.

The state Department of Children & Families previously investigated a domestic argument involving the family, spokesman Terry Field said. But the case did not rise to the level of abuse and was closed in the past few months. Field could not immediately provide further details.

Forensic psychologist Geoffrey McKee said it's rare for mothers to intentionally kill their children and rarer still when the children are older than 12.

"The primary dynamic in those situations is conflict over the children's independence," said McKee, author of the book "Why Mothers Kill" and a clinical professor in neuropsychiatry at the University of South Carolina's School of Medicine in Columbia, S.C. "It might involve issues of curfew or getting the car keys."

He said it is typical for parents who intentionally kill their children to commit suicide.

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The Scheneckers paid $448,000 for their 3,300-square-foot home at 16305 Royal Park Court in April 2008, according to property records, which also list the current market value at about $260,000.
With police and media descending on the community, residents described the situation as unnerving.

"This is devastating for the neighborhood," said neighbor Michelle Ball as she walked her dog past the taped-off crime scene.

Kemi Alli waited at the nearby school bus stop Friday afternoon; she said school officials recommended parents meet their children coming off the bus in light of the slayings.

Alli's children played soccer with Beau and her 15-year-old daughter attends King.

"Those kids had such a bright future," she said. "And now it's gone.

"Imagine how the husband must feel on his way back. He lost everything."

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