AGXStarseed
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PURE EVIL: Monster mum hearing ‘crazy voices’ drowned her two sons in the bath because she wrongly believed they had autism… now she’s jailed for 80 years
A MONSTER mum who drowned her two sons in the bath because she wrongly believed they had autism has been jailed for 80 years.
Laurel Schlemmer, 44, was found guilty of two counts of third-degree murder in March over the deaths of Daniel, six, and his younger brother Luke, three, in April 2014.
Laurel Schlemmer arrives in court in March to her the judge's verdict
Schlemmer drowned her two sons in the bath because of 'crazy voices'
Her trial in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, heard how she put the boys in the bathtub one by one before sitting on them until they stopped moving.
She then called 911 and claimed the boys fell unconscious while she was out of the room, the court heard.
Psychiatrists for the prosecution and defence testified that Schlemmer was obsessed with the idea that her two youngest sons were autistic and would never grow up normally, even though a battery of tests she put them through showed otherwise.
After filling the bathtub and helping the boys out of their superhero pyjamas, Schlemmer told police in interview: "They got in the bathtub and, um, these crazy voices were prompting me to act irrationally.
"I, uh, changed clothes and, um, and I got in there with them and held them under water.
"And I felt like I was looking down on the whole thing, just kind of out of body, and then I freaked out and then got out (and) changed my clothes and got them out."
Police officer Todd Ray told the court the boys had been dried, had their hair combed and were lying next to each other when he arrived at the scene in the town of McCandless.
Little Luke died the same day while Daniel died four days later.
Allegheny County Judge Jeffrey Manning called the sentence a de-facto life term given the killer’s age.
Schlemmer will begin her sentence in a state mental hospital and be moved to prison if doctors ever deem her cured, after the judge ruled her to be mentally ill.
The mum’s lawyer had argued her diminished mental capacity kept her from forming the intent to kill her sons.
And the judge delayed the sentencing for a month, because he was concerned Schlemmer might not be mentally competent.
But he said a psychiatrist found no symptoms of any of the mental illnesses Schlemmer suffered from when she killed her sons.
Doctors told the judge before trial that she often wouldn't take her medications and her symptoms were aggravated.
But prior to sentencing, the judge said she was on medication.
Schlemmer met her husband, Mark, on a Christian singles online dating site.
She told psychiatrists she felt "pressured" to have more children as her husband opted not to use birth control for religious reasons.
Schlemmer also had three miscarriages and felt the younger sons were "foreign" to her and her husband and not as compliant as their oldest boy, according to Dr Bruce Wright, the prosecution's expert.
Schlemmer drowned the younger boys after taking her oldest son to a school bus stop.
She also admitted to psychiatrists that she tried to kill Luke and Daniel in April 2013 by tying their hands and feet with twine and backing over them with her car three times, but then claimed it was an accident.
Police and social workers also determined it was an accident.
Schlemmer told her husband days before the drownings that she wanted to confess to that crime, but he talked her out of it, prosecutors said.
Source: Monster mum hearing 'crazy voices' drowned her two sons in the bath because she wrongly believed they had autism… now she’s jailed for 80 years
PURE EVIL: Monster mum hearing ‘crazy voices’ drowned her two sons in the bath because she wrongly believed they had autism… now she’s jailed for 80 years
A MONSTER mum who drowned her two sons in the bath because she wrongly believed they had autism has been jailed for 80 years.
Laurel Schlemmer, 44, was found guilty of two counts of third-degree murder in March over the deaths of Daniel, six, and his younger brother Luke, three, in April 2014.
Laurel Schlemmer arrives in court in March to her the judge's verdict
Schlemmer drowned her two sons in the bath because of 'crazy voices'
Her trial in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, heard how she put the boys in the bathtub one by one before sitting on them until they stopped moving.
She then called 911 and claimed the boys fell unconscious while she was out of the room, the court heard.
Psychiatrists for the prosecution and defence testified that Schlemmer was obsessed with the idea that her two youngest sons were autistic and would never grow up normally, even though a battery of tests she put them through showed otherwise.
After filling the bathtub and helping the boys out of their superhero pyjamas, Schlemmer told police in interview: "They got in the bathtub and, um, these crazy voices were prompting me to act irrationally.
"I, uh, changed clothes and, um, and I got in there with them and held them under water.
"And I felt like I was looking down on the whole thing, just kind of out of body, and then I freaked out and then got out (and) changed my clothes and got them out."
Police officer Todd Ray told the court the boys had been dried, had their hair combed and were lying next to each other when he arrived at the scene in the town of McCandless.
Little Luke died the same day while Daniel died four days later.
Allegheny County Judge Jeffrey Manning called the sentence a de-facto life term given the killer’s age.
Schlemmer will begin her sentence in a state mental hospital and be moved to prison if doctors ever deem her cured, after the judge ruled her to be mentally ill.
The mum’s lawyer had argued her diminished mental capacity kept her from forming the intent to kill her sons.
And the judge delayed the sentencing for a month, because he was concerned Schlemmer might not be mentally competent.
But he said a psychiatrist found no symptoms of any of the mental illnesses Schlemmer suffered from when she killed her sons.
Doctors told the judge before trial that she often wouldn't take her medications and her symptoms were aggravated.
But prior to sentencing, the judge said she was on medication.
Schlemmer met her husband, Mark, on a Christian singles online dating site.
She told psychiatrists she felt "pressured" to have more children as her husband opted not to use birth control for religious reasons.
Schlemmer also had three miscarriages and felt the younger sons were "foreign" to her and her husband and not as compliant as their oldest boy, according to Dr Bruce Wright, the prosecution's expert.
Schlemmer drowned the younger boys after taking her oldest son to a school bus stop.
She also admitted to psychiatrists that she tried to kill Luke and Daniel in April 2013 by tying their hands and feet with twine and backing over them with her car three times, but then claimed it was an accident.
Police and social workers also determined it was an accident.
Schlemmer told her husband days before the drownings that she wanted to confess to that crime, but he talked her out of it, prosecutors said.
Source: Monster mum hearing 'crazy voices' drowned her two sons in the bath because she wrongly believed they had autism… now she’s jailed for 80 years
