TAMPA, Fla — Wednesday marked the 10-year anniversary of a double homicide that rocked the Tampa Bay area.
On Jan. 27, 2011, police found two children, ages 16 and 13, dead at their home in Tampa, Florida. Their mother, Julie Schenecker, would be convicted of first-degree murder for their deaths.
The 53-year-old military linguist and longtime Army officer's wife was found unconscious on the rear porch of the home, covered in blood when officers arrived on that day. Police said at that moment she admitted to killing her children, stating that they were being "mouthy."
Schenecker would later plead not guilty and would seek the insanity defense.
During her trial, it was revealed that Schenecker bought a .38-caliber handgun days before her daughter, Calyx, and son, Beau, were murdered. It was the same type of weapon both children had been shot with.
In her journal, Schenecker wrote she wanted to kill herself and wanted to be cremated with her children, their ashes mixed together. She mentioned that she was going to try to move her son's body into her bed and wanted to die next to him.
Mental health experts who testified said Schenecker was mentally ill, but three experts called by prosecutors said she was legally sane when she shot her children.
Shenecker was sentenced to two life terms to be served at the same time.
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