GUILTY FL - Calyx, 16, & Beau Schenecker, 13, shot to death, Tampa, 27 Jan 2011 #1

[janx]

Wow, this is the first I've even heard of this case. Listening to jury selection now.

 

[patty24]

Hi, I am a lurker... no more..... Watching this jury selection for an hour now.. Just cannot believe people are being asked if they have savings to pay for their mortgage,bills, etc while they serve on a possible month long jury.... Really? Then asking about family members helping out? Grrrrrrr!!!!! I am appalled!!!!!

 

[jacct]

Hi, I am a lurker... no more..... Watching this jury selection for an hour now.. Just cannot believe people are being asked if they have savings to pay for their mortgage,bills, etc while they serve on a possible month long jury.... Really? Then asking about family members helping out? Grrrrrrr!!!!! I am appalled!!!!!

I am also a lurker, lol. I was struck by the same thing, I couldn't believe they asked the juror if he could borrow money from family and made the perspective juror explain why parents and siblings wouldn't give him rent money.

 

[zoey]

Hi, I am a lurker... no more..... Watching this jury selection for an hour now.. Just cannot believe people are being asked if they have savings to pay for their mortgage,bills, etc while they serve on a possible month long jury.... Really? Then asking about family members helping out? Grrrrrrr!!!!! I am appalled!!!!!

Wow!!!!! Can't believe they got that pesonal! Wonder what they would have said to me when I was primary caregivers for my mom

 

[jacct]

Wow!!!!! Can't believe they got that pesonal! Wonder what they would have said to me when I was primary caregivers for my mom

They did ask someone that, she is the caregiver for her 91 yo father. She was asked if she could get another family member to take over for 3 weeks. Another woman was asked if she could get her MIL to pick up her 3 children from school and watch them until she got home for the next 3 weeks. And both were asked of they could make those arrangements immediately, make some phone calls and let the judge know this afternoon.

In fairness people will make up stories to get out of jury duty, especially if it will be a trial longer than a day or two. The lawyers and judge have heard every story in the book and ask these questions to determine if they are true or just to get out of serving. I just have never heard someone asked to request a family member loan them rent money so they
can serve on a jury. I think that's a bit much.

 

[HauntsForHope]

One after another... no one can seem to set aside their preconceived notions based on the media they've seen and heard. Wow, gonna be hard to seat a jury at this pace.
I wonder why there was no plea deal in this case.

And why would you want to get out of one of the biggest cases? So you scrape by for a few weeks then make a ton of money in interviews after the trial. lol

 

[HauntsForHope]

With such a long history of mental illness and everyone in the family knowing her condition, especially her husband, I am surprised it went to trial.

 

[HauntsForHope]

'Prosecutors recently took the death penalty off the table, saying there was enough evidence to prove Schenecker is mentally ill. However, she still faces life in prison.'

http://mynews13.com/content/news/cf...icles/bn9/2014/4/17/judge_excludes_some_.html


"Prosecutors are not seeking the death penalty, but if convicted, Schenecker could face life in prison without the possibility of parole. If Schenecker is found not guilty by reason of insanity, the judge could still order her committed to a mental hospital until it is determined she is no longer a danger to others or herself."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/28/military-mom-killed-kids_n_5225499.html

 

[patty24]

I know one older woman was very informed about the case.... hmm.... so much so I wondered if she was a fellow websleuther, lol. Well she made no bones about it, she was not going to be able to "wipe the chalkboard clean" and set aside any preconceived opinions about the case.... she said 'No, it's there and not about to be set aside....'

I agree....not sure why this is going to trial. She is clearly guilty of killing her children... no rocket science there.... and I personally don't think her mental condition can assume all of the responsibility for her actions....... why? because it was premeditated..... And she was able to put her plan into place without much ado..... pretty good for someone who could not function otherwise.....
So I guess we have to have a trial to decide what charge to find her guilty of and what her sentence should be...... a task that will undoubtedly be costly for ALL involved..... financially and emotionally.

 

[turaj]

This jury selection caught my eye today...asking people to dig into their savings to be on a jury???? This system is flawed. So few can serve and not sure they are the best ones to make such a decision. I was taking a look at some old family photos and this woman was a different person...at least physically. She is so pathetic. I'm not sure everyone around her realized the extent of her illness...what an awful situation.

 

[Bernina]

I finished reading through this entire thread..........

This case is so incredibly sad and heartbreaking.
I would say to those who have not lived with a loved one with Bipolar and the incredible toll it takes, not only on the loved one but yourself, to hold your judgement on this wife and mother.

What I have read is "TYPICAL", yes, "TYPICAL" in my part of the world, of the lives of one with Bipolar and secondary mental illnesses that usually come with it: Paranoia, schizophrenia, psychotic episodes, disillusion behavior, and let's throw in "Type A personality" when your loved one is in a "manic phase".

Let me make one thing perfectly clear:
1. People with bipolar are more likely to hurt themselves than others
2. Self medicating is COMMON, ie, alcohol and drugs
3. Going off Lithium is VERY common, the side effects of lithium are very hard for anyone to deal with, let alone accept as part of the rest of their life.
4. Getting a Dr. to believe YOU, the non-patient, is an never ending battle.

This husband did everything right.
The Dr.s and their never ending medication, non-disclosure to the husband, no in-patient medical evaluation and monitoring when adding/removing/combining old/new meds........WTH? These children DIED because the Dr.s put more credence in what their mentally ill patient said, in her delusional state, than the very people who interacted with her every single day and shouldered the burden of the Dr's choice of medication, aka "Guinea Pig of the Month" club.

I have been there, done that, got the bumper sticker, coffee cup and tattoo.

If anyone should be up on charges, it should be the Dr.s.

This woman was mentally ill, she was in both physical and mental agony. What Dr. lets their mentally ill patient vegetate in bed from depression for WEEKS despite the concerns of the immediate family? What Dr., after reviewing the history provided by the husband... WHICH WAS DOCUMENTED, doesn't title out this patient because it's clear she is a danger to herself, to say nothing of her family?

Some of you may think this woman is a cold blooded killer, evil, not fit to breath........but you are so very wrong. How do you think she feels now, with her meds properly diagnosed, seeing the true reality of her actions? She probably seeks death more than anyone could imagine. She "woke up" from a nightmare, to find out she had killed her own flesh and blood, her own children, that the act was so unforgiving that her only "rock", her husband, is no longer there to pick her up when everything makes no sense. And by no fault of her own, a mental illness took everything she loved away.

I spent 20 years with an ex husband with bipolar/paranoid/schizophrenic with psychotic tendencies. My current BF of 10 years is bipolar with depression.

In my 30 years of hands on experience, the biggest problem in the mental health arena is the Dr.s (regardless of private, State funded, or VA), NON DISCLOSURE BS, their unwillingness to protect those who may be in harm who live with the patient, and Pharmaceutical companies.

Before you judge this defendant, walk a mile in her shoes, or that of the many who live everyday with a person with bipolar.

 

[patty24]

I was thinking that my last post was a bit harsh, because I did not address her mental illness properly. It is documented and quite obvious that she has suffered from this for many years. I just do not believe she was insane when she committed the murders. I think she should be held accountable for her actions, but she isn't by going to trial.Regardless of whether she has a mental illness or not, she killed the children.If she was to get off on this charge, who is to say she wouldn't kill again? This women needs medication management and monitoring for the rest of her life, and there is no guarantee it will be done if she is released.

 

[aliciabal]

I'm living overseas so I can't watch the trial as it streams unless I want to be up way past my usual bedtime. I'm old, what can i say I just wanted to comment on the intensity of the questions asked by the judge for jury selection. This is such a high profile case that they are going to be hard pressed to find impartial jurors. It is, IMO, likely that they are going to such an extent because the jury pool is already quite small due to pretrial publicity. I'm a sahm and got pulled into jury duty even though dh was away and I had to pay for before and after childcare. We were able to do it but the reimbursement was not even close to our expense. Judges have less sympathy now because everyone seems to want to be excused.

 

[aliciabal]

Regarding no plea, the defendant has to be willing to accept a plea. I'll bet her lawyers have tried and and she is refusing. In her divorce filing, she asked for a host of things like alimony and life insurance along with a request to freeze marital assets. Perhaps she thinks she will get the insanity defense to work.

One after another... no one can seem to set aside their preconceived notions based on the media they've seen and heard. Wow, gonna be hard to seat a jury at this pace.
I wonder why there was no plea deal in this case.

And why would you want to get out of one of the biggest cases? So you scrape by for a few weeks then make a ton of money in interviews after the trial. lol

 

[momrids6]

Julie Schenecker murder trial begins;
12:49 p.m. EDT April 28, 2014

http://www.wtsp.com/story/news/loca...julie-schenecker-murder-trial-begins/8377239/

 

[azmama]

Regarding no plea, the defendant has to be willing to accept a plea. I'll bet her lawyers have tried and and she is refusing. In her divorce filing, she asked for a host of things like alimony and life insurance along with a request to freeze marital assets. Perhaps she thinks she will get the insanity defense to work.

Mental illness does not equal insanity.

I have also lived with a bipolar Mother for most of my life, while some behaviors can be involuntary (using that word for lack of a better one, it is the middle of the night here and I am fuzzy, lol), often times, the loss of memory or forgetfulness come later, not when an event or episode is happening. As if them deciding that they don't want to remember a specific event or behavior is acceptable but it is actually just too uncomfortable or embarrassing and the rest of us should just accept that they were impaired or "not on their medication, thus not their fault", but we are there to clean up the mess later. It can be a bit of manipulation. IMHO As mentioned above, in the post I quoted, she certainly was with it enough to participate in her divorce and ask for what she wanted. Yes, her meds are probably more regulated, but after living what I have, I also see that as another manipulation, scapegoat.

She knew what she was doing, she bought the gun, with a waiting period, wrote about it, and waited, then acted when she picked up the gun, not too forgetful then was she? Regardless of whether she is mentally ill or not, that is a crime, premeditated.

 

[Coldpizza]

Jury selection going slow in Julie Schenecker murder trial

On Monday, the first day of jury selection in Schenecker's double murder trial, her near-ubiquity was more than a mild annoyance for the attorneys working on her case. By the day's end, more than 20 people out of a pool of 50 prospective jurors were excused from duty. Most of them readily admitted their views had been shaped by news reports.

Once prosecutors and defense attorneys agree on a group of people selected from the initial pool, a second round of more detailed questioning will begin. The process could fill the entire first week of what's expected to be a three-week trial.

http://www.tampabay.com/news/courts...arts-in-julie-schenecker-murder-trial/2177236

 

[jacct]

ABCActionNewsCourt ‏@actionnewscourt 22m
#ScheneckerTrial: Court is back in session. We are continuing to live stream jury selection WATCH: http://wfts.tv/1jGWUtl

Tampa Bay Times Live ‏@TBTimesLive 16m
Day begins with another juror being eliminated. This one bc he couldn't find childcare

Tampa Bay Times Live ‏@TBTimesLive 11m
"Once the pain hits, you don't focus," says a juror with arthritis. She's excused.

Tampa Bay Times Live ‏@TBTimesLive 8m
"A woman killed her children, it made me sick to my stomach," says a would-be juror, summing up the charges, she is excused.

CC ‏@courtchatter 2m
Potential juror says #JulieSchenecker is guilty of killing her children. Ok..buh bye then

 

[jacct]

Tampa Bay Times Live ‏@TBTimesLive 1m
Attorneys are running into a problem: the few who get $ for jury duty, get it for 3 days. This trial is 3 weeks.

Tampa Bay Times Live ‏@TBTimesLive 1m
Juror: "I know she’s innocent until proven guilty…it’s just hard to know a mother could harm her kids." She is excused.

 

[jacct]

Gloria Gomez, FOX 13 ‏@ggome13 6m
Juror 57 sticks around. He doesn't have a lot of knowledge on the case and can keep an open mind

Tampa Bay Times Live ‏@TBTimesLive 5m
"I actually felt sorry for her," says Juror #58, but she thinks Julie Schenecker is guilty. She is excused.