Mother 'who hanged her two children with dog leash' burst into sobs in court at surviving son's remark

A Pennsylvania mother who allegedly killed two of her children with a dog leash sobbed as her surviving son disowned her at her trial.

Lisa Snyder, 41, is accused of hanging her eight-year-old son Connor and four-year-old daughter Brinley in the basement of her Albany Township home in 2019.

Her son Owen Synder, 22, took the stand on Tuesday to speak about the killings, prompting Snyder to audibly gasp and start crying.

'I just don’t see her as my mother anymore,' Owen said when asked why he referred to Snyder as 'Lisa,' as reported by the Mainline Times & Suburban.

A stoic Owen denied his mother's claims that it was a suicidal and depressed Connor that killed himself and his little sister because he was being bullied at school.

'He was a happy-go-lucky kid,' he said when asked if Connor was depressed.

'He always wanted to be doing something. He was always playing with his little sister.'

Owen added that little Connor had physical limitations that would have made it difficult to set up the hangings. 

Snyder was initially also accused of having sex with her pit bull shortly before the killings after investigators at the time said they found evidence in Snyder's Facebook account.

However, a judge ruled that those claims would not be admitted into the murders trial after the defense team argued the claims would prejudice the jury.

After Berks County prosecutors rested their case late Friday morning, defense attorney Dennis Charles unsuccessfully sought an immediate acquittal, calling the case based on speculation and theory and 'all guesswork.'

Connor and Brinley were found hanged in the basement in September 2019 and died three days later when they were taken off life support.

The trial began last week, with the court told how Snyder had used her phone to Google 'How to hang yourself' and search for a show called 'Almost Got Away With It' days before Conner and Brinley died.

A further gory twist saw the tall wooden kitchen chairs Conner and Brinley had been hanged from brought into court.

Snyder remained emotionless, with her lawyers insisting the evidence against her is all conjecture.

The defense is first arguing that Snyder did not kill her children, but has also said that even if she did, she was insane when it happened and should be sent to a psychiatric hospital instead of prison.

Snyder, who made the initial 911 call, had told police her son was bullied and had been threatening to take his own life, but authorities were immediately suspicious of her claim of suicide, and said they found no evidence to support it.

The boy showed no outward signs of trouble on school bus security video recorded that day, and an occupational therapist later said he wasn't physically capable of causing that kind of harm to himself or his little sister.

Snyder also admitted going to a store to buy a dog leash on the day the children were found hanging from it, authorities said.

She called for help later saying how she was unable to get them down from where they were hanging because she was suffering from extreme anxiety. 

Prosecutors have indicated they are pushing for Snyder to receive the death penalty but will face life behind bars if she's convicted of first-degree murder.

It will be up to the judge, rather than a jury, to make that decision.

A judge last year rejected a plea agreement under which Snyder would have pleaded no contest but mentally ill to two counts of third-degree murder. Prosecutors earlier indicated an intention to seek the death penalty.