TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — In the trial of a Florida mother charged with killing her two teenagers, a crime scene technician says the woman wrote in her journal that she believed she was saving her children from the pain of depression and mental illness.
Julie Schenecker has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to two counts of first-degree murder. Police say Schenecker fatally shot her teenagers in 2011 while her then-husband was deployed.
On Tuesday, Tampa Police crime scene technician Matthew Evans continued his testimony, reading entries from Schenecker’s journals. She wrote that she was worried her children would inherit her bipolar disorder and depression.
She wrote, “I believed I’ve saved them from the pain.”
On Tuesday, the trial’s second day, jurors also saw photos of items around the family’s home.
(© Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
