Prosecutors wanted to lock a 65-year-old Minnesota mother in prison for nearly two decades for attempting to kill her adult special needs son, but a judge denied the request and sentenced her to a much shorter prison term.
Julie Myhre-Schnell received a three-year prison sentence after confessing to attempting to kill her wheelchair-bound son by dumping crushed anti-anxiety tablets into a feeding bag at his group home. In July, Myhre-Schnell pled guilty to one count of attempted first-degree murder related to the December 2023 incident. Myhre-Schnell made an agreement with prosecutors to plead guilty in exchange for the elimination of the aggravating circumstance that the victim was “particularly vulnerable.”
According to the Minnesota Star Tribune, prosecutors wanted Myhre-Schnell to serve an 18-year jail sentence, the most allowed under the guidelines. However, the judge reduced the maximum sentence significantly, which prosecutor Ron Hocevar strenuously objected. According to the state, the defendant “systematically tried to kill her disabled son — her own child.”
“Prior to her plea, the defendant expressed little to no regret. Defendant expressed regret to law enforcement that her son survived her attempts. “A 36-month sentence for attempted murder is why people believe the justice system is flawed,” Hocevar stated.
The judge did not explain the shorter sentence, despite Myhre-Schnell’s son’s request for leniency.
Myhre-Schnell was in the midst of a divorce from Minnesota Department of Corrections Commissioner Paul Schnell when she was arrested in August 2024. Following her detention, the couple’s divorce was formalized, and Schnell sought an order of protection for himself and the victim, according to the Star Tribune.
As previously reported by Law&Crime, the attempted murder occurred on December 3, 2023, according to a probable cause affidavit. Authorities did not announce the victim’s identity, but he is wheelchair-bound with spina bifida and requires round-the-clock care, including a ventilator.
He was receiving treatment at Regency Home treatment in Vadnais Heights, Ramsey County, when Myhre-Schnell attempted to kill him with a Lorazepam overdose. She was “hoping he would go to sleep forever,” according to authorities, citing one of several text conversations in which she admitted to the crime.
According to documents, the victim told detectives that “he liked his residence and had everything he needed” and “talked about his friends and what he enjoys doing in his spare time, including weekly volunteering at the zoo.”
The Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office stated that Myhre-Schnell not only “admitted to multiple people,” including the victim, that she crushed her Lorezepam pills and attempted to kill her kid, but also supplied additional information to detectives when questioned.
“On June 15, 2024, Investigator Hughes spoke with Defendant about her confessions.” Defendant admitted in her Mirandized confession that she attempted to kill Victim in December 2023. The defendant indicated in the complaint that she refilled her Lorazepam prescription at the beginning of the month and received 31 tablets. “Investigator Hughes was able to confirm that Defendant had visited Victim at his group home on Dec. 3, 2023.”
“Defendant admitted that she crushed the remaining Lorazepam pills and mixed them with a’slurry’ of water in a container to transport to the facility. The defendant brought the’slurry’ in its container and carried it in her pocket until she emptied it into Victim’s feeding bag that night before departing,” the lawsuit stated.
According to investigators, Myhre-Schnell stated that “the whole time, I knew I was going try this” and that “all night, I was like, am I really doing this? Are I doing this? Are I doing this? I cannot believe I’m doing this.”
Authorities said Myhre-Schnell recalled thinking, “I’m going to jail,” being concerned about a toxicology report exposing her after the victim survived respiratory failure, and said she “completely regretted he survived.”
“I was concerned about them finding out through toxicology, and I was probably trying to figure out what I was going to do. “I’m just going to jail,” Myhre-Schnell informed officials.
By July 2024, investigators said, evidence proved that the defendant had refilled her Lorazepam prescription two days before the attempted murder. But what investigators claim occurred in early August, only weeks before Myhre-Schnell’s arrest, is even more stunning.
“On Aug. 6, 2024, Defendant texted Victim, confessing to him that she put her medicine in his feeding bag hoping he would ‘go to sleep forever,'” according to the lawsuit! ” Investigator Hughes obtained copies of these messages. Victim texted Defendant, saying he was ‘on the fence’ about deleting her number. In response to Investigator Hughes’ question regarding Victim’s feelings after discovering what transpired, he said, ‘I made it, I’m still here.’ Victim described his reaction to the defendant’s confession as “heavy” and “a lot to process.”
