A 65-year-old Minnesota woman is facing a potential 18-year prison sentence after admitting she attempted to kill her disabled son by slipping crushed anti-anxiety pills into his feeding bag.
Julie Myhre-Schnell pleaded guilty last week to attempted first-degree murder in connection with the December 2023 incident, according to prosecutors. Her plea deal includes the dismissal of the “particularly vulnerable victim” aggravating factor, but the case is still as chilling as it gets.
Authorities say Myhre-Schnell, who was going through a divorce from Minnesota Department of Corrections Commissioner Paul Schnell at the time, confessed to multiple people—including her son—that she had tried to end his life.
Her son, whose name has not been released, lives in a group home and requires 24/7 care due to spina bifida and other medical needs, including the use of a wheelchair and ventilator. He was staying at Regency Home Care in Vadnais Heights, Ramsey County, when his mother visited on December 3, 2023.
That night, she allegedly crushed up her Lorazepam pills, mixed them into a slurry, and dumped the concoction into his feeding bag. In texts later recovered by investigators, Myhre-Schnell told others that she “hoped he would go to sleep forever.”
“I knew I was gonna try to do this,” she later told police in a taped interview. “All night, I was like, am I really doing this? I can’t believe I’m doing this.”
The plot backfired. Her son survived the overdose after experiencing respiratory failure, and toxicology tests raised red flags. Myhre-Schnell would later express regret—not for the crime, but for the fact that he survived.
“I was worried about them finding out through the toxicology,” she said. “I’m just going to go to jail.”
And she might. In August 2024, just weeks before her arrest, she sent her son a text confessing outright: she had poisoned his feeding bag, hoping he would die.
“I made it, I’m still here,” her son replied, according to investigators. “It was heavy. It’s a lot to process.”
Despite the trauma, the victim told authorities he was happy living at the facility and enjoyed volunteering at the zoo each week.
Following her arrest, her divorce was finalized and Commissioner Schnell filed a protection order on behalf of himself and the victim.
While no specific sentence has been agreed upon in her plea deal, Myhre-Schnell faces up to 18 years behind bars. Her sentencing hearing is scheduled for November 7.
The case has shocked even seasoned investigators and raises questions about mental health support for caregivers and the safeguards in place for vulnerable adults.
Click this link for the original source of this article.
Author: thedailycrime1
This content is courtesy of, and owned and copyrighted by, https://thedailycrime.org and its author. This content is made available by use of the public RSS feed offered by the host site and is used for educational purposes only. If you are the author or represent the host site and would like this content removed now and in the future, please contact USSANews.com using the email address in the Contact page found in the website menu.
