Julie Schenecker: Murders, Insanity Defense, and New Trial Bid

Julie Schenecker is a former U.S. Army interrogator who shot and killed her two teenage children at the family’s home in Tampa, Florida, in January 2011. A Hillsborough County jury convicted her of two counts of first-degree murder in May 2014 and rejected her insanity defense after less than two hours of deliberation. She is serving two consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole.

What Happened in January 2011

On a Friday in late January 2011, Schenecker shot her 13-year-old son, Beau, twice in the head while driving him to soccer practice. She then drove home to the family’s gated community in north Tampa and shot her 16-year-old daughter, Calyx, in the back of the head as the girl sat studying at her computer in an upstairs bedroom.¹ The weapon was a .38-caliber handgun loaded with hollow-point bullets she had purchased days earlier.²

A concerned relative called for a welfare check. Officers found Beau’s body in an SUV in the garage and Calyx’s body in her bedroom. Schenecker was on the back porch, covered in blood.¹ She was briefly hospitalized for a preexisting medical condition and then transported to the Hillsborough County Jail on January 30, 2011, charged with two counts of first-degree murder.

Who Calyx and Beau Were

Calyx was a sophomore at C. Leon King High School in Tampa, enrolled in the International Baccalaureate program and running cross-country and track. She had founded a Harry Potter club at the school called “Dumbledore’s Army” and was described as a published artist.³

Beau was an eighth grader at Liberty Middle School. He played on several soccer clubs and also participated in basketball, flag football, and street hockey, and belonged to the school’s Future Business Leaders of America chapter.³

The Journal and Evidence of Planning

The prosecution built its case around a personal journal Schenecker kept in the days before the killings. One entry read, “I was planning for a Saturday massacre.” Another read, “The evil starts Thursday.” She wrote that she “cannot stand waiting” through Florida’s five-day firearm waiting period.⁴

Other passages named the children directly. Schenecker wrote that Calyx had called her an “evil soul” and would be the one who “gets it first,” and described shooting her daughter in the “sassy little mouth.” She wrote that she “offed Beau on the way to practice” because he had become “so mouthy.”⁴ The same journal also referred to Calyx as her “soul mate.”⁵

One entry addressed her husband, Parker: “I could have done this anytime. But luckily you weren’t here. I might have taken you out too. That would have been a crying shame.”²

Her Background and Mental Health

Schenecker had served roughly ten years as a military interrogator in the U.S. Army before leaving the service. She met Parker Schenecker in 1990 while coaching his military volleyball team, and they married in Arizona a few years later. Over their 20-year marriage the family lived in Hawaii, Maryland, Virginia, and Germany before settling in Tampa, where Parker was a Colonel at U.S. Central Command.⁶

Multiple psychiatrists testified that she had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and depression by several doctors over her lifetime. She had been molested by a neighbor at age seven, had contemplated suicide from age twelve, and had made two prior suicide attempts. She had been prescribed as many as ten different anti-psychotic, antidepressant, and mood-stabilizing medications. Doctors testified her illness was difficult to manage because of a biological resistance to the drugs and her tendency to under-report symptoms.⁷

She drank heavily at times, and in the months before the killings she had developed a gambling problem that ran to roughly $1,000 a month at a casino, forcing the family to take out a $10,000 loan to cover bills.⁷ On a treatment-center intake form in late 2010, she wrote that she had considered leaving her car running in the garage with her teenagers inside.

Parker was deployed to the Middle East in the weeks before the killings. Before he left, he had offered to have his mother help with the children because of growing tensions at home, particularly between Julie and Calyx. Julie declined, telling him, “I got this.”⁸ The couple divorced after the children’s deaths.⁶

The Trial and Insanity Defense

The Hillsborough County State Attorney’s Office, led by State Attorney Mark Ober, charged Schenecker with two counts of first-degree murder but did not seek the death penalty. A conviction carried a mandatory sentence of life without parole.⁹ She pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.

Under Florida law, the jury had to find that Schenecker either did not know what she was doing or did not understand it was wrong.¹⁰ Jury selection began in early May 2014, and the trial lasted roughly two weeks.

The Defense

Defense attorney Jennifer Spradley called six mental health experts. All agreed Schenecker was mentally ill; three testified she was legally insane at the time of the shootings. Psychiatrist Dr. Eldra Solomon said, “I think without a doubt she was insane at the time of the shooting and during the week prior to the shooting.”¹¹ Solomon testified that Schenecker had stopped taking her medication in the six months before the killings, triggering a “downward spiral,” and that she suffered delusions including a belief she had a brain tumor and a fear that her son would be molested. Forensic psychologist Dr. Wade Myers diagnosed her as bipolar with psychotic features and testified she was insane when she shot the children.¹²

Spradley also argued Schenecker had intended to kill herself after shooting the children but passed out from a combination of pills and alcohol.²

The Prosecution

Prosecutor Jay Pruner argued the journal proved Schenecker knew exactly what she was doing. He called the killings “deliberate, well-planned, well-implemented and well-concealed homicides” committed by a woman who was “desperate, depressed, angry, but very determined.”¹³ He walked jurors through her preparation: buying the handgun, choosing hollow-point ammunition, waiting through the background-check period, and writing her plan down.

Three prosecution experts testified that despite her mental illness, Schenecker was legally sane. Forensic psychiatrist Dr. Donald Taylor saw “no evidence that she was experiencing symptoms of psychosis” at the time and concluded she “knew what she was doing and she knew the consequences.”¹⁰ Forensic psychologist Dr. Randy Otto pointed to her behavior after the shootings, including telling detectives “this is the worst thing I’ve ever done,” noting her husband would be “mad,” and writing an apology letter.

Prosecutors argued the true motive was anger at Parker, particularly over his efforts to curb her drinking and his decision to leave her in a rehab facility over Thanksgiving.² In closing, Pruner told the jury the journal’s threat against Parker showed “Parker Schenecker was probably safer in the Middle East than he was in a bed next to her.”¹⁴

Verdict and Life Sentence

On May 15, 2014, after less than two hours of deliberation, the jury convicted Schenecker of both counts of first-degree murder. The initial vote was 11 to 1, with one juror favoring the insanity defense before being persuaded.¹⁵ Jurors later identified the journal as the most damaging piece of evidence, singling out the “the evil starts Thursday” entry.

Judge Emmett L. Battles sentenced her to life without parole on each count.¹⁵ Before sentencing, Schenecker told the court: “I apologize for what happened, what I did. I take responsibility. I was there. I know. I know I shot my son and daughter. I don’t know why but I have time to try to understand that.”²

The 2022 Bid for a New Trial

In 2022, Schenecker filed a motion for a new trial citing more than 20 grounds for relief. Her central claim was ineffective assistance of counsel, specifically that her public defenders had failed to call clinical pharmacologist Dr. Daniel Buffington, who she said could have testified about adverse side effects of her medications and strengthened the insanity defense.¹⁶ She also claimed her attorney had “convinced or bullied” her not to testify.¹⁷

Former public defender Jennifer Spradley testified that keeping Buffington off the stand was a strategic choice, saying, “I don’t believe his expertise rose to the level of testifying for insanity in this case,” and that his testimony “could have hurt her case.” She denied pressuring Schenecker not to testify.¹⁷

In February 2023, Hillsborough County Circuit Judge Michelle Sisco denied the motion, ruling that Schenecker had “failed to prove that her public defenders were ineffective in representing her.”¹⁸ She remains in the Florida state prison system serving two consecutive life sentences.

What Parker Schenecker Did Next

Parker Schenecker retired from the Army in 2011 after a 27-year career and later worked as a Department of Defense civilian employee. He established the Calyx and Beau Schenecker Memorial Fund, which provides scholarships for young leaders, athletes, and artists in the Tampa Bay area and sponsors a Leadership and Ethics Speaker Series for middle school students.¹⁹ Since 2011, Liberty Middle School’s National Junior Honor Society and FBLA chapter, the same organizations Beau belonged to, have raised more than $50,000 for the fund, with an additional $30,000 in matching contributions.³

1
ABC News. Julie Schenecker Released From Hospital, Charged With Killing Kids
2
CBS News. Florida Military Mom Guilty of Killing Kids Gets Life in Prison
3
Calyx and Beau Schenecker Memorial Fund. Calyx and Beau Schenecker Memorial Fund
4
NBC News. Tampa Mom on Trial Wrote Planning Saturday Massacre
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CBS News. Military Mom’s Journal Dissected in Kids’ Murder Trial
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Chronicle Online. Army Officer Testifies on Ex-Wife’s Mental Illness
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Herald Net. Doctor: Florida Mom Accused of Killing Kids Was Insane
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Spectrum News. After Day of Powerful Testimony in Schenecker Trial
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The Ledger. Tampa Mother Accused of Killing Her Children Goes to Trial
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Spectrum News. Defense Rests in Schenecker Trial
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CBS News. Psychiatrist: Fla. Mom Was Psychotic When She Killed Kids
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Spectrum News. Defense Could Be Close to Resting in Schenecker Trial
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NBC Miami. Florida Mom Guilty of Killing Teen Children
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The Mercury. Jury Decided Quickly to Convict Mom in Killings
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Spectrum News. Closing Arguments in Schenecker Trial
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Fox 13 News. Julie Schenecker Tries to Convince Judge She Deserves New Trial
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WFLA. Public Defender Disputes Claims in New Trial Request
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Tampa Bay Times. Hillsborough Judge Denies New Trial for Tampa Mom Who Killed Kids
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Because I Said I Would. Colonel Schenecker