Just when I think I’ve seen everything…
As by now much of the world knows, Julie Schenecker of Tampa, Florida is in jail charged with first-degree murder in the shooting deaths of her two children, Beau, 13 and Calyx, 16.
As I understand it, father Parker Schenecker was deployed overseas as a colonel in the Army when the shootings occurred. A couple of months previously, Calyx had complained that her mother had hit her and counseling for both ensued. The police looked into the matter and found nothing to be concerned about; no charges were filed.
But a few weeks later, Julie Schenecker bought a pistol and a few days after that wrote a note describing her plan to kill both children and then herself. On January 27th, she picked up Beau from soccer practice and shot him twice in the head on the drive home. She then approached Calyx who was working at her computer in her bedroom and shot her in the back of the head, killing her. When the police arrived, she told them she had killed the kids for being “mouthy.”
Such, at any rate, is what police and prosecutors are saying. Julie Schenecker has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Col. Parker Schenecker buried his children last week in a moving ceremony in which he tried to focus on them and not the tragic way in which they died. A day or so later, he visited his wife in jail. Last Friday he filed suit for divorce from the woman who is alleged to have murdered his son and daughter. In a classic understatement, Parker Schenecker said that “the events of January 27th have taken Julie and me on different paths.”
But not so fast there. This article tells us that Julie Scheneker has requested the criminal court to freeze “all her assets” for use in her defense (St. Petersburg Times, 2/24/11).
The problem comes in determining which are hers and which are Parker’s. As things stand now, she’s asking the criminal court to decide that issue, over which I doubt it has jurisdiction. Far worse, until a court separates his assets from hers, she’ll potentially be able to use his money to defend her on charges of murdering his dearly-loved children.
Does it get any more cold-hearted than that? Parker Schenecker’s attorney opposed the request saying,
“After his children’s tragic death, Col. Schenecker could not imagine that there was anything else defendant could take from him. However, her motion to freeze assets threatens to delay their divorce proceedings. …
“Much more disturbingly, however, it appears to be an attempt to compel Col. Schenecker — who had only intended to participate in these proceedings to give a voice to his children, the victims — to fund the defense.”
What should happen is that the family court decide the division of assets and Parker and Julie can go their separate ways. The idea that his assets should be frozen because of her murder of his kids is just beyond my ability to comment on.
A few articles on Julie Schenecker have suggested that she may be narcissistic, which is to say, she considers others to be mere extensions of herself. Narcissists tend to believe that “what’s mine is mine and what’s yours in mine.” I’d say this latest ploy does nothing to dispel the notion.