Inset: Julie Myhre-Schnell (Ramsey County Jail). Background: The area in Ramsey County where Myhre-Schnell’s son’s group home was located (Google Maps).
A 65-year-old mother in Minnesota may spend decades behind bars after admitting that she attempted to kill her wheelchair-bound son by dumping crushed-up anti-anxiety pills into a feeding bag at his group home.
Julie Myhre-Schnell pleaded guilty last week to one count of attempted first-degree murder in connection with the December 2023 incident. Myhre-Schnell reached a deal with prosecutors in which she agreed to plead guilty in exchange for dismissal of the aggravating factor that the victim was “particularly vulnerable.”
Myhre-Schnell was locked in divorce proceedings with Minnesota Department of Corrections Commissioner Paul Schnell when she was arrested in August 2024. Following her arrest, the couple’s divorce was finalized and Schnell filed for an order of protection on behalf of himself and the victim, the Minnesota Star Tribune reported.
As Law&Crime previously reported, the attempted murder took place on Dec. 3, 2023, according to a probable cause affidavit. The victim, whose name was not released by authorities, is wheelchair-bound with spina bifida and needs a ventilator as well as round-the-clock care.
He was receiving that care at Regency Home Care in Vadnais Heights, within Ramsey County, when Myhre-Schnell tried to kill him with a Lorazepam overdose. She was “hoping he would go to sleep forever,” authorities said, quoting from one of several text messages in which she confessed to the crime.
Documents said that the victim told investigators 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 volunteering weekly at the zoo.”
Love true crime? Sign up for our newsletter, The Law&Crime Docket, to get the latest real-life crime stories delivered right to your inbox.
The Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office said that Myhre-Schnell not only “admitted to multiple people,” including the victim, that she crushed up her Lorezepam pills and tried to kill her son, but also admitted even more to investigators when questioned in June.
“On June 15, 2024, Investigator Hughes spoke to Defendant about her confessions. During this Mirandized statement, Defendant admitted she did in fact attempt to kill Victim in December 2023. Defendant stated she refilled her Lorazepam prescription at the beginning of the month and received 31 pills,” the complaint said. “Investigator Hughes was able to confirm that Defendant had visited Victim at his group home on December 3, 2023.”
“Defendant admitted that she crushed up the remaining Lorazepam pills and put them into a ‘slurry’ of water in a container to bring to the facility. Defendant brought the ‘slurry’ in its container, carrying it in her pocket, until she emptied the container into Victim’s feeding bag that night prior to leaving,” the complaint continued.
According to investigators, Myhre-Schnell said that “the whole time, I knew I was gonna try to do this” and that “all night, I was like, am I really doing this? Am I doing this? Am I doing this? I can’t believe I’m doing this.”
Authorities said Myhre-Schnell recalled thinking “I’m going to go to jail,” worried about a toxicology report implicating her after the victim survived respiratory failure, and said she “completely regretted he survived.”
“I was worried about them finding out through the toxicology, and I was probably trying to figure out what I’m going to do. I’m just going to go to jail,” Myhre-Schnell told authorities.
By July, authorities said, evidence also showed that two days prior to the attempted murder, the defendant refilled her Lorazepam prescription. But what investigators say happened in early August, just weeks before Myhre-Schnell’s arrest, is even more shocking.
“On August 6, 2024, Defendant texted Victim, confessing to him that she put her medicine in his feeding bag hoping he would ‘go to sleep forever,'” the complaint said. “Investigator Hughes received copies of these messages. Victim texted Defendant that he was ‘on the fence’ about deleting her number. In response to Investigator Hughes question about how Victim was feeling after learning about what happened, he responded, ‘I made it, I’m still here.’ In describing his reaction to Defendant’s confession, Victim stated ‘it was heavy’ and ‘it’s a lot to process.'”
Local Fox affiliate KMSP reported that Myhre-Schnell was experiencing mental health issues in the months before the crime.
Records indicate that Myhre-Schnell’s defense attorney and the county prosecutor’s office did not agree to a potential sentence. She is facing a maximum sentence of 18 years when she appears for her sentencing hearing on Nov. 7.
Matt Naham contributed to this report.
