In late January 2011, just before leaving for an extended trip overseas, Parker Schenecker, a retired Army Colonel, was concerned about the growing tension between his wife Julie and their 16-year-old daughter Calyx.

He asked his now-former wife if she needed his mother to come and help with the kids.

"(She) looked me square in the eyes and said 'I got this.'"

Calyx and her Beau would be dead in a matter of days and their mother Julie, would be accused of shooting them in the head at close range.

Parker Schenecker recalled this while testifying Tuesday during his former wife's double murder trial.

Julie Schenecker is facing two charges of first-degree murder for the Jan. 27, 2011 killings of her children.

Schenecker, who has a history of depression and a bipolar disorder, has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. If found guilty, she could be sentenced to life in prison.

During his testimony, Parker Schenecker also talked about the tension between Julie and Calyx, his intention of Calyx to go to a boarding school, his overseas travel, Julie's mental state and their home life.

When the prosecution ended its questioning, the defense had no questions.

Earlier in the day, a Tampa police crime scene technician who processed the Schenecker house after the January 2011 murders of the family's two teenagers continued his testimony Tuesday.

On the stand, crime scene tech Matthew Evans talked about the contents of Julie Schenecker's bedroom, most notably empty beer bottles and many pill bottles, including those for Oxycodone, Lithium and Hydrocodone.

Most telling, however, was Julie Schenecker's journal, which defense attorney Jennifer Spradley had Evans read entries from.
 
Among the entries in Julie Schenecker's handwritten journal:

  • She said the best job she ever had was "bringing up my babies"
  • She wanted to move Beau's body from the van to her bed, "where he slept happily," but she couldn't move him.
  • She apologized to Col. Parker Schenecker, the children's father and her then-husband. She also wrote that he was the best dad.
  • She wrote: "Parker, I'm sorry, so sorry. I don't know what to say. I can't live alone. I sensed divorce was inevitable...My meds never kicked in."
  • She wrote that she always imagined her death would be by carbon monoxide and that she may need to use pills, a gun and carbon monoxide to do the job.

Jurors will be tasked with determining whether Julie Schenecker was insane at the time of the killings or if they were premeditated.

Technical testimony was heard before the break for lunch as an FDLE crime analyst, a TPD fingerprint expert and an FDLE firearm specialist all took the stand Tuesday morning.

Testimony will continue Tuesday afternoon. The trial is expected to last about two weeks.

Bright House Networks cable subscribers can watch the trial live on Channel 314 in the Tampa Bay area.

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