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Snyder asks for reconsideration of sentence in wife’s killing

From staff reports

LOCK HAVEN — William  J. Snyder has asked for reconsideration of his at least 20 year sentence in a state prison for killing his wife.

Snyder’s sentence of 20 years and one month to 42 years in prison was handed down by Clinton County Judge Michael F. Salisbury on Oct. 7.

Judge Salisbury has scheduled an Oct. 31 hearing on the issue.

In legal documents, Snyder’s lawyer, David I. Lindsey, claimed in his motion for reconsideration that the judge abused his discretion by ordering consecutive sentences for third-degree murder and abuse of corpse convictions.

Lindsey said the court improperly ignored Snyder’s expression of extreme remorse, his acceptance of responsibility and his understanding of how his mental health altered his judgment.

He also contends the judge placed undue emphasis on the punishment and retributive aspects of the sentence.

Conversely, the defense attorney claims minimal emphasis was placed on Snyder’s military service that included being wounded in Iraq, his post-traumatic stress disorder diagnosis and his lack of a criminal record.

The court placed significant emphasis on Snyder’s temper, but Lindsey says it is uncontested that his client never had been involved in a physical altercation before the incident that left his wife dead.

He also contends Salisbury failed to consider the effect the minimum term of 20 years, 1 month, will have upon Snyder’s children.

Lindsey claims a lesser period of incarceration followed by a supervision tail would have been a more appropriate sentence.

The state attorney general’s office, which handled the sentencing phase of the case, opposes Snyder’s motion, spokesman Jeffrey Johnson said.

Snyder pleaded guilty last December to charges of third-degree murder, abuse of a corpse, tampering with evidence and making unsworn statements to law enforcement.

He admitted that on April 5, 2015, which was Easter Sunday, he and his wife, Kelly Jo, argued. She threw a bottle of hair spray by his head and punched him in the chest, they grappled, and they fell to the floor, with him straddling her and with his hands around her neck.

When he realized she was dead, he placed her body in a sleeping bag in the cellar and later disposed of the body in the Halls Run area.

He reported her missing, gave police false information and prepared a fake $60,000 ransom note.

Her body was found following an extensive search on April 11, 2015. An autopsy determined she had been strangled.

The plea agreement would have allowed Salisbury to sentence Snyder to as little as six years on the murder charge.

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