Julie Powers Schenecker Held Without Bail, Was Being Investigated for Child Abuse, Says Report

(CBS/AP) Julie Powers Schenecker, the Florida mother who police say killed her teenage daughter and son "for talking back" to many times, was ordered held without bail Monday after her release from the hospital and was investigated in November for child abuse, according to a report.

PICTURES: Julie Powers Schenecker Kids

Schenecker appeared in court Monday on two first-degree murder charges and was ordered held without bail during the brief court hearing. She did not speak - though she did cry and hold a tissue, her hands bound by handcuffs.

In November 2010, Schenecker's daughter, Calyx, told a counselor and police that her mother would hit her in the face, according to records released Monday by Tampa police. The report also said the 16-year-old was seeing a counselor "for verbal abuse towards her mom."

A few days later, Schenecker was in a car crash not far from her Tampa home. Officers on the scene wrote that Schenecker "showed signs of drug impairment," including dilated pupils with no reaction to light and "mush-mouthed speech," according to police records released Monday.

According to an arrest affidavit, she shot her 13-year-old son Beau in the head twice "for talking back" while they were in the family car on their way to his soccer practice. The report said Schenecker then returned to their upscale home and shot Calyx in the face while the girl studied at her computer.

"She did tell us that they talked back, that they were mouthy," says Laura McElroy, with the Tampa Police Department, told CBS affiliate WTSP. "But I don't think that will ever serve as an explanation to the rest of us of how you could take a child's life."

Police say they found Schenecker drenched in blood on her back porch.

Investigators believe the teens "never saw it coming," said police spokeswoman Laura McElroy. Both were killed with a .38-caliber pistol. The arrest affidavit said the weapon was purchased five days earlier.

Schenecker's husband, Parker Schenecker, is a career Army officer attached to U.S. Central Command in Tampa. He was working in the Middle East when the shootings happened.

MORE ON CRIMESIDER:
January 31, 2011 - Julie Powers Schenecker Kills Kids "for Talking Back," Say Police