Max sentence sought for ex-wife of Minnesota DOC commissioner charged with trying to kill disabled son

Prosecutors are pursuing a stiffer sentence than spelled out in state guidelines should jurors convict the former wife of Minnesota Corrections Commissioner Paul Schnell of first-degree attempted murder for allegedly trying to kill their disabled adult son with a potentially lethal dose of medication.

Julie Louise Myhre-Schnell, 64, of St. Paul, stands charged in District Court on allegations that she put anti-anxiety medication in 33-year-old Paul Francis Schnell's feeding bag in his Vadnais Heights group home on Dec. 3, 2023, in hopes that he would "go to sleep forever," the criminal complaint filed in August read.

The court ordered Myhre-Schnell to undergo a psychological exam, and Judge Timothy Mulrooney ruled in October that she was competent to stand trial.

Last week, prosecutor Kaitlyn Stamson notified the court that, should the case go before a jury, the state intends to present evidence to support "an aggravated durational departure up to the statutory maximum sentence of 20 years" for Myhre-Schnell.

Stamson said such a sentence is warranted because "the victim was particularly vulnerable due to age, infirmity, or reduced physical or mental capacity, which was known or should have been known by [Myhre-Schnell]."

Guidelines call for a sentence ranging from 12¾ to 18 years, with a presumed term of 15 years. Whatever sentence Myhre-Schnell would receive if convicted, she would serve the first two-thirds of that time in prison and the balance on supervised release.

Myhre-Schnell, who remains free after posting $50,000 bail, is due back in court Dec. 27. A message was left with her attorney seeking a response to prosecutors' intention to seek the longest possible sentence.

When Myhre-Schnell was charged, Paul Schnell, who was named corrections commissioner in January 2019, declined an interview request. Schnell was formerly a police officer in St. Paul and served in other Twin Cities police departments.

The commissioner, as sole guardian of Paul Francis Schnell, filed a petition for an order for protection in late June against Myhre-Schnell on behalf of himself and his son. The petition cited her admissions that she tried to kill their son — which he reported to the Sheriff's Office — and her attempt to kill herself with a drug overdose.

Schnell's filing also shed light on a motive. It said Myhre-Schnell texted him that she saw their son being "tortured" during treatment for kidney stones and kidney infection for several months.

The text said their son, who joined the family as a foster child as an infant, "has considerable medical issues" that include spina bifida and a malformed brain stem. The filing added that he requires a wheelchair, a ventilator and 24-hour care.

Myhre-Schnell sued her husband for divorce two days before their son's alleged poisoning at Regency Home Care. Their divorce was finalized in October.

According to a 2019 Star Tribune profile, the Schnells have four adult children. As part of Paul Francis Schnell's care, his parents founded a 24-hour nursing company.

According to the criminal complaint:

A sheriff's investigator received a report on June 13 that Myhre-Schnell had told people that she tried to kill her son. Two days later, Myhre-Schnell admitted the same to the investigator.

She said she refilled her lorazepam prescription at the beginning of December 2023 and received 31 doses. On Dec. 3, she crushed the remaining pills and mixed them with water in a container. Myhre-Schnell said she emptied the container into her son's feeding bag that night with the intention of killing him. She then left.

"The whole time I knew I was going to try to do this," the complaint quoted her as telling the investigator. She said she went on to think, "'I'm going to go to jail.'"

After learning that her son did not die, Myhre-Schnell told the investigator that she "completely regretted that he survived."

Myhre-Schnell typically visited her son at the home at least weekly, but the visits stopped after Dec. 3.

Paul Francis Schell was hospitalized the next day after exhibiting an "altered mental status, decreased level of responsiveness and hypotension," and suffering from acute respiratory failure, the complaint said. Medical records from the hospital stay showed no record of that he had a toxicology test.

Family members told the sheriff's investigator that Myhre-Schnell confessed to them her attempt to kill her son. On Aug. 6, Myhre-Schnell texted her son and confessed what she did, explaining that she wanted him to "go to sleep forever," the complaint quoted the message as reading.

Asked by the investigator about what his mother did, Paul Francis Schnell responded, "I made it, I'm still here."