GUILTY VT - Robert Schreiner, 78, beaten to death, West Townshend, 2 June 2004

[luvbeaches]

i think part of her "look" is due to plastic surgery. her skin seems "stretched" across her face, giving her that haughty look.

You are right!!! I hadn't thought of that...but she does look tight. That would explain why her face never moved.

 

[Goody]

I keep wondering about the strength a person would have to have to hit him as hard as he was hit.

My mother is 83 and she is healthy as a horse physically. She could crown some old guy with a hoe in nothing flat and probably drag his body to about any location she wanted to. Hope looks like a rather tall woman to me. No reason to think she couldn't.

 

[Goody]

They are "pursed out." Each time I look at her she looks like she's thinking...how dare you have me in this courthouse. She does seem cold...

I don't think that is fair. Who isn't going to seem cold while sitting in the defendant's seat? Plus she was probably told not to show a lot of emotion for fear that she might break down and disrupt the proceedings.

I try not to judge people by how they look on camera. For one thing, I did some work in TV and it is amazing how the camera angle can change the viewer's perception of people. You can change the whole "feel" with just a close up. So if we were sitting in the court room and looking at her from across the room, we might walk away with an entirely different opinion. Since we can't do that, we have only the camera to rely on. I think we should remind ourselves to take what we see with a grain of salt and try to focus more on the evidence. And in this case, the evidence is pretty convincing.

 

[Goody]

You are right!!! I hadn't thought of that...but she does look tight. That would explain why her face never moved.

Her face always looked flushed to me, and toward the end it was beet red. I think there was always a lot of emotion going on but she was using every thing within her to hide it so she wouldn't disrupt the proceedings. Innocent or guilty, the woman is probably scared to death. Talk about granny's worst nightmare!

 

[dark_shadows]

On our news tonight.

Schreiner was taken away in the custody of Windham County Sheriff's Deputies. Now the healing process can begin for both sides of the Schreiner family. Steve Schreiner is Hope's step-son.

" I keep thinking mainly that justice has been served here today, but it won't bring my father back. i just need to get on with my life and grieving at the loss. i hope the best for everyone else in my family and what they are going through on this, including her children," says Steve.

When she is sentenced later this spring Schreiner will spend a minimum of 20-years behind bars. That means she will not even be eligible for parole until she is well into her 80s.

As for allegations by a prison inmate that he knows who the "real" killer is, the judge decided yesterday there was not enough credible evidence to stop the trial. But police do plan to fully investigate the allegation.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

News script;



1} VERDICT_SAT Good evening, I'm Kristin Kelly. And I'm Marselis Parsons. It was a brutal crime -- with an unlikely prime suspect. She's a 73-year-old grandmother -- charged with beating her 78-year-old husband to death. Hope Schreiner learned her fate today. Adam Sullivan joins us now from the court in Brattleboro. Adam. After 14 hoours of deliberation a jury of nine women and three men found that there was enough evidence to send Hope Schreiner to jail for what could be the rest of her life.


2} VERDICT_PKG ((we the jury find.... )) Just after 1:30 Friday afternoon Schreiner was convicted of 2nd degree murder. There was little reaction from the 73-year old grandmother as the guilty verdict was read to the court. Family members there supporting her did not comment on the guilty verdict as they left the court. Schreiner's lawyer thanked the jury for their service. ((Gwen Harris: I don't think any of the jurors that were seated had any prior jury service whatsoever. so for them to come into a first degree murder trial on their first shot out, that is a pretty heavy deal. they worked very hard. yes we are disappointed, but she didn't commit first degree murder and that was what she was charged with.)) But the jury did believe Hope Schreiner bludgeoned to death her husband of 43-years, Robert, in the driveway of their West Townshend home in June of 2004. And the prosecutor feels justice was served with the 2nd degree murder conviction. ((dan davis/windham pros: the fact that she tried to contaimate the scene after the police told her that the crime lab would be checking the home, those went to her consciousness of guilt. that was my arguement to the jury and i think that was pretty damning evidence)) Schreiner was taken away in the custody of Windham County Sheriff's Deputies. Now the healing process can begin for both sides of the Schreiner family. Steve Schreiner is Hope's step-son. ((Steve Schreiner/Robert's Son: I keep thinking mainly that justice has been served here today, but it won't bring my father back. i just need to get on with my life and grieving at the loss. i hope the best for everyone else in my family and what they are going through on this, including her children.))


3} VERDICT_TAG When she is sentenced later this spring Schreiner will spend a minimum of 20-years behind bars. That means she will not even be eligible for parole until she is well into her 80s. Adam, what about this issue that arose yesterday involving allegations by a prison inmate that he knows who the "real" killer is? The judge decided there was not enough credible evidence to stop the trial. But police do plan to fully investigate the allegation.

 

[dark_shadows]

This is where Schreiner is being housed.

 

[LNL]

This is where Schreiner is being housed.

That's a prison? It looks like an apt building.

 

[Goody]

That's a prison? It looks like an apt building.

Bet it feels like one on the inside!:behindbar

 

[kittykat1]

our news story

At the last minute, the defense claimed that a letter from an inmate in New Hampshire had fingered another male suspect in the murder. The defense asked for a delay in the trial to consider this new evidence, and the judge denied it.

Hope Schreiner had to be helped from the courtroom Thursday night-- visibly shaken-- after jurors reheard graphic testimony about her husband's murder.

I think this should be looked into. What does the inmate have to gain who wrote the letter? If I recall, the cousin carried tools in the back of his truck all the time.

On a seperate note, I felt really bad for Hope when her neighbor, Don, said they were incompatible and that they could never be together.

 

[Goody]

I think this should be looked into. What does the inmate have to gain who wrote the letter? If I recall, the cousin carried tools in the back of his truck all the time.

That is really strange. How did this inmate know about the parts and the fact the old man had refused to pay the guy? I heard the inmate has done this in the past and was proven to have lied. Still....how did he get such accurate detail if he was just making it up? A strange twist indeed.

On a seperate note, I felt really bad for Hope when her neighbor, Don, said they were incompatible and that they could never be together.

Reminds me a bit of the Susan Smith thing. He was not interested in a real relationship. Both men were using these women (no matter how they might have justified it) for sex. Both seemed to react to the put downs in the same way.....in desperation, a last ditch effort to maybe save the "relationship" and show the men that they were wrong.

 

[dark_shadows]

That's a prison? It looks like an apt building.

The pillars behind they grey car is where you enter the building.When you enter the first door(it is only opened by the control room Officer).Once you enter you are in a sallyport area and have to be allowed entry through the second door.Once you go through the second door you are in the hallway that leads to the booking area and the administrative offices.
The actual housing looks like a dorm.
There are no bars.




article about the facility.
The Dale facility is primarily for detention, holding individuals awaiting sentencing or pretrial release, as well as federal detainees, or those in the Community Re-Entry Program. Dale opened in 2000 and consists of four floors in a single building at the state office complex on Main Street. Although there are 50 beds, 18 are reserved for booking, segregation, and mental health cases, leaving only 32 beds for the general population. General beds occupy a single floor and are separated into suites, with most of the rooms housing four women each. There is a small porch wrapped in chain link fencing that women can use until 5 p.m. “They used to have porch privileges until 11 p.m., but we had to restrict use because some were fishing for drugs over the side after dark,” says Michael Bellizzi, Interim Superintendent at Dale.


another article

 

[dark_shadows]

What does the inmate have to gain who wrote the letter

EARLY RELEASE

 

[dark_shadows]

Bet it feels like one on the inside!:behindbar

No it does not.The food is catered from a local resturant because there is no kitchen.
They have full cable television,visitation and many activities.

It does not look like what the public thinks that a prison should look like.

 

[Bobbisangel]

From what was said after court even the Pros is going to look into the letter written by the prisoner that said he thinks his cousin murdered Robert. I'm glad that it will be investigated just so we know that the right person is going to prison for Robert's murder. If it wasn't Hope then I hope LE finds that out.

Wouldn't it be strange after Hope talking to so many people about wanting to be free of Robert and after the sleeping pills if someone else came along and murdered him. Probably pretty unlikely though. I think I heard that the deal with the car parts was over two years ago. The man that owns the junkyard does have a very shady past though and has been thought to have murdered before...more than once.... but it hadn't been proven.

I still have questions about those bloody plastic bags that were found in the big empty dog food bag. Where did those bags come from...what were they used for? I think Hope tried to hide them by cleaning the cat litter box and dumping the waste in the empty dog food bag.

Unless the judge gives Hope a five year sentence she is going to be in prison for life. I don't think the judge is going to be easy on her no matter what her age is. It was also said that Robert was only 5' 3" and weighted only something like 114 lbs. He had lost a lot of weight due to his cancer. That was why is was so easy for Hope to beat him to death. She looks tall in court but its hard to tell. In Robert's pictures I thought he was a lot taller but he was just a little guy.

 

[izzyB]

although it was reported by the prosecutor during an interview on CTV after the verdict that bob was 5'4" and weighed about 114 lbs, bob's family is disputing that over on the CTV board, saying that bob was taller, although not giving his actual height.

i too wish hope had not done this, but her confession to her neighbor diane is just so damning. she not only confessed, saying she just snapped, she told diane she knew she (hope) would go to prison, but that she had been living in a prison in her life with bob. (i guess weekly tennis, working in the local library and going out to lunch with girlfriends, not to mention walking her dogs two or 3 times a day qualifies as "prison".)

and then when she spent a little time in jail after her arrest, she wrote a letter to diane telling diane that she was the one who could save hope from a life in jail (implied that she wanted diane to lie on the stand, or to police, and recant her story.)

hope was the early aggressor in the relationship with don, the boyfriend, although i know very few men who turn it down when offered.

 

[Goody]

No it does not.The food is catered from a local resturant because there is no kitchen.
They have full cable television,visitation and many activities.

It does not look like what the public thinks that a prison should look like.

Is it supposed to be filthy and roach infested with tasteless cafeteria food to qualify as a real prison?

 

[concernedperson]

Is it supposed to be filthy and roach infested with tasteless cafeteria food to qualify as a real prison?

Actually that sounds like the convent I was in.

 

[Jeana (DP)]

Is it supposed to be filthy and roach infested with tasteless cafeteria food to qualify as a real prison?

Well, maybe not to "qualify," but it would go a hell of a lot further to make me feel better! :innocent: :innocent:

 

[dark_shadows]

Is it supposed to be filthy and roach infested with tasteless cafeteria food to qualify as a real prison?

It was commented that the housing liked like an apartment building.I answered the post.
In a prison here,the workers cook and serve,that facility is the only one that has food it catered.I explained why it was also.I said that the food is catered because there is no kitchen.I said nothing about filth and roaches.So why would make the comment that you posted.Read the posts,there is nothing there to make you post what you did.I just saw that post a short time agtherwise I would have addressed it sooner.

 

[Goody]

It was commented that the housing liked like an apartment building.I answered the post.
In a prison here,the workers cook and serve,that facility is the only one that has food it catered.I explained why it was also.I said that the food is catered because there is no kitchen.I said nothing about filth and roaches.So why would make the comment that you posted.

Sorry, guess I read more into your post than you intended. I thought you were complaining that our prisons aren't harsh enough in general but esp in that one.