Julie Myhre-Schnell, the ex-wife of Minnesota Department of Corrections Commissioner Paul Schnell, has been sentenced to three years in prison after pleading guilty to attempted murder in the poisoning of their vulnerable adult son.
According to court documents,Myhre-Schnell, 65, pleaded guilty in July to first-degree attempted murder stemming from a December 3, 2023, incident at her son’s group home in Vadnais Heights. Prosecutors said she spiked her son’s feeding bag with crushed Lorazepam pills, an anxiety medication, “hoping he would go to sleep forever.”
Her son survived but was hospitalized with an altered mental state, low responsiveness, and hypotension, according to court filings. Police said Myhre-Schnell later confessed to the crime. Investigators also found that she had refilled her Lorazepam prescription just two days before the poisoning and obtained text message evidence in which she admitted to the act.
The criminal complaint revealed that about eight months later, Myhre-Schnell admitted the crime to her son, who told police the confession was “heavy” and “a lot to process.”
Commissioner Paul Schnell stated in a July memo that he is his son’s sole legal guardian and had reported the crime after learning about it from a former sister-in-law. He added that he would recuse himself from any Department of Corrections matters involving his ex-wife if her sentence required DOC supervision.
Court documents also show the couple had separated in May 2023 and finalized their divorce just weeks before the poisoning occurred.
Myhre-Schnell will serve her sentence at the Minnesota Correctional Facility–Shakopee, with 22 days credited for time already served.
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