71-Year-Old Vermont Woman Beats Husband To Death After 43 Years Of Marriage – Oxygen

Over 43 years of marriage, Robert and Hope Schreiner had made it past the seven-year itch, survived empty nest syndrome, and settled into retirement. It seemed as if the couple had a long-lasting, successful relationship, but their picture-book story ended the day Hope snapped and bludgeoned Robert to death.

Originally hailing from Claverack, New York, Robert was a landscape architect and Hope was a nurse. When they married in the early 60s, they each brought several children with them. Robert had three sons from his first marriage, and Hope had five children already. Robert adopted Hopes kids, and the two of them went on to have a son together, Scott Schreiner.

After both retiring, Robert and Hope moved two hours northeast, to the small town of Townshend, Vermont.Robert, who washampered by mobility issues fromanear-fatalcar accident years earlier,battled numerous health problems in his 70s. He lost a lung to cancerand suffered fromchronic pneumonia and glaucoma.

Hopesaidher husband ofmore thanfour decadeshad becomea "hard man to know, claiminghe was mentally abusive, according toVermont newspaperBarre Montpelier Times Argus.

"He's impatient with me," she told Vermont State Police murder investigator Sgt. Robert McCarthy after his death. "He yells at me and watches me because I don't always do what he wants right away... I think it's gotten worse as he's gotten older."

In the months before her husbands murder, 71-year-old Hope began an affair with Donald Bouret, 77, who said the relationship lasted three months and that the two met up for sexual rendezvous every few weeks, according to theBarre Montpelier Times Argus. Hope dreamed of starting a new lifetogether, asking Bouret if their relationship could grow if Robert was out of the picture, reported theoutlet.

I told her, Definitely not, he later testified. I didn't think we were compatible.

Despitethehealth scares and infidelity, the Schreiners appeared to beplanning for the future. They had recently sold their house and were in the process of having a new home built just up the road.

Any hopes of a renewed life together, however, came to a tragic halt on the afternoonofJune 2, 2004, when Schreiner called 911 to say she had found her husband bleeding in their driveway.

I dont see his chest moving Theres blood out of his nose It looks like he fell, she can be heard saying onthe call, whichairedas part ofCNNs Nancy Grace show.

When the dispatcher told her to ask if hewasOK, she said, Hes not responding.

Emergency responders arrived and declared Robertdead at the scene. He was 78 years old. He was beaten and bloody, with several head wounds. From the dried blood around the body, EMTs estimated he had been dead for two to three hours, according tocourt documents.

The medical examiner determined blunt-force trauma as the cause of death, and wedge-shaped puncture wounds were found on Roberts head.It was also discovered thatRobert had ingested a large dose of the sleeping aid Ambien in the hours before his death, equivalent to about seven 10-milligram pills, according to theRutland Herald.

It was approximated that the pills were consumed around 8 a.m. on the day of the murder. While Robert had a prescription for Ambien, he had stopped taking the medication in April 2004, with his last refilloccurring inSeptember 2003.

In the days after her husbandsdeath,Hope began saying disturbing things to her family and friends. Friend LouannBoeckemexpressed fear about a "murderer running around" their rural community, but Hope whispered to her, "Don't worry, I did it," according to the Barre Montpelier Times Argus.

When daughter StephanieStrietasked how her adopted father died, she claimed,"[Hope]looked right through me and said, 'I can't tell you.

I just snapped, Hope told neighbor Diana Wichland,reportedtheRutland Herald.

She said, I put sleeping pills in his coffee. And then she just kind of rambled on about playing tennis and he hadn't died. He didn't die. And then she said there was so much blood and then she said, I used a bag,Wichland told Vermont State Police detectives.

Police later found several bags covered with Roberts blood hidden in a bag of dog food in the Schreinersbasement, according to court documents.

As news of Roberts death traveled around the small town,investigatorsspoke withSusanna Palmer, who volunteered with Hope at the Townshend library.

"Hope said to me, 'I want to get rid of my husband,'" Palmer said, according to theRutland Herald. "I mean, I just laughed and said, 'What do you mean? Are you going to poison him?' And she looked me right in the eye with this rather intense look and said, 'Yes. Ah, no, no I just want to get him into the VA in Bennington.

The day after Roberts funeral service,detectives arrested Hopeand charged her with first-degree murder, according to theRutland Herald.

Scott Schreiner had no comment when asked about his mothers arrest for killing his father, telling reporters, I just buried my father yesterday,and I'm still grieving.

By the time Hope went on trial in March 2006, thefamily bonds thatheld her and Roberts childrentogetherhad ripped in two. Roberts sons from his first marriage and StephanieStrietbelieved Hope was a killer,while the rest of the familyralliedbehind her. Hope opted not to testify in her defense and collapsed during deliberations, according to theRutland Herald.

Ultimately, Hope was found guilty of second-degree murder on March 24, 2006,theRutland Heraldreports. She was sentenced to 17 years to life in prison, becoming Vermonts oldest female inmate and its second-oldest inmate in custody.

In 2014, at the age of 81, Hope was granted medical furlough and moved to a nursing home in Vermont. State officials said this was due to a terminal or debilitating illness, according to theAssociated Press.

Shewill beeligible for parole in 2023 at the age of 90.

To hear more about the case, watch Snapped onOxygen.

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71-Year-Old Vermont Woman Beats Husband To Death After 43 Years Of Marriage - Oxygen