'Where Murder Lies': Who is BJ Snyder? Penn man killed wife, joined search party after reporting her missing
It was 2015 and Kelley Jo, best described by her family and friends as a lovely mother and a great friend, vanished without a trace. Her husband William BJ Snyder was seen sobbing. He was part of a vigil that was organized shortly after her disappearance - he was one of the victim's closest of kins to be part of search and rescue, and unknown to everyone, BJ was also the wife-killer who had strangled her to death in their Pennsylvania house.
And he had a slick cover story which at first looked absolutely foolproof: Kelley Jo had gone to the nearest store to pick up sweet potatoes. Discovery+ brings out its latest crime docuseries and the first episode is all about the Kelley Jo case. The crime story sees a manic husband who killed his wife and misled the authorities and her family that she was missing. Such was the pains he took that he fabricated fake emails claiming she was alive.
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Who is William BJ Snyder?
BJ was Kelley Jo's Mr Perfect after she was out on many dates searching for love and the right fatherly figure for her children. Her son, Ty Snyder, recalls the strong bond he shared with BJ and said he became a "father figure" to him. However, all the happiness was short-lived.
On April 5, 2015, Snyder strangled his wife during a physical altercation. The affidavit stated his wife OD'd on hydrocodone and nerve pills. After he realized she was dead, he put the body in a sleeping bag and left it in the Halls Run State Park next to a stream. However, an April 11 interview saw him dish out a completely different version of events - the couple argued, Kelley Jo threw a can at him and hit him in the chest. BJ grabbed her by the arms, got behind her, and had his arms around her neck.
When he reportedly allowed her to get up, she attacked him, and he grabbed her again. He was straddling her and his hands were around her neck before she went motionless. BJ thought she was unconscious, but Kelley Jo wasn't breathing.
According to Pennlive, BJ told the investigators that he took the body to the cellar, placed it in a sleeping bag, and took it to the stream adjacent to Halls Run. He chucked her driver's license in the stream and disposed of the bag in a trash container. Her cause of death in the autopsy was listed as manual strangulation. Her mysterious disappearance sparked a town-wide search and BJ even made a TV plea for her safe return.
Eventually, the authorities found BJ's version fishy, and soon after he was arrested. He pleaded guilty to charges of third-degree murder, abuse of a corpse, tampering with evidence, and making false statements to law enforcement. He was sentenced to 40 years of prison on the murder charge.
'Where Murder Lies' is streaming on Discovery+.