Patricia Olsen: Oxygen’s ‘Snapped’ Weighs In On Neil Olsen’s Horse Murder
Patricia Olsen, the Lanesborough, Massachusetts, woman who allegedly coerced her son to kill his stepfather, is the last story to be told in this season of Snapped. Oxygen’s successful documentary series is airing their season finale tonight. This entire season, Inquisitr has kept you abreast of all of the true-story murders that have aired every week. The Olsen murder case will be no less riveting.
Patricia Olsen told her story on an episode of Candace Delong’s Facing Evil. She insists that she never coerced her son to kill his stepdad, and says that she is an innocent woman who has been wrongly imprisoned. A judge sentenced Patricia Olsen to life in prison. The book Murder, New England: A Historical Collection of Killer True Crime Tales by M. Williams Phelps speaks of the case, according to My Life of Crime.
Neil Olsen loved his horses and his dogs more than anything. Every day he attended to them and doted on them in a tender way. He had promised to love Patricia Olsen in the same manner when he first met her after her separation from her first husband. Patricia Olsen was at a time in her life, where she didn’t have her children or any man to love her. When Neil expressed the desire to take care of her for the rest of her life, despite her illness, she jumped at the chance to marry him. The two hadn’t planned on bringing along her two children from the previous marriage. But being the good old-fashioned man that he was, Neil welcomed them when Patricia decided to get custody of them.
The stress of bringing in the kids wreaked havoc on their relationship. The in-fighting between Patricia and her daughter, and Neil and Patricia’s son, Chris Robinson, was sometimes more than they could handle. And they say, whenever the teens were disrespectful or getting into trouble at school, Neil believed in meting out strict punishments for them, which usually ended with them engaging in an arduous task on the farm, according what Patricia stated at the Berkshire Eagle.
“Anything I’ve ever said… is the same thing I said nearly eight years ago. I’ve always told the truth about things. As far as I knew, Neil was never physically abusive to the kids. He would come up with some of the most bizarre punishments, like regrading the driveway. We had a long, hilly driveway, and the punishment would be to regrade the ruts. I am sorry that my son did this. I just ask that people pray for [Neil Olsen’s family], me, my children.”
In reality, Neil Olsen had gotten in over his head. Not only was he dealing with problems with his stepson, but he had a wife who was lying to him about the family’s finances. He wouldn’t learn until it was too late that the business was suffering and being kept afloat with the household money. When things finally came to a head, Neil found himself dead. Prosecutors say that fateful day, 20-year-old Chris Robinson ambushed his stepdad when he went to feed the horses in the barn by shooting and killing him.
At first detectives believed that the victim’s death had been caused by a horse trampling. But, after investigating the scene thoroughly, it was clear that it was murder. The residents of Lanesborough, Massachusetts, were extremely touched by Neil Olsen’s death, moving many to offer to take custody of his beloved dogs. And while family members were arranging custody for the dogs, police officials were taking Patricia Olsen and her son, Chris Robinson, in custody for the murder of Neil Olsen.
To get more details on just how local police officials unraveled this mystery murder, tune in to Snapped on Oxygen tonight at 10/9 central.
[Image via YouTube]
