Roseville Mother Charged With Stabbing Daughter

Friday afternoon the Ramsey County Attorney's Office charged 60-year-old Sylvia Sieferman with attempted murder in the second degree. Sieferman is accused of stabbing her two daughters before trying to kill herself. She and her daughters remain hospitalized Friday after Thursday's brutal attack.

"We're in shock. We feel bad for her, we really feel bad for the girls," said neighbor Florence Schmidt.

Schmidt lives two doors away from Sylvia Sieferman and her 11-year-old daughters Linnea and Hannah. Until yesterday, she had no reason to think anything was out of the ordinary in their Roseville townhome.

"We didn't hear anything. We never heard her screaming at the kids or anything. And last week she had a birthday party for one of the girls down at the pool," said Schmidt.

A former neighbor, Carrie Micko, said Sieferman was severely depressed and worried about the safety of the girls.

A website created by Sieferman shows she adopted the girls from China when they were little. At the time, she wrote, "We're having a wonderful time together."

In the six and half years between when she adopted Hannah and now, Micko said many things changed. She said one of Sieferman's homes was in foreclosure and she'd lost several jobs.

About two months ago, Micko took Sieferman to the hospital. Sieferman had been making comments that she wanted to hurt herself and her children.

"Her children were everything to her. Her whole life was about her kids," she said. "And after a series of financial mishaps, she just couldn't see her way through. She was under extreme financial, emotional and spiritual distress and didn't want to fail them. She couldn't bear to have them see her fail."

Micko said Sieferman left the hospital after three days because she had some job interviews lined up. Sieferman also feared the county might take her children away. Micko said she tried to talk to the social workers and hospital personnel but couldn't get through because she wasn't family.

Then, Thursday afternoon police said Hannah watched her mother stab her sister, Linnea, multiple times. She told police her mother then chased her with an axe and struck her at least five times. She fought her mom off and ran to a neighbor's house for help. The neighbor called 911.

When police arrived Hannah told them her mother "attacked me and my sister with a knife. My sister should be dead." She said that during the assault her mother said, "I'm a bad mom, I had to do this."

Police found Sylvia Sieferman in her home, bleeding from the neck. Officers on the scene said she was combative and repeatedly asked them to kill her. Her daughter Linnea was unresponsive with knife wounds on her neck and throat.

"This townhome has five levels to it and when I went in there and looked, there was blood on at least three levels. Pools, splatters and things like that. It's a horrible, horrible thing to look at," said Captain Rick Mathwig of the Roseville Police Department.

Sylvia Sieferman was in stable condition Friday night at Regions Hospital with self-inflicted knife wounds to her neck and body. Hannah Sieferman is in good condition, and her sister Linnea is in critical condition at Children's Hospital. So far Sieferman has been charged with second degree attempted murder, but police say she will likely face additional charges in this case.

Neighbors said Sieferman had foreclosed on a home and was having legal problems. During the investigation police found a bloody axe and knife and a note in Sieferman's bedroom that read, "Sorry, I can't deal with them anymore."

"It didn't have to happen. She was very clear about her intentions and told them and I think that was her way of saying help me, that the children," Micko said. "They didn't respond the way she was hoping or I was hoping."

According to the Mental Health Association of Minnesota, doctors could have involuntarily committed Sieferman for six months. Generally, though, they prefer friends or families members to encourage them to stay voluntarily.

Tom Johnson, a client advocate with the Mental Health Association, wouldn't talk specifically about Sieferman's case, but said ones like hers are difficult.

"It can be an easy process if it's very clear the person is a danger to herself or others," he said. "It's not quite as easy is someone has said outside 'I'm going to do something to myself' but then they come in to the hospital and the doctor sees them and the person says 'I wasn't really serious about that.'"

Sieferman's hospital records and any interactions with the county are protected by privacy laws.

Micko said a group of neighbors stepped into the watch Hannah and Linnea when Sieferman was in the hospital. She also when social workers mentioned protective custody to Sieferman, she wanted to leave the hospital.

Molly Kenney, interim program director for the Greater Minneapolis Crisis Nursery, said her organization is there to help families like the Siefermans. Families in need of help can call the nursery for advice or a safe place for kids to stay. Children can stay there for three nights at no cost to give parents a break. Kenney said it helps to prevent violence.

"The point is they have to call us and that reaching out for help is the first point of entry we see as a sign of strength," she said. "They want what's best for their kids."

The Crisis Nursery parent hotline is open 24 hours a day. Each county in Minnesota also has a 24 hours crisis hotline.