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Roseville woman pleads guilty to attempted murder

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By Brady Gervais

bgervais@pioneerpress.com

Seeing no way out, Sylvia Sieferman stabbed her adopted daughters last August and then attempted to take her own life.

Sieferman, 61, of Roseville, pleaded guilty Friday in Ramsey County District Court to two counts of second-degree attempted murder in the attacks on Linnea and Hannah Sieferman. They were 11 at the time of the crime.

Sentencing is scheduled for July 2. Sieferman faces up to more than 16 years in prison, of which she would serve at least two-thirds.

A few months prior to the attacks, Sieferman had lost her job and had even been hospitalized because of her distress.

"She was in such a hole that she felt she couldn't get out," said Sieferman's attorney, Paul Rogosheske.

Later this month, she is expected to terminate her parental rights. A relative wants to adopt her daughters, said Sieferman's attorney, Rogosheske said.

Sieferman adopted the girls from China in 1999 and 2003.

During the plea hearing, Rogosheske walked Sieferman through a series of events that occurred on Aug. 21 at her home.

That morning, she drank two to four beers.

In the afternoon, Sieferman went to Linnea's room. Linnea said Sieferman loved Hannah more than her because she had bought Hannah a pair of shoes.

Sieferman then went into the kitchen and returned to Linnea's room with a knife. She covered her face with a pillow and then cut her throat.

Her sister, Hannah, tried to stop the attack. When she ran away, Sieferman followed her to a bathroom and hit her with an ax.

She then turned the knife on herself. She called 911 and said she had killed her children.

When Ramsey County prosecutor Elizabeth Lamin asked Sieferman why she tried to kill her daughters, she said, "I did not want them in foster care being cared for by strangers."

Both daughters were hospitalized at Gillette Children's Specialty Healthcare after the attempted killings. They have recovered, Rogosheske said. Sieferman also spent three weeks in the intensive care unit at Regions Hospital.

If the case had gone to trial, Sieferman's attorney had planned to argue that Sieferman didn't know what she was doing on Aug. 21 was morally wrong.

She had a viable mental health defense, but she wanted to spare her daughters the trauma of a trial, Rogosheske said.

Brady Gervais can be reached at 651-228-2171.

2009 May 15