Clara Jane Schwartz, a former JMU student, was sentenced to 48 years in prison Monday for her role in the murder of her father, Robert M. Schwartz.
Schwartz was convicted of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder and two counts of solicitation to commit murder in October.
Robert Schwartz died Dec. 8, 2001 after being stabbed with a 27-inch sword by Kyle Hubert.
Prosecutors said Schwartz convinced Hubert, a 19 year old with a history of mental illness, to kill her father after drawing him into a shared fantasy world where she was in need of rescue and he was her protector.
According to court testimony, the relationship between father and daughter was strained. Clara Schwartz complained of abuse at the hands of her father, including that he pulled her hair and poisoned her food. Prosecutors said this acrimony led Clara Schwartz to persuade Hubert to murder him.
Hubert, who is awaiting trial, told police he, along with Michael Pfohl, 22 and Katherine Inglis, 20, went to Robert Schwartz's home in Loudoun County that Saturday night. Hubert said he entered the house alone and then killed Robert Schwartz with a sword.
Clara Schwartz's attorneys said she did not intend for her father to die. Though she told Hubert of her problems with her father, she did not ask Hubert to kill him, they said. Instead, they alleged, Hubert became caught up in the fantasy world he and Clara Schwartz had constructed and acted on his own.
Prosecutors presented evidence which they said suggested Clara Schwartz had shown signs of wanting to do away with her father before meeting Hubert at a Renaissance fair in fall 2001. Her former boyfriend testified that he and Clara Schwartz had played "underworld," a fantasy role-playing game in which Schwartz's character "Lord Chaos" requested that his character murder her father.
Both of Clara Schwartz's siblings, Michele, 22, and Jesse, 25, testified at her sentencing. They both expressed their wish that Schwartz's sentence should be heavy, though they said they felt that no punishment would be adequate.
--Compiled by Mary Pumphrey
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