48 Hours - Death Hits Home: The Hargan Killings

Episode Date: October 2, 2022

Megan Hargan was suspected of killing her mother and sister. Her defense had an unusual theory: her sister was the one who pulled the trigger – with her toe. "48 Hours" correspondent Peter Van Sant reports.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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ConstantContact.ca There were two bodies that were located inside of this home, and that's really all we knew. Is there a little adrenaline when you're pulling up? Always. Your blood starts to get pumping a little bit, and you start to think about how this is going to play out. What did you see as you entered this home? Well, it's a very nice home in a great neighborhood. Fairfax County is located just outside of Washington, D.C. It is an affluent area of northern Virginia.

It was a million-dollar home. As you walk through the kitchen, you encounter a mudroom that connects the kitchen to the garage. In that mudroom, we discover Pamela Hargan. How was she positioned on the ground? She was lying face down, and she had a blanket laid over her. Like a quilt. Her cell phone is actually laying on top of the quilt.

And there was a pool of blood coming from the area of her head onto the floor. What else do you find? We go upstairs, and then we encounter Helen Hargan inside of the bathroom that's in her bedroom. She appeared to have been sitting on the toilet when she was shot. She was fully clothed. She has some kind of trauma to her head. There's a rifle in between her legs. She's got a tremendous amount of blood in her mouth.

Finding two deceased persons with one with a gun on their body might have been a murder-suicide. Suicide, possibly. with one with a gun on their body might have been a murder-suicide. Suicide, possibly. What are we looking at here now? This is the main room of the basement. That set of books are photo albums, and I wanted to see what my victims may have looked like in life.

Pam Hargan was a woman in her 60s, an incredibly successful, business-minded woman. She was generous with her money. This was a woman who built an $8 million estate. She poured her life into her family. Helen, the youngest daughter, had returned home from college. Helen was the kind of daughter I think that everybody would want. She was lovely.

She had a number of friends. She had a boyfriend. Helen never struck me as having a dark side. Mothers and daughters butt heads. I mean, did Helen and her mother get along perfectly? I don't think so. You don't know what goes on behind closed doors. Maybe Helen had murdered her mother and along perfectly. I don't think so. You don't know what goes on behind closed doors. Maybe Helen had murdered her mother

and then shot herself. So what's your gut telling you as you take a look at these two bodies? Wait. You will make mistakes if you make assumptions before you actually do the work. So she would have had to have done what to shoot herself in the head that way? Magic. She would have had to have done what to shoot herself in the head that way?

Magic. She would have had to have done magic. It just isn't possible. A.I.m., Fairfax County, Virginia police visit the next of kin to deliver awful news. 63-year-old Pam Hargan and 24-year-old Helen Hargan are dead. Pamela was shot twice in the mudroom. In the mudroom. Lead detective Brian Byerson says police are recording and whispering to avoid being overheard when they give Pam's ex-husband, Steve, more painful details about Helen. She had me at a punch-off point on the period of Cecil. I'm really sorry.

I'm really sorry. There was a thought that went around that it might have been a murder-suicide. Hargan soon summons his other two daughters, 32-year-old Ashley and 34-year-old Megan. What is happening? What happened? They react with equal parts pain and panic. Oh God, what are we going to do? Jesus, what are we going to do? Her mom takes care of everything. I just don't even understand. We were at the freaking house.

Megan Hargan tells authorities she and her 8-year-old daughter Molly have been living with Pam and Helen while her husband is in the military. She says she'd left the home with Molly at about 1.30 p.m. that day, She says she'd left the home with Molly at about 1.30 p.m. that day, adding that there'd been an argument between her mother and Helen, who had been upset. Helen has been so angry, like just so angry all the time. And struggling emotionally. I knew Helen was depressed, like, to do this. Like, I can't wrap depressed to do this. Like, I can't wrap my head around this. Is it true that she once threatened suicide?

I think that that is possibly true, yes. In fact, Ashley would later tell authorities Helen had thoughts about self-harm. I know my sister was depressed. Has she ever talked about hurting herself? Yeah. But Megan also suggests her mother and sister could have been attacked by offering a potentially important clue, something she reports she'd seen the day before. Two suspicious males casing the neighborhood, and she later tells us those particular guys are the reason why

she ends up bringing this rifle up to the main floor of the house. It's the.22 Ruger rifle found with Helen's body, and it belongs to Megan's husband. She says her mother had allowed her

to store it in the house until the couple moved into their own place in West Virginia. My husband and I literally just closed on our new home yesterday. until the couple moved into their own place in West Virginia. My husband and I literally just closed on our new home yesterday. My mom bought it for us. Steve and Pam Hargan divorced when the children were young. Pam took them and moved around before ending up in Potomac, Maryland,

next door to Tammy Malios. Megan was very upset about the divorce. In the next few years, Tammy got to know Megan and her little sister Helen and often saw them across the backyard fence. The girls were out in the yard all the time with the dogs, that sort of thing. Tammy says she always knew there was a sibling rivalry. Megan did bring that up a lot, saying that Helen was the favorite. But she remembers that for the most part, the Hargan sisters seemed to get along fine. Pam was proud of them. She talked highly of her girls whenever I did speak with her. Pam Hargan poured her life into those kids.

Michelle Sigona works for CBS News. She's been covering this story for nearly four years and says the other love of Pam Hargan's life was her job. Pam had spent decades climbing the career ladder to become a vice president of aerospace giant Lockheed Martin. She had built an $8 million estate, but she didn't keep it for herself. She was constantly giving to those around her, specifically to her children. Helen seemed to have her mother's ambition, double majoring in math and management science at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.

That's where Erin Rockneen met her in 2014. When I first met her, I was extremely scared of her because she didn't laugh or smile. She's kind of like an onion. You have to peel the layers off and you really get to know the kind and genuine person underneath there. Rockneen says they became close friends. It's been said that Helen may have suffered from depression. Did you ever see any of that?

I did not at all. Rockneen says her friends spent a lot of time studying, though Helen did have a job at a nearby restaurant. She was working as a waitress. There was a 30-something named Carlos Gutierrez working in the restaurant too.

They fell for each other in short order. And they had plans to move in together. Pam had started building a house for Helen in Northern Virginia. So in the spring of 2017, Helen had moved back home from Dallas. According to Carlos, he hadn't asked her to be his wife, but he was working towards that. But Megan tells police Pam hadn't approved of Helen's relationship. She believed that Helen was going to try to move Carlos into the house,

and my mom didn't want him being there. Still, Helen had been moving ahead, planning for the future. It was just a matter of figuring out her career path. It takes a little while to figure it out, but she was going to get there. But Helen Hargan never got there. Fairfax County Police and Fire, how may I assist you? Yes, I have an emergency. On the day of the shooting, it was Carlos Gutierrez who had first alerted authorities that something in the Hargan house was dreadfully wrong. I'm in Dallas, Texas, and my girlfriend lives in McQuinn. He says he and Helen had spoken earlier that morning.

Now, he can't get in touch with her, and he's worried. Okay, sir, what I need you to do then is contact your local jurisdiction, file a report with them, and tell them that Fairfax County requires a teletype in order to do a welfare check. I feel really bad for Carlos because he's bounced around all over the place just trying to get somebody to listen to the fact that he thinks his girlfriend's life is in danger. I think this is like life or death. Like I think someone might be dead. Carlos Gutierrez would later testify about why he was so concerned. He would also tell a jury he felt authorities were giving him the runaround that day,

even when he called back later with something explosive to add, something Helen had told him. Exactly what did your girlfriend say to you? It's 144 p.m. on July 14, 2017. Carlos Gutierrez, Helen's boyfriend in Texas, is having a hard time with 911 dispatchers in Virginia. The call ends without a promise of help. So 15 minutes later, Carlos calls again. And this time, he makes a startling revelation about something he says Helen had told him on the phone that morning.

My girlfriend told me that her sister killed her mom. Now my girlfriend won't answer her phone. Megan Hargan had murdered her mother, or at least that's what Carlos said Helen had told him. Okay, well, this was out of the blue. Your girlfriend is sitting in a house with a dead woman. Yes. Why was Carlos, who was more than a thousand miles away, calling 911? Why didn't Helen call herself? What was going on in that house?

When police arrive around 3 p.m., they find Pam is dead. But they discover Helen's body, too. Carlos had offered authorities a possible explanation for Pam, but Helen was a mystery. Megan Hargan told police something interesting. Her mother and sister had been arguing that day. This morning, my mom let Helen know that she was canceling the contract on the house she's building her because she truly believed that Helen was going to try to move Carlos into the house. And when middle sister Ashley hears that Carlos is accusing Megan of murder, she makes it clear she doesn't believe him.

She would never do that. Ever. Never. Okay? Megan Hargan's friend, Rebecca Wolf, agrees. I do not believe that Megan killed her mom, Pam, or her sister, Helen. No piece of me believes that. Rebecca and Megan met in 2015 when they both were volunteering in a program to find homes for dogs rescued from war zones. Rebecca says that Megan always had a passion for animals. She is very compassionate, generous heart. She is just a really good person. And Rebecca says Megan often talked about her family, her generous mother. Megan admired Pam's wisdom, her career. She always spoke very lovingly of her.

And her sisters, especially the baby of the family, Helen. Megan talked about Helen struggling with things and feeling depressed, but I never got the impression that it was insurmountable. Rebecca says that Megan called her on the day of the shooting and sounded like a woman who'd lost everything. Very distraught, and she did not give me details of what had happened. She just said, we've lost mom and Helen. By 8 p.m., police had told the media what they had told the Hargan family. This looked like a murder-suicide. But Detective Byerson says the more he saw of the crime scene, the less he thought so,

and the more he wanted to take a closer look at Megan Hargan. That night, he had officers test her hands for gunshot residue and photograph her. Did she become a person of interest at that moment? She's certainly a person of interest because we know that she was in the house. Police knew the house probably held answers. Crime scene detective Julia Elliott, who had joined Detective Byerson at the scene, spent the evening combing for evidence. I was shown Pamela's body first. One thing that caught her attention was Pam Hargan's cell phone.

It's laying on top of the pool of blood and the blanket. Was it unusual to see the cell phone in this kind of position? Yes, it certainly wouldn't fall on top of the blanket and on top of the blood once you were already covered up. And what does it suggest that the cell phone is lying on top of this comforter? That suggests to me that it was placed there by someone. Elliott says the Helen Hargan shooting scene was next. She had a lot of blood on her face. So much blood that it was impossible to see an

entry wound. And there was more on the floor. But there was a lack of blood where investigators expected to see it. The rifle itself had very little blood on it. The rifle was leaning against Helen's body. The butt was on the floor between her legs. The barrel was pointed up towards the ceiling. You would expect that if the rifle had been sitting there, as she bled so heavily, it would also have blood on it. And was there anything on this gun from Megan? No.

What about fingerprints on this rifle? None that were usable. There was DNA found on the trigger, but it wasn't Megan or Helen's. Is it true that Helen's DNA was found on the rifle case? Yes, that is true. But Byerson says only on the tip of the case. Megan's DNA was on the case handles. It's part of the reason police believe Helen Hargan never touched the gun that day. As she died, someone else was there to place it on her.

She says Helen's phone was telling as well. There was almost no blood on it. And although Helen had used it that day to talk and text with Carlos, there were no fingerprints either. What we found was what looked like swipe marks, as if someone had taken their hand and wiped off the front of the screen. Though it would take time to learn exactly how the Hargan women died, in the basement, Detective Elliott saw an immediate opportunity to learn how they had lived.

I got a little nosy, and I wanted to see what my victims may have looked like in life. So I pulled out one of the center photo albums to look at it and open it up. Tucked away in that album of family photos was something that seemed out of place. Documents, Megan's bank statement, PAMS 2, and a spreadsheet full of passwords and security verification details to unlock all of Pam Hargan's accounts. Well, that's interesting.

Were you able to analyze the paper? So at the time of us locating that, financial documents were not on our search warrant. So Detective Elliott photographed the documents and left them in the house. But when she entered with the proper search warrant days later... They were not there. They were not there. They were not. The house had been returned to the Hargan family's custody the day after the shooting.

And something else had happened that day. after the shooting and something else had happened that day. The medical examiner delivered her report on Helen Hargan's autopsy, casting doubt on the murder-suicide theory. It tells us that someone else pulled the trigger. What do you think the crime scene suggests about what happened? Chat now with the 48 Hours team on Facebook and Twitter. In 2014, Laura Heavlin was in her home in Tennessee when she received a call from California.

Her daughter Erin Corwin was missing. The young wife of a Marine had moved to the California desert to a remote base near Joshua Tree National Park. They have to alert the military, and when they do, the NCIS gets involved. From CBS Studios and CBS News, this is 48 Hours NCIS. Listen to 48 Hours NCIS ad-free starting October 29th on Amazon Music. In the Pacific Ocean,

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people will get away with what they can get away with. In the Pitcairn trials, I'll be uncovering a story of abuse and the fight for justice that has brought a unique, lonely Pacific island to the brink of extinction. Listen to the Pitcairn Trials exclusively on Wondery+. Join Wondery in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. A police spokesman was calling the Hargan shootings a murder-suicide. But the next day, when Detective Brian Byerson saw Helen's autopsy report, he was certain it was something else.

The gunshot wound on Helen Hargan was in the top of her head. The rifle bullet had traveled downward into her neck. She would have to hold it straight up and be able to reach the trigger to accomplish this. I've never seen that before, and I've worked a lot of murders.

Well, what does that tell you when you learn that information? It tells us that someone else pulled the trigger. As Detective Byerson arrived to work two days later, on Monday, July 17th... Good morning. Thank you for calling Capital One Bank. There was a clue waiting for him. A clue that Byerson was able to take all the way to the bank. That Monday morning, I have a message on my desk phone from Capital One. The bank had some startling news. Bank employees had seen reports of Pam Hargan's death and wanted him to know about some strange activity on her account.

Could you tell me your name, please? Pamela Hanson Hargan. Someone claiming to be Pam Hargan had called the bank the day before the shooting with a request. What can I do for you today? I was told that I could do a wire transfer. Whoever it was, was trying to transfer money, more than $400,000 out of Pam's account, to a real estate settlement company in West Virginia. Are you going to buy a house? For my daughter, yes. The caller was able to successfully answer Pam's security questions.

All right, you aced the verification. Great job. Detective Byerson discovered that the transaction hadn't gone through, so the caller had tried again the next day on the morning of Pam's murder. Yes, we attempted to yesterday and there was a bit of a mix-up, so we would like to do it again now. Okay. They need it today. Somebody's trying to perhaps steal Pam's money. Yes. And Byerson believed he knew who that somebody was. That is Megan Hargan pretending to be her mother. Pretending?

Pretending. He decided it was time for him to get Megan Hargan on the phone. Megan, how are you holding up? I am really not okay. Megan claimed the attempted wire transfers were just an innocent mix-up at the bank. But by now, Byerson was suspicious of everything she said. He began to think Megan Hargan had been trying to confuse police all along. I realize there's a lot of confusion here.

Megan had stressed Helen's depression and anger issues with investigators. Helen has been so angry, just so angry all the time over everything. But Megan told Byerson her sister would never have killed herself or her mom. I can't imagine my own baby sister doing that at all. She repeated her story about two strange men in the neighborhood. I had to call the police about these two guys. Other people had called them apparently. But Byerson says that tip went nowhere. The only call that's made about these guys in the neighborhood is from Megan Hargan. He had run down every lead, every alternative theory.

There were no other suspects. But there was a motive, the money. And the person who had needed it couldn't stop talking. She demanded to come in and get an update on the case. So on July 19th, five days after Pam and Helen's deaths, Detective Byerson brought Megan in. My mom was...

He says that once Megan started... It's just unimaginable. She wouldn't stop. I could ask her for anything. We just can't get her to leave. This is you. She stayed for more than four hours. Long story short, the point I'm making...

We would ask her questions that we knew the answer to, and then she would either pivot to something else... I don't understand. ...or just outright not answer the question. I don't know what you want me to say. We want you to tell the truth. I just want you to answer the question. At first, Megan insisted it was her mom who had made those calls to the bank. I'm going to play the call. But when Byerson played the tapes for her. Who is that

on the phone? It's you, right? Detective Byerson says she finally admitted to lying to him about the wire transfer. Why in the world would you do that? Because I knew how it would look. No, no. It's not how it would look. You knew that if we knew about this, that would shine a whole new light on you. Still, she was adamant that she hadn't shot anyone. So it was truly bizarre when halfway into the interview... Just blame me.

Just answer the question. Just blame me. Just blame me. Just blame me. My family's going to turn around. Just blame me so we can move on from this, okay? It seemed like she was acknowledging that we knew that she did it without openly giving us a detailed confession. This is not happening.

Though inadmissible in court, she readily agreed to take a polygraph. She failed three times. Byerson says it was all adding up. He was sitting across from a killer. It becomes very obvious to us it is exactly who we think it is, and it's Megan Harden. But despite everything, police let Megan leave that day. So murder investigations can be extremely complex. You not only have to be sure, you have to be right.

And that decision is not just, it does not just rest on me. I have to be on the same page as the Commonwealth Attorney's Office. So in consultation with them, we decided to wait. Law enforcement may not have moved, but Megan Hargan did. Law enforcement may not have moved, but Megan Hargan did. Though she never got Pam's money, she and her husband used a VA loan to buy a different house in West Virginia. We kept an eye on her. We knew where she was. Byerson methodically kept building his case.

Evidence kept trickling in, including the results of Megan's gunshot residue test, which showed she had it on both hands. And on November 9th, 2018, almost a year and a half after the deaths of Pam and Helen Hargan. This morning at approximately 740 a.m., detectives from our major crimes bureau stopped and arrested Megan Hargan near her home in West Virginia. As Detective Byerson takes Megan in, investigators search her home and find yet another important clue, that missing password sheet to Pam Hargan's accounts. Do you have any doubt that Megan was the person who pulled that trigger? I have no doubt at all. What the defense would say is that there is doubt all over this case. Megan Hargan's defense will include a specific theory of how Helen could have killed herself.

a specific theory of how Helen could have killed herself. She puts her head down and that she's able to utilize the trigger, probably with her toe, to be able to discharge the weapon. But will the jury agree? Even the experts said it's possible. Hot shot Australian attorney Nicola Gaba was born into legal royalty. Her specialty? Representing some of the city's most infamous gangland criminals. However, while Nicola held the underworld's darkest secrets, the most dangerous secret was her own. She's going to all the major groups within Melbourne's underworld, and she's informing on them all.

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It's just The Best Idea Yet early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus. It's just the best idea yet. What did you see in her eyes? Nothing. I don't see much behind those eyes. More than three years after her arrest for the murders of her mother and sister, Megan Hargan is going on trial. I think she's pure evil. Whitney Gregory and Tyler Bazilla are prosecuting the case. Megan is a pathological liar. That's what she is. The Commonwealth of Virginia opens by arguing Megan tried to steal more than $400,000 from Pam for this new house and got so desperate for the cash that she killed her. Then she killed Helen to keep her quiet and staged the scene as a murder-suicide. This is an individual who murdered two of her closest family members for money.

an individual who murdered two of her closest family members for money. The defense argues Helen was the killer, mentally unstable and furious at her mother, who had offered her a new house, but the morning of the shooting announced there was one devastating condition. Helen had to break up with the man she had hoped to marry, Carlos Gutierrez. What is your greatest challenge with this jury? Proving it wasn't a suicide. To do that, they begin by calling Carlos and Helen's sister, Ashley, who testify on the day she died, Helen seemed normal and fine. Did Helen have a diagnosis of depression? No.

And she didn't take her own life, says Detective Julia Elliott. It's a homicide. Who tells the jury about the bloodstains and position of the rifle. She did not have an arm span long enough to pull the trigger. Her fingers are not reaching the trigger. Crime scene reconstructionist Iris Graf agrees. What's on the screen? This is a forensic animation, a virtual model. Prosecutors hired Graf to use photos and measurements from the house to create this digital model. She can't reach that trigger. Right. We still need another five inches.

So based on your scientific analysis, was the wound that killed Helen self-inflicted? Within the context of this scene, it's not possible that she could self-inflict that wound. Gregory says that's just common sense. Did the tooth fairy put the gun hole here? Helen's wound isn't the only evidence pointing at Megan. Megan's conduct in her police interview is damning, too. Yes, she did. And so are those phone calls to the bank. Thank you for calling Capital One Bank. Would you tell me your name, please?

Pamela Hansen-Hurgin. I understand you want to complete a wire transfer with us today? Yes, because they need it today. Megan's panicking because she still owes that money on the house. Prosecutors reveal Megan lied to police about Pam buying her a house, saying the reality is that Megan was trying to buy that West Virginia property with her mother's money. Turns out Megan still owed more than $400,000 due the day of the shooting. The prosecution contends

she'd secretly substituted her name onto Pam's bank statement as proof of funds. Pam was apparently totally in the dark until the day before the shooting when the bank called the real Pam. Hi, who am I speaking to? Who am I speaking to? My name is Jeff with Capital One. Okay, this is Pamela Hansen-Hargen. A bank officer had called her to authenticate

the attempted wire transfer. Somebody tried to do a wire out of your account for $400,000. What? I did not do that. The defense would say that there is doubt all over this case. The defense declined to be interviewed, so we asked Matt Toriano, an attorney with decades in court. He didn't try this case, but we hired him to review the file. To help prove reasonable doubt, he says the defense contends Helen was the suspicious one that day. Helen doesn't call 911. She doesn't run out of the house for safety. She tells her boyfriend, do not call for help. Why didn't Helen call 911?

That is one of the pieces to the puzzle that we'll never have. That's a question that came up during the trial. Why didn't she just leave? Why didn't she call 911? We don't know. There's a lot authorities may never know for sure about the roughly two hours they say lapsed between Pam's and Helen's deaths. If Megan killed Pam, why did she wait so long to kill Helen? And why on earth hadn't Helen made a run for it? to kill Helen? And why on earth hadn't Helen made a run for it? Testimony suggests she was worried about eight-year-old Molly, who was home at the time. Not a good enough explanation, says Troiano. For hours, Peter, she allowed what is claimed to be a murderer run loose in a home with a rifle, run loose in a home with a rifle,

without seeking help, without barricading her into a room. He says Helen's body showed no definitive signs of a life and death struggle. Why wouldn't she have fought back? And how credible are the witnesses against Megan Hargan? Troiano says the defense wants the jury to believe one may not be credible at all, her sister, Ashley. Her story has changed.

When she'd spoken to investigators soon after the shooting, Ashley told them Helen had once been in emotional turmoil. I know my sister was depressed. Has she ever talked about hurting herself? Yeah. But once on the stand, Ashley testified she doesn't remember ever saying that.

She says 150 times thereabouts that she doesn't remember certain things. There's two ways to look at that. Number one is that she doesn't remember, right? Number two is that she doesn't want to say things that are not helpful for the prosecution. Ashley testified that she couldn't recall more than 150 times. Why was that? Anytime you're dealing with a victim of trauma, there are always going to be aspects that she can't recall. Whatever the jury thinks of Ashley, the defense wants to explain to them how Helen could have pulled the trigger on that rifle.

And they have a theory with her toe. She puts her head down and that she's able to utilize the trigger, probably with her toe, to be able to discharge the weapon. Your toe? She's got to figure out some way. And the critical question is, could it have been done? Even the prosecution's expert witness concedes, while very unlikely, it is possible. Can her toe reach the trigger? Yes, her legs are long enough that her toe could reach the

trigger. Either way, the judge thinks Iris Graff's digital reconstruction isn't necessary, so he prevents the jury from seeing it. And though Megan Hargan never testifies, every shred of evidence shows that Megan Hargan was the one who committed these murders. In closings, Prosecutor Bozilla argues there's no evidence Pam Hargan was actually going to cancel the contract on Helen's new house. And he urges the jury to compare Helen's behavior around the time of the shooting to Megan's. He says Megan's actions speak for themselves. She's doing all these things that a murderer would do. But the defense insists there's reasonable doubt in this case.

They argue the prosecutor's forensics are inconclusive. And the toe-on-the-trigger theory cannot be ruled out. It's possible. And if it's possible, that then lends itself to doubt. Megan Hargan is innocent. it's possible, that then lends itself to doubt. Megan Hargan is innocent. Megan's friend, Rebecca Wolfe, spent about five years working for the Justice Department. She knows her way around a criminal trial and has been at this one almost every day. I would not be comfortable sending someone to prison for the rest of their life without knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt in my mind that they did it. On March 24th, 2022, almost five years after the shootings, the jury gets the case.

Based on your review of this case, as the jury is heading into deliberation, could this go either way? Sure. deliberation. Could this go either way? Sure. What do you think of the defense's toe on the trigger theory? For a look at a timeline of the investigation, go to 48hours.com.

Did you know that the movie Candyman was partly inspired by an actual murder? Listen to Candyman, the true story behind the bathroom mirror murder, early and ad-free, with a 48-hour plus subscription on Apple Podcasts. As the jurors come back to the room, they have a decision. Are you looking at their faces? Yes.

After a three-week trial, it takes the jury less than two days of deliberations to reach a verdict. I thought my legs were going to go weak because we were standing up, and it had been just like months of our lives that this is all we had done. Megan Hargan is guilty. Two counts of first-degree murder for killing her sister Helen and mother Pam. How did Megan react to the verdict? At least for me as a prosecutor, I don't want to look over at that table. I think it's not very classy.

I'm just sort of in the zone trying not to pass out. I think weight lifted off of everybody. It was a very emotional moment. The jury recommends a sentence to the judge of life in prison on each murder count. He will rule on that this fall. I thought for sure that I would be getting a phone call and coming to pick her up, 100%. Megan's friend, Rebecca Wolf, thinks this jury was short-sighted. I thought they were going to see through all of this. They were going to look at all the evidence.

They were going to ask the right questions. They were going to do their job. This job is difficult. Detective Byerson thinks there are parts of authorities' conduct in this case that he would have changed if he could. How 911 dispatchers responded to Carlos Gutierrez, and how quickly the Fairfax County PD went public with the murder-suicide theory.

I don't find it helpful to kind of make a blanket statement about what we think it is, because it doesn't matter what we think it is. It only matters what it turns out to be. Was justice served in this case? Depends on what justice is, right? You're never bringing back the two lives that were lost. The domino effect of tragedy from what happened is immeasurable.

Though the trial is finally finished, waves of grief still wash over the surviving Hargan family. It's just an immeasurable grief. And ripples still reverberate in the lives of people they touched, like Pam's former neighbor, Tammy. And I was just, just devastated. I mean, just, but I didn't have any words. It was just unbelievable. And Helen's friend, Aaron. I was in shock.

Who had moved abroad after graduation and had to hear about her death from us. I had no idea that happened to her. You're convinced if Helen were alive today, she'd be on the road to some great success, some great career? Absolutely. She'd be a trailblazer. How do you want your friend Helen to be remembered?

For being kind and compassionate, driven, and caring, just a very caring person. A popular college professor found dead in a hot tub, accident or murder, suspected her boyfriend. Found dead in a hot tub, accident or murder. Suspected her boyfriend. Then a stunning act from their host. A sudden shotgun blast. There's something he's hiding. 48 hours, two weeks from tonight on CBS. If you like this podcast, you can listen ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery app.

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