1 00:00:00,533 --> 00:00:03,303 [theme music] 2 00:00:08,675 --> 00:00:12,579 There were two bodies that were located inside of this home, 3 00:00:12,579 --> 00:00:14,814 and that's really all we knew. 4 00:00:14,814 --> 00:00:16,983 Is there a little adrenaline when you're pulling up? 5 00:00:16,983 --> 00:00:18,118 Always. 6 00:00:18,118 --> 00:00:19,786 Your blood starts to get pumping a little bit, 7 00:00:19,786 --> 00:00:25,725 and you start to think about how this is going to play out. 8 00:00:25,725 --> 00:00:28,795 What did you see as you entered this home? 9 00:00:28,795 --> 00:00:33,066 Well, it's a very nice home in a great neighborhood. 10 00:00:33,066 --> 00:00:36,503 Fairfax County is located just outside of Washington, DC. 11 00:00:36,503 --> 00:00:40,640 It is an affluent area of Northern Virginia. 12 00:00:40,640 --> 00:00:44,277 It was a million-dollar home. 13 00:00:44,277 --> 00:00:47,247 As you walk through the kitchen, you 14 00:00:47,247 --> 00:00:49,649 encounter a mudroom that connects the kitchen 15 00:00:49,649 --> 00:00:51,451 to the garage. 16 00:00:51,451 --> 00:00:54,921 In that mudroom, we discover Pamela Hargan. 17 00:00:54,921 --> 00:00:56,856 How was she positioned on the ground? 18 00:00:56,856 --> 00:01:03,196 She was lying face down, and she had a blanket laid over her. 19 00:01:03,196 --> 00:01:06,065 Like a quilt. Her cell phone is actually 20 00:01:06,065 --> 00:01:08,301 laying on top of the quilt. 21 00:01:08,301 --> 00:01:10,270 And there was a pool of blood coming 22 00:01:10,270 --> 00:01:13,506 from the area of her head onto the floor. 23 00:01:13,506 --> 00:01:15,041 What else do you find? 24 00:01:15,041 --> 00:01:18,077 We go upstairs, and then we encounter 25 00:01:18,077 --> 00:01:22,348 Helen Hargan inside of the bathroom that's in her bedroom. 26 00:01:22,348 --> 00:01:24,584 She appeared to have been sitting on the toilet 27 00:01:24,584 --> 00:01:26,019 when she was shot. 28 00:01:26,019 --> 00:01:27,287 She was fully clothed. 29 00:01:27,287 --> 00:01:31,724 She has some kind of trauma to her head. 30 00:01:31,724 --> 00:01:33,793 There's a rifle in between her legs. 31 00:01:33,793 --> 00:01:37,697 She's got a tremendous amount of blood in her mouth. 32 00:01:37,697 --> 00:01:42,602 Finding two deceased persons, one with a gun on their body, 33 00:01:42,602 --> 00:01:45,004 might have been a murder-suicide. 34 00:01:45,004 --> 00:01:46,072 Suicide? 35 00:01:46,072 --> 00:01:46,573 Possibly. 36 00:01:49,943 --> 00:01:51,377 What are we looking at here now? 37 00:01:51,377 --> 00:01:53,813 This is the main room of the basement. 38 00:01:53,813 --> 00:01:56,082 That set of books, they're photo albums, 39 00:01:56,082 --> 00:01:57,817 and I wanted to see what my victims may 40 00:01:57,817 --> 00:02:00,453 have looked like in life. 41 00:02:00,453 --> 00:02:05,558 Pam Hargan was a woman in her 60s, an incredibly successful, 42 00:02:05,558 --> 00:02:07,093 business-minded woman. 43 00:02:07,093 --> 00:02:09,195 She was generous with her money. 44 00:02:09,195 --> 00:02:11,898 This is a woman who built an $8 million estate. 45 00:02:11,898 --> 00:02:16,336 She poured her life into her family. 46 00:02:16,336 --> 00:02:20,106 Helen, the youngest daughter, had returned home from college. 47 00:02:20,106 --> 00:02:22,742 Helen was the kind of daughter, I think, 48 00:02:22,742 --> 00:02:24,978 that everybody would want. 49 00:02:24,978 --> 00:02:27,714 She was lovely. 50 00:02:27,714 --> 00:02:30,283 She had a number of friends. 51 00:02:30,283 --> 00:02:32,418 She had a boyfriend. 52 00:02:32,418 --> 00:02:36,856 Helen never struck me as having a dark side. 53 00:02:36,856 --> 00:02:38,958 Mothers and daughters butt heads. 54 00:02:38,958 --> 00:02:41,160 I mean, did Helen and her mother get along perfectly? 55 00:02:41,160 --> 00:02:42,395 I don't think so. 56 00:02:42,395 --> 00:02:45,598 But you don't know what goes on behind closed doors. 57 00:02:45,598 --> 00:02:49,969 Maybe Helen had murdered her mother and then shot herself. 58 00:02:49,969 --> 00:02:52,805 So what's your gut telling you as you take 59 00:02:52,805 --> 00:02:54,107 a look at these two bodies? 60 00:02:54,107 --> 00:02:55,608 Wait. 61 00:02:55,608 --> 00:02:59,879 You will make mistakes if you make assumptions before you 62 00:02:59,879 --> 00:03:01,447 actually do the work. 63 00:03:01,447 --> 00:03:03,116 And so she would have had to have done 64 00:03:03,116 --> 00:03:05,752 what to shoot herself in the head that way? 65 00:03:05,752 --> 00:03:07,420 Magic. 66 00:03:07,420 --> 00:03:08,788 She would have had to done magic. 67 00:03:08,788 --> 00:03:09,756 It just isn't possible. 68 00:03:09,756 --> 00:03:12,892 [music playing] 69 00:03:12,892 --> 00:03:16,362 [theme music] 70 00:04:00,907 --> 00:04:07,180 Friday, July 14, 2017, about 5:00 PM, Fairfax County, 71 00:04:07,180 --> 00:04:11,918 Virginia Police visit the next of kin to deliver awful news. 72 00:04:11,918 --> 00:04:17,023 63-year-old Pam Hargan and 24-year-old Helen Hargan 73 00:04:17,023 --> 00:04:18,391 are dead. 74 00:04:18,391 --> 00:04:20,827 Pamela was shot twice in the mudroom. 75 00:04:23,429 --> 00:04:25,898 Lead Detective Brian Byerson says 76 00:04:25,898 --> 00:04:28,868 police are recording and whispering 77 00:04:28,868 --> 00:04:31,204 to avoid being overheard when they 78 00:04:31,204 --> 00:04:34,107 give Pam's ex-husband, Steve, more 79 00:04:34,107 --> 00:04:36,843 painful details about Helen. 80 00:04:36,843 --> 00:04:41,714 She had a gunshot wound that appears to be self-inflicted. 81 00:04:41,714 --> 00:04:42,849 I'm really sorry. 82 00:04:46,653 --> 00:04:48,221 There was a thought that went around 83 00:04:48,221 --> 00:04:52,225 that it might have been a murder-suicide. 84 00:04:52,225 --> 00:04:56,696 Hargan soon summons his other two daughters, 32-year-old 85 00:04:56,696 --> 00:05:00,633 Ashley and 34-year-old Megan. 86 00:05:00,633 --> 00:05:02,301 What is happening? 87 00:05:02,301 --> 00:05:06,172 What is-- what happened? 88 00:05:06,172 --> 00:05:09,142 [music playing] 89 00:05:10,643 --> 00:05:14,781 They react with equal parts pain and panic. 90 00:05:14,781 --> 00:05:15,481 Oh god. 91 00:05:15,481 --> 00:05:16,916 What are we going to do? 92 00:05:16,916 --> 00:05:18,284 Jesus, what are we going to do? 93 00:05:18,284 --> 00:05:19,652 I don't know. 94 00:05:19,652 --> 00:05:21,454 Our mom took care of everything. 95 00:05:21,454 --> 00:05:22,288 Yeah. 96 00:05:22,288 --> 00:05:23,356 I just don't even understand. 97 00:05:23,356 --> 00:05:24,223 I don't-- 98 00:05:24,223 --> 00:05:25,725 We were at the freaking house. 99 00:05:30,630 --> 00:05:33,166 Megan Hargan tells authorities she 100 00:05:33,166 --> 00:05:35,168 and her eight-year-old daughter, Molly, 101 00:05:35,168 --> 00:05:37,236 have been living with Pam and Helen 102 00:05:37,236 --> 00:05:39,739 while her husband is in the military. 103 00:05:39,739 --> 00:05:43,876 She says she'd left the home with Molly at about 1:30 PM 104 00:05:43,876 --> 00:05:45,978 that day, adding that there had been 105 00:05:45,978 --> 00:05:51,117 an argument between her mother and Helen, who had been upset. 106 00:05:51,117 --> 00:05:57,423 Helen has been so angry, just so angry all the time. 107 00:05:57,423 --> 00:05:59,425 And struggling emotionally. 108 00:05:59,425 --> 00:06:06,132 I knew Helen was depressed, but to do this? 109 00:06:06,132 --> 00:06:10,336 I can't wrap my head around this. 110 00:06:10,336 --> 00:06:13,039 Is it true that she once threatened suicide? 111 00:06:13,039 --> 00:06:15,308 I think that is possibly true, yes. 112 00:06:15,308 --> 00:06:18,978 In fact, Ashley would later tell authorities Helen 113 00:06:18,978 --> 00:06:21,681 had thoughts about self-harm. 114 00:06:21,681 --> 00:06:23,216 I know my sister was depressed. 115 00:06:23,216 --> 00:06:24,317 OK. 116 00:06:24,317 --> 00:06:25,785 Has she ever talked about hurting herself? 117 00:06:25,785 --> 00:06:26,986 Yeah. 118 00:06:26,986 --> 00:06:30,189 But Megan also suggests her mother and sister 119 00:06:30,189 --> 00:06:33,226 could have been attacked by offering a potentially 120 00:06:33,226 --> 00:06:35,995 important clue, something she reports 121 00:06:35,995 --> 00:06:38,664 she'd seen the day before. 122 00:06:38,664 --> 00:06:41,400 Two suspicious males casing the neighborhood, 123 00:06:41,400 --> 00:06:45,138 and she later tells us those particular guys 124 00:06:45,138 --> 00:06:48,508 are the reason why she ends up bringing this rifle up 125 00:06:48,508 --> 00:06:50,710 to the main floor of the house. 126 00:06:50,710 --> 00:06:54,413 It's the .22 Ruger rifle found with Helen's body, 127 00:06:54,413 --> 00:06:56,783 and it belongs to Megan's husband. 128 00:06:56,783 --> 00:07:00,086 She says her mother had allowed her to store it in the house 129 00:07:00,086 --> 00:07:03,322 until the couple moved into their own place 130 00:07:03,322 --> 00:07:04,924 in West Virginia. 131 00:07:04,924 --> 00:07:08,795 My husband and I literally just closed on our new home 132 00:07:08,795 --> 00:07:09,495 yesterday. 133 00:07:09,495 --> 00:07:11,497 My mom bought it for us. 134 00:07:16,002 --> 00:07:19,605 Steve and Pam Hargan divorced when the children were young. 135 00:07:19,605 --> 00:07:23,009 Pam took them and moved around before ending up 136 00:07:23,009 --> 00:07:28,014 in Potomac, Maryland, next door to Tami Mallios. 137 00:07:28,014 --> 00:07:33,085 Megan was very upset about the divorce. 138 00:07:33,085 --> 00:07:35,621 In the next few years, Tami got to know 139 00:07:35,621 --> 00:07:37,790 Megan and her little sister Helen 140 00:07:37,790 --> 00:07:41,427 and often saw them across the backyard fence. 141 00:07:41,427 --> 00:07:43,229 The girls were out in the yard all the time 142 00:07:43,229 --> 00:07:44,597 with the dogs, that sort of thing. 143 00:07:44,597 --> 00:07:45,898 So 144 00:07:45,898 --> 00:07:49,535 Tami says she always knew there was a sibling rivalry. 145 00:07:49,535 --> 00:07:52,405 Megan did bring that up a lot, saying 146 00:07:52,405 --> 00:07:54,106 that Helen was the favorite. 147 00:07:54,106 --> 00:07:56,442 But she remembers that, for the most part, 148 00:07:56,442 --> 00:07:59,478 the Hargan sisters seemed to get along fine. 149 00:07:59,478 --> 00:08:01,881 Pam was proud of them. 150 00:08:01,881 --> 00:08:06,752 She talks highly of her girls whenever I did speak with her. 151 00:08:06,752 --> 00:08:09,622 Pam Hargan poured her life into those kids. 152 00:08:09,622 --> 00:08:12,758 Michelle Sigona works for CBS News. 153 00:08:12,758 --> 00:08:15,828 She's been covering this story for nearly four years 154 00:08:15,828 --> 00:08:20,233 and says the other love of Pam Hargan's life was her job. 155 00:08:20,233 --> 00:08:23,436 Pam had spent decades climbing the career ladder 156 00:08:23,436 --> 00:08:27,273 to become a vice president of aerospace giant Lockheed 157 00:08:27,273 --> 00:08:28,207 Martin. 158 00:08:28,207 --> 00:08:30,776 She had built an $8 million estate, 159 00:08:30,776 --> 00:08:32,845 but she didn't keep it for herself. 160 00:08:32,845 --> 00:08:35,314 She was constantly giving to those around her, 161 00:08:35,314 --> 00:08:37,783 specifically to her children. 162 00:08:37,783 --> 00:08:40,419 Helen seemed to have her mother's ambition, 163 00:08:40,419 --> 00:08:43,489 double majoring in math and management science 164 00:08:43,489 --> 00:08:46,659 at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. 165 00:08:46,659 --> 00:08:51,264 That's where Erin Roughneen met her in 2014. 166 00:08:51,264 --> 00:08:54,600 When I first met her, I was extremely scared of her 167 00:08:54,600 --> 00:08:57,770 because she didn't laugh or smile. 168 00:08:57,770 --> 00:09:00,473 She's like an onion. 169 00:09:00,473 --> 00:09:02,508 You have to peel the layers off, and you really 170 00:09:02,508 --> 00:09:05,645 get to know the kind and genuine person underneath there. 171 00:09:05,645 --> 00:09:09,282 Roughneen says they became close friends. 172 00:09:09,282 --> 00:09:14,353 It's been said that Helen may have suffered from depression. 173 00:09:14,353 --> 00:09:16,188 Did you ever see any of that? 174 00:09:16,188 --> 00:09:18,858 I did not at all. 175 00:09:18,858 --> 00:09:21,661 Roughneen says her friend spent a lot of time 176 00:09:21,661 --> 00:09:26,432 studying, though Helen did have a job at a nearby restaurant. 177 00:09:26,432 --> 00:09:27,934 She was working as a waitress. 178 00:09:27,934 --> 00:09:32,038 There was a 30-something named Carlos Gutierrez working 179 00:09:32,038 --> 00:09:33,639 in the restaurant too. 180 00:09:33,639 --> 00:09:36,442 They fell for each other in short order. 181 00:09:36,442 --> 00:09:40,079 And they had plans to move in together. 182 00:09:40,079 --> 00:09:43,983 Pam had started building a house for Helen in Northern Virginia. 183 00:09:43,983 --> 00:09:48,287 So in the spring of 2017, Helen had moved back home 184 00:09:48,287 --> 00:09:49,789 from Dallas. 185 00:09:49,789 --> 00:09:53,459 According to Carlos, he hadn't asked her to be his wife, 186 00:09:53,459 --> 00:09:55,227 but he was working towards that. 187 00:09:55,227 --> 00:09:58,764 But Megan tells police, Pam hadn't approved 188 00:09:58,764 --> 00:10:00,967 of Helen's relationship. 189 00:10:00,967 --> 00:10:02,802 She believed that Helen was going 190 00:10:02,802 --> 00:10:04,403 to try to move Carlos into the house, 191 00:10:04,403 --> 00:10:06,372 and my mom didn't want him being there. 192 00:10:06,372 --> 00:10:10,943 Still, Helen had been moving ahead, planning for the future. 193 00:10:10,943 --> 00:10:13,412 It was just a matter of figuring out her career path. 194 00:10:13,412 --> 00:10:15,114 It takes a little while to figure it out, 195 00:10:15,114 --> 00:10:16,983 but she was going to get there. 196 00:10:16,983 --> 00:10:21,454 But Helen Hargan never got there. 197 00:10:21,454 --> 00:10:24,323 Fairfax County Police and Fire, how may I assist you? 198 00:10:24,323 --> 00:10:27,593 Yes, I have an emergency. 199 00:10:27,593 --> 00:10:30,863 On the day of the shooting, it was Carlos Gutierrez 200 00:10:30,863 --> 00:10:32,832 who had first alerted authorities 201 00:10:32,832 --> 00:10:37,069 that something in the Hargan House was dreadfully wrong. 202 00:10:37,069 --> 00:10:41,173 I'm in Dallas, Texas, and my girlfriend lives in McLean. 203 00:10:41,173 --> 00:10:44,844 He says he and Helen had spoken earlier that morning. 204 00:10:44,844 --> 00:10:48,881 Now he can't get in touch with her, and he's worried. 205 00:10:48,881 --> 00:10:50,449 My girlfriend won't answer the phone, 206 00:10:50,449 --> 00:10:52,752 and I'm thinking my girlfriend's life is in danger. 207 00:10:55,354 --> 00:10:56,355 OK, sir. 208 00:10:56,355 --> 00:10:57,656 What I need you to do then is contact 209 00:10:57,656 --> 00:11:00,593 your local jurisdiction, file a report with them, 210 00:11:00,593 --> 00:11:04,430 and tell them that Fairfax County requires a teletype 211 00:11:04,430 --> 00:11:06,499 in order to do a welfare check. 212 00:11:06,499 --> 00:11:09,468 I feel really bad for Carlos because he's bounced around all 213 00:11:09,468 --> 00:11:11,303 over the place just trying to get somebody 214 00:11:11,303 --> 00:11:14,840 to listen to the fact that he thinks his girlfriend's life is 215 00:11:14,840 --> 00:11:15,641 in danger. 216 00:11:15,641 --> 00:11:17,376 I think this is life or death. 217 00:11:17,376 --> 00:11:19,345 I think someone might be dead. 218 00:11:19,345 --> 00:11:21,781 Carlos Gutierrez would later testify 219 00:11:21,781 --> 00:11:24,050 about why he was so concerned. 220 00:11:24,050 --> 00:11:27,653 He would also tell a jury he felt authorities were giving 221 00:11:27,653 --> 00:11:29,955 him the runaround that day even when 222 00:11:29,955 --> 00:11:33,459 he called back later with something explosive to add, 223 00:11:33,459 --> 00:11:36,629 something Helen had told him. 224 00:11:36,629 --> 00:11:38,397 Exactly what did your girlfriend to you? 225 00:11:38,397 --> 00:11:41,901 [music playing] 226 00:11:57,283 --> 00:12:00,486 Fairfax County Police and Fire, how may I assist you? 227 00:12:00,486 --> 00:12:03,489 Yes, I have an emergency. 228 00:12:03,489 --> 00:12:08,160 It's 1:44 PM on July 14, 2017. 229 00:12:08,160 --> 00:12:11,363 Carlos Gutierrez, Helen's boyfriend in Texas, 230 00:12:11,363 --> 00:12:16,335 is having a hard time with 911 dispatchers in Virginia. 231 00:12:16,335 --> 00:12:18,370 I think someone might be dead. 232 00:12:18,370 --> 00:12:19,738 Right, sir. 233 00:12:19,738 --> 00:12:22,741 Contact your local jurisdiction, file the report, have them-- 234 00:12:22,741 --> 00:12:26,045 The call ends without a promise of help. 235 00:12:26,045 --> 00:12:29,782 So 15 minutes later, Carlos calls again. 236 00:12:29,782 --> 00:12:31,117 Fairfax County Police and Fire-- 237 00:12:31,117 --> 00:12:34,286 And this time, he makes a startling revelation 238 00:12:34,286 --> 00:12:36,889 about something he says Helen had told him 239 00:12:36,889 --> 00:12:39,391 on the phone that morning. 240 00:12:39,391 --> 00:12:43,129 My girlfriend told me that her sister killed her mom. 241 00:12:45,764 --> 00:12:49,135 Now my girlfriend won't answer her phone. 242 00:12:49,135 --> 00:12:51,537 Megan Hargan had murdered her mother, 243 00:12:51,537 --> 00:12:55,508 or at least that's what Carlos said Helen had told him. 244 00:12:55,508 --> 00:12:56,342 OK. 245 00:12:56,342 --> 00:12:57,676 Well, this was out of the blue? 246 00:12:57,676 --> 00:13:00,112 Your girlfriend is sitting in a house with a dead woman? 247 00:13:00,112 --> 00:13:00,613 Yes. 248 00:13:03,983 --> 00:13:07,486 Why was Carlos, who was more than a thousand miles away, 249 00:13:07,486 --> 00:13:09,321 calling 911? 250 00:13:09,321 --> 00:13:12,124 Why didn't Helen call herself? 251 00:13:12,124 --> 00:13:14,627 What was going on in that house? 252 00:13:17,263 --> 00:13:20,065 I reported a murder earlier, and I didn't have the address. 253 00:13:20,065 --> 00:13:21,033 Now I have the address. 254 00:13:21,033 --> 00:13:22,801 [siren blaring] 255 00:13:22,801 --> 00:13:27,039 When police arrived around 3:00 PM, they find Pam is dead. 256 00:13:29,642 --> 00:13:32,178 But they discover Helen's body too. 257 00:13:32,178 --> 00:13:36,215 Carlos had offered authorities a possible explanation for Pam, 258 00:13:36,215 --> 00:13:38,384 but Helen was a mystery. 259 00:13:38,384 --> 00:13:41,420 Megan Hargan told police something interesting. 260 00:13:41,420 --> 00:13:45,858 Her mother and sister had been arguing that day. 261 00:13:45,858 --> 00:13:49,962 This morning, my mom let Helen know 262 00:13:49,962 --> 00:13:53,098 that she was canceling the contract on the house she's 263 00:13:53,098 --> 00:13:56,602 building her because she truly believed 264 00:13:56,602 --> 00:13:59,138 that Helen was going to try to move Carlos into the house. 265 00:13:59,138 --> 00:14:01,207 And when middle sister Ashley hears 266 00:14:01,207 --> 00:14:03,842 that Carlos is accusing Megan of murder, 267 00:14:03,842 --> 00:14:06,912 she makes it clear she doesn't believe him. 268 00:14:06,912 --> 00:14:10,249 She would never do that ever, never. 269 00:14:10,249 --> 00:14:12,718 OK? 270 00:14:12,718 --> 00:14:16,689 Megan Hargan's friend Rebecca Wolfe agrees. 271 00:14:16,689 --> 00:14:19,258 I do not believe that Megan killed her mom 272 00:14:19,258 --> 00:14:21,193 Pam or her sister Helen. 273 00:14:21,193 --> 00:14:23,162 No piece of me believes that. 274 00:14:23,162 --> 00:14:26,532 Rebecca and Megan met in 2015, when 275 00:14:26,532 --> 00:14:29,001 they both were volunteering in a program 276 00:14:29,001 --> 00:14:33,005 to find homes for dogs rescued from war zones. 277 00:14:33,005 --> 00:14:37,476 Rebecca says that Megan always had a passion for animals. 278 00:14:37,476 --> 00:14:40,179 She is very compassionate, generous heart. 279 00:14:40,179 --> 00:14:42,414 She is just a really good person. 280 00:14:42,414 --> 00:14:46,085 And Rebecca says Megan often talked about her family, 281 00:14:46,085 --> 00:14:47,653 her generous mother. 282 00:14:47,653 --> 00:14:50,856 Megan admired Pam's wisdom, her career. 283 00:14:50,856 --> 00:14:53,592 She always spoke very lovingly of her. 284 00:14:53,592 --> 00:14:58,664 And her sisters, especially the baby of the family, Helen. 285 00:14:58,664 --> 00:15:01,500 Megan talked about Helen struggling with things 286 00:15:01,500 --> 00:15:06,272 and feeling depressed, but I never got the impression 287 00:15:06,272 --> 00:15:10,843 that it was insurmountable. 288 00:15:10,843 --> 00:15:14,213 Rebecca says that Megan called her on the day of the shooting 289 00:15:14,213 --> 00:15:18,117 and sounded like a woman who'd lost everything. 290 00:15:18,117 --> 00:15:20,486 Very distraught, and she did not give me 291 00:15:20,486 --> 00:15:22,087 details of what had happened. 292 00:15:22,087 --> 00:15:26,025 She just said, we've lost mom and Helen. 293 00:15:26,025 --> 00:15:29,295 By 8:00 PM, police had told the media what they 294 00:15:29,295 --> 00:15:31,163 had told the Hargan family. 295 00:15:31,163 --> 00:15:33,966 This looked like a murder-suicide. 296 00:15:33,966 --> 00:15:37,936 But Detective Byerson says, the more he saw of the crime scene, 297 00:15:37,936 --> 00:15:40,572 the less he thought so and the more 298 00:15:40,572 --> 00:15:44,143 he wanted to take a closer look at Megan Hargan. 299 00:15:44,143 --> 00:15:48,647 That night, he had officers test her hands for gunshot residue 300 00:15:48,647 --> 00:15:50,649 and photograph her. 301 00:15:50,649 --> 00:15:52,885 Does she become a person of interest at that moment? 302 00:15:52,885 --> 00:15:54,386 She's certainly a person of interest 303 00:15:54,386 --> 00:15:57,089 because we know that she was in the house. 304 00:15:57,089 --> 00:16:00,225 Police knew the house probably held answers. 305 00:16:00,225 --> 00:16:02,561 Crime scene Detective Julia Elliott, 306 00:16:02,561 --> 00:16:05,264 who had joined Detective Byerson at the scene, 307 00:16:05,264 --> 00:16:08,300 spent the evening combing for evidence. 308 00:16:08,300 --> 00:16:12,237 I was shown Pamela's body first. 309 00:16:12,237 --> 00:16:14,340 One thing that caught her attention 310 00:16:14,340 --> 00:16:16,875 was Pam Hargan's cell phone. 311 00:16:16,875 --> 00:16:20,279 It's laying on top of the pool of blood and the blanket. 312 00:16:20,279 --> 00:16:23,382 Was it unusual to see the cell phone in this kind of position? 313 00:16:23,382 --> 00:16:26,218 Yes, it certainly wouldn't fall on top of the blanket 314 00:16:26,218 --> 00:16:28,787 and on top of the blood once you were already covered up. 315 00:16:28,787 --> 00:16:31,256 And what does it suggest that the cell phone is 316 00:16:31,256 --> 00:16:33,559 lying on top of this comforter? 317 00:16:33,559 --> 00:16:36,962 That suggests to me that it was placed there by someone. 318 00:16:36,962 --> 00:16:41,533 Elliott says the Helen Hargan shooting scene was next. 319 00:16:41,533 --> 00:16:44,737 She had a lot of blood on her face. 320 00:16:44,737 --> 00:16:48,307 So much blood that it was impossible to see an entry 321 00:16:48,307 --> 00:16:50,876 wound, and there was more on the floor. 322 00:16:50,876 --> 00:16:53,712 But there was a lack of blood where investigators 323 00:16:53,712 --> 00:16:55,514 expected to see it. 324 00:16:55,514 --> 00:16:59,318 The rifle itself had very little blood on it. 325 00:16:59,318 --> 00:17:02,354 The rifle was leaning against Helen's body. 326 00:17:02,354 --> 00:17:04,890 The butt was on the floor between her legs. 327 00:17:04,890 --> 00:17:08,927 The barrel was pointed up towards the ceiling. 328 00:17:08,927 --> 00:17:11,463 You would expect that if the rifle had been sitting there, 329 00:17:11,463 --> 00:17:16,301 as she bled so heavily, it would also have blood on it. 330 00:17:16,301 --> 00:17:19,638 And was there anything on this gun from Megan? 331 00:17:19,638 --> 00:17:20,639 No. 332 00:17:20,639 --> 00:17:22,374 What about fingerprints on this rifle? 333 00:17:22,374 --> 00:17:24,276 None that were usable. 334 00:17:24,276 --> 00:17:27,446 There was DNA found on the trigger, 335 00:17:27,446 --> 00:17:30,115 but it wasn't Megan or Helen's. 336 00:17:30,115 --> 00:17:34,420 Is it true that Helen's DNA was found on the rifle case? 337 00:17:34,420 --> 00:17:35,721 Yes, that is true. 338 00:17:35,721 --> 00:17:39,425 But Byerson says, only on the tip of the case. 339 00:17:39,425 --> 00:17:43,028 Megan's DNA was on the case handles. 340 00:17:43,028 --> 00:17:46,899 It's part of the reason police believe Helen Hargan never 341 00:17:46,899 --> 00:17:48,934 touched the gun that day. 342 00:17:48,934 --> 00:17:52,404 As she died, someone else was there to place it on her. 343 00:17:52,404 --> 00:17:55,674 She says Helen's phone was telling as well. 344 00:17:55,674 --> 00:17:59,745 There was almost no blood on it, and although Helen had used it 345 00:17:59,745 --> 00:18:02,481 that day to talk and text with Carlos, 346 00:18:02,481 --> 00:18:04,683 there were no fingerprints either. 347 00:18:04,683 --> 00:18:07,686 What we found was what looked like swipe marks, 348 00:18:07,686 --> 00:18:09,354 as if someone had taken their hand 349 00:18:09,354 --> 00:18:13,225 and wiped off the front of the screen. 350 00:18:13,225 --> 00:18:16,462 Though it would take time to learn exactly how the Hargan 351 00:18:16,462 --> 00:18:19,865 women died, in the basement, Detective Elliott 352 00:18:19,865 --> 00:18:24,536 saw an immediate opportunity to learn how they had lived. 353 00:18:24,536 --> 00:18:27,272 I got a little nosey, and I wanted 354 00:18:27,272 --> 00:18:29,775 to see what my victims may have looked like in life. 355 00:18:29,775 --> 00:18:32,544 So I pulled out one of the center photo albums 356 00:18:32,544 --> 00:18:34,179 to look at it and open it up. 357 00:18:34,179 --> 00:18:36,815 Tucked away in that album of family photos 358 00:18:36,815 --> 00:18:41,587 was something that seemed out of place, documents, Megan's bank 359 00:18:41,587 --> 00:18:46,024 statement, Pam's too, and a spreadsheet full of passwords 360 00:18:46,024 --> 00:18:49,595 and security verification details to unlock 361 00:18:49,595 --> 00:18:52,331 all of Pam Hargan's accounts. 362 00:18:52,331 --> 00:18:53,632 Well, that's interesting. 363 00:18:53,632 --> 00:18:55,834 Were you able to analyze the paper? 364 00:18:55,834 --> 00:18:59,071 So at the time of us locating that, 365 00:18:59,071 --> 00:19:02,074 financial documents were not on our search warrant. 366 00:19:02,074 --> 00:19:04,943 So Detective Elliott photographed the documents 367 00:19:04,943 --> 00:19:06,678 and left them in the house. 368 00:19:06,678 --> 00:19:08,881 But when she entered with the proper search 369 00:19:08,881 --> 00:19:11,783 warrant days later-- 370 00:19:11,783 --> 00:19:12,885 They were not there. 371 00:19:12,885 --> 00:19:13,719 They were not there? 372 00:19:13,719 --> 00:19:15,954 They were not. 373 00:19:15,954 --> 00:19:19,324 The house had been returned to the Hargan family's custody 374 00:19:19,324 --> 00:19:21,326 the day after the shooting. 375 00:19:21,326 --> 00:19:25,197 And something else had happened that day. 376 00:19:25,197 --> 00:19:27,933 The medical examiner delivered her report 377 00:19:27,933 --> 00:19:32,838 on Helen Hargan's autopsy, casting doubt 378 00:19:32,838 --> 00:19:35,073 on the murder-suicide theory. 379 00:19:35,073 --> 00:19:37,109 It tells us that someone else pulled the trigger. 380 00:19:40,679 --> 00:19:42,414 What do you think the crime scene 381 00:19:42,414 --> 00:19:44,249 suggests about what happened? 382 00:19:44,249 --> 00:19:47,786 Chat now with the 48 Hours team on Facebook and Twitter. 383 00:19:51,490 --> 00:19:54,860 [music playing] 384 00:20:00,198 --> 00:20:03,135 A police spokesman was calling the Hargan shootings 385 00:20:03,135 --> 00:20:06,271 a murder-suicide. 386 00:20:06,271 --> 00:20:09,141 But the next day, when Detective Brian Byerson 387 00:20:09,141 --> 00:20:12,744 saw Helen's autopsy report, he was 388 00:20:12,744 --> 00:20:15,714 certain it was something else. 389 00:20:15,714 --> 00:20:18,283 The gunshot wound on Helen Hargan 390 00:20:18,283 --> 00:20:21,286 was in the top of her head. 391 00:20:21,286 --> 00:20:26,124 The rifle bullet had traveled downward into her neck. 392 00:20:26,124 --> 00:20:28,694 She would have to hold it straight up 393 00:20:28,694 --> 00:20:33,365 and be able to reach the trigger to accomplish this. 394 00:20:33,365 --> 00:20:36,535 I've never seen that before, and I've worked a lot of murders. 395 00:20:36,535 --> 00:20:39,571 Well, what does that tell when you learned that information? 396 00:20:39,571 --> 00:20:43,475 It tells us that someone else pulled the trigger. 397 00:20:43,475 --> 00:20:47,846 As Detective Byerson arrived to work two days later, on Monday, 398 00:20:47,846 --> 00:20:49,448 July 17-- 399 00:20:49,448 --> 00:20:50,449 Good morning. 400 00:20:50,449 --> 00:20:52,017 Thank you for calling Cap One bank. 401 00:20:52,017 --> 00:20:54,853 There was a clue waiting for him, a clue 402 00:20:54,853 --> 00:20:58,957 that Byerson was able to take all the way to the bank. 403 00:20:58,957 --> 00:21:02,527 That Monday morning, I have a message on my desk phone 404 00:21:02,527 --> 00:21:04,463 from Capital One. 405 00:21:04,463 --> 00:21:06,999 The bank had some startling news. 406 00:21:06,999 --> 00:21:11,003 Bank employees had seen reports of Pam Hargan's death 407 00:21:11,003 --> 00:21:14,773 and wanted him to know about some strange activity 408 00:21:14,773 --> 00:21:16,108 on her account. 409 00:21:16,108 --> 00:21:18,043 Could you tell me your name, please? 410 00:21:18,043 --> 00:21:20,078 Pamela Hansen Hargan. 411 00:21:20,078 --> 00:21:22,447 Someone claiming to be Pam Hargan 412 00:21:22,447 --> 00:21:25,517 had called the bank the day before the shooting 413 00:21:25,517 --> 00:21:26,952 with a request. 414 00:21:26,952 --> 00:21:28,320 What can I do for you today? 415 00:21:28,320 --> 00:21:30,722 I was told that I could do a wire transfer. 416 00:21:30,722 --> 00:21:33,458 Whoever it was was trying to transfer 417 00:21:33,458 --> 00:21:38,063 money, more than $400,000, out of Pam's account 418 00:21:38,063 --> 00:21:41,433 to a real estate settlement company in West Virginia. 419 00:21:41,433 --> 00:21:44,069 Oh, you're going to buy a house? 420 00:21:44,069 --> 00:21:46,204 For my daughter, yes. 421 00:21:46,204 --> 00:21:48,707 The caller was able to successfully answer 422 00:21:48,707 --> 00:21:51,043 Pam's security questions. 423 00:21:51,043 --> 00:21:53,412 All right, you aced the verification. 424 00:21:53,412 --> 00:21:54,980 Great job. 425 00:21:54,980 --> 00:21:58,183 Detective Byerson discovered that the transaction hadn't 426 00:21:58,183 --> 00:22:02,854 gone through, so the caller had tried again the next day, 427 00:22:02,854 --> 00:22:05,924 on the morning of Pam's murder. 428 00:22:05,924 --> 00:22:07,859 Yes, we attempted to yesterday, and there 429 00:22:07,859 --> 00:22:08,827 was a bit of a mix-up. 430 00:22:08,827 --> 00:22:10,595 So we would like to do it again now. 431 00:22:10,595 --> 00:22:11,263 OK. 432 00:22:11,263 --> 00:22:12,464 They need it today. 433 00:22:12,464 --> 00:22:15,267 Somebody's trying to perhaps steal Pam's money? 434 00:22:15,267 --> 00:22:17,369 Yes. 435 00:22:17,369 --> 00:22:21,940 And Byerson believed he knew who that somebody was. 436 00:22:21,940 --> 00:22:25,010 Well, that is Megan Hargan pretending to be her mother. 437 00:22:25,010 --> 00:22:25,911 Pretending? 438 00:22:25,911 --> 00:22:26,978 Pretending. 439 00:22:26,978 --> 00:22:30,282 He decided it was time for him to get 440 00:22:30,282 --> 00:22:32,084 Megan Hargan on the phone. 441 00:22:32,084 --> 00:22:34,019 Megan, how are you holding up? 442 00:22:34,019 --> 00:22:36,788 I am really not OK. 443 00:22:36,788 --> 00:22:40,158 Megan claimed the attempted wire transfers were just 444 00:22:40,158 --> 00:22:42,861 an innocent mix-up at the bank. 445 00:22:42,861 --> 00:22:46,164 But by now, Byerson was suspicious of everything 446 00:22:46,164 --> 00:22:47,299 she said. 447 00:22:47,299 --> 00:22:49,534 He began to think Megan Hargan had been trying 448 00:22:49,534 --> 00:22:52,571 to confuse police all along. 449 00:22:52,571 --> 00:22:55,774 I realize there's a lot of confusion here. 450 00:22:55,774 --> 00:22:59,277 Megan had stressed Helen's depression and anger issues 451 00:22:59,277 --> 00:23:01,079 with investigators. 452 00:23:01,079 --> 00:23:05,450 Helen has been so angry, just so angry 453 00:23:05,450 --> 00:23:08,286 all the time over everything. 454 00:23:08,286 --> 00:23:11,556 But Megan told Byerson her sister would never 455 00:23:11,556 --> 00:23:14,226 have killed herself or her mom. 456 00:23:14,226 --> 00:23:19,297 I can't imagine my own baby sister doing that at all. 457 00:23:19,297 --> 00:23:22,300 She repeated her story about two strange men 458 00:23:22,300 --> 00:23:24,102 in the neighborhood. 459 00:23:24,102 --> 00:23:27,205 I had to call the police about these two guys. 460 00:23:27,205 --> 00:23:29,875 Other people had called them, apparently. 461 00:23:29,875 --> 00:23:32,844 But Byerson says that tip went nowhere. 462 00:23:32,844 --> 00:23:35,413 The only call that's made about these guys in the neighborhood 463 00:23:35,413 --> 00:23:36,915 is from Megan Hargan. 464 00:23:36,915 --> 00:23:41,286 He had run down every lead, every alternative theory. 465 00:23:41,286 --> 00:23:44,990 There were no other suspects. 466 00:23:44,990 --> 00:23:47,392 But there was a motive, the money, 467 00:23:47,392 --> 00:23:51,396 and the person who had needed it couldn't stop talking. 468 00:23:51,396 --> 00:23:56,434 She demanded to come in and get an update on the case. 469 00:23:56,434 --> 00:24:00,739 So on July 19, five days after Pam and Helen's deaths, 470 00:24:00,739 --> 00:24:03,708 Detective Byerson brought Megan in. 471 00:24:03,708 --> 00:24:05,343 My mom-- 472 00:24:05,343 --> 00:24:07,078 He says that once Megan started-- 473 00:24:07,078 --> 00:24:09,781 Just unimaginable. 474 00:24:09,781 --> 00:24:11,550 --she wouldn't stop. 475 00:24:11,550 --> 00:24:13,785 I could ask her for anything. 476 00:24:13,785 --> 00:24:16,288 We just can't get her to leave. 477 00:24:16,288 --> 00:24:17,255 This is you. 478 00:24:17,255 --> 00:24:20,759 She stayed for more than four hours. 479 00:24:20,759 --> 00:24:22,427 Long story short, the point I'm making-- 480 00:24:22,427 --> 00:24:25,030 We would ask her questions that we knew the answer to, 481 00:24:25,030 --> 00:24:27,432 and then she would either pivot to something else-- 482 00:24:27,432 --> 00:24:28,533 I don't understand. 483 00:24:28,533 --> 00:24:30,068 --or just outright not answer the question. 484 00:24:30,068 --> 00:24:31,803 I don't know what you want me to say. 485 00:24:31,803 --> 00:24:33,038 We want you to tell the truth. 486 00:24:33,038 --> 00:24:35,207 I just want you to answer the question. 487 00:24:35,207 --> 00:24:38,710 At first, Megan insisted it was her mom who had 488 00:24:38,710 --> 00:24:40,045 made those calls to the bank. 489 00:24:40,045 --> 00:24:41,479 I'm going to play the call for you. 490 00:24:41,479 --> 00:24:43,548 But when Byerson played the tapes for her-- 491 00:24:43,548 --> 00:24:44,783 Who is it on the phone? 492 00:24:44,783 --> 00:24:45,617 It is me. 493 00:24:45,617 --> 00:24:47,686 It's you, right? 494 00:24:47,686 --> 00:24:49,354 Right. 495 00:24:49,354 --> 00:24:52,023 Detective Byerson says she finally 496 00:24:52,023 --> 00:24:55,961 admitted to lying to him about the wire transfer. 497 00:24:55,961 --> 00:24:59,531 Why in the world would you do that? 498 00:24:59,531 --> 00:25:01,933 Because I knew how it would look. 499 00:25:01,933 --> 00:25:03,134 No, no. 500 00:25:03,134 --> 00:25:04,769 It's not how it would look. 501 00:25:04,769 --> 00:25:09,207 You knew that if we knew about this, that would 502 00:25:09,207 --> 00:25:11,209 shine a whole new light on you. 503 00:25:11,209 --> 00:25:15,313 Still, she was adamant that she hadn't shot anyone. 504 00:25:15,313 --> 00:25:19,017 So it was truly bizarre when halfway into the interview-- 505 00:25:19,017 --> 00:25:20,118 Just blame me. 506 00:25:20,118 --> 00:25:21,786 Just answer the question and explain it. 507 00:25:21,786 --> 00:25:24,890 Just blame me, just blame me, just blame me. 508 00:25:24,890 --> 00:25:26,324 My family has been through enough. 509 00:25:26,324 --> 00:25:30,295 Just blame me so they can move on from that, OK? 510 00:25:30,295 --> 00:25:33,164 It seemed like she was acknowledging 511 00:25:33,164 --> 00:25:36,134 that we knew that she did it without openly giving us 512 00:25:36,134 --> 00:25:37,335 a detailed confession. 513 00:25:37,335 --> 00:25:38,303 This is not happening. 514 00:25:38,303 --> 00:25:39,404 This is not-- 515 00:25:39,404 --> 00:25:42,674 Though inadmissible in court, she readily 516 00:25:42,674 --> 00:25:45,377 agreed to take a polygraph. 517 00:25:45,377 --> 00:25:49,080 She failed three times. 518 00:25:49,080 --> 00:25:52,350 Byerson says it was all adding up. 519 00:25:52,350 --> 00:25:55,987 He was sitting across from a killer. 520 00:25:55,987 --> 00:25:58,156 It becomes very obvious to us. 521 00:25:58,156 --> 00:26:03,194 It is exactly who we think it is, and it's Megan Hargan. 522 00:26:03,194 --> 00:26:08,199 But despite everything, police let Megan leave that day. 523 00:26:08,199 --> 00:26:12,037 So murder investigations can be extremely complex. 524 00:26:12,037 --> 00:26:17,042 You not only have to be sure, you have to be right. 525 00:26:17,042 --> 00:26:20,211 And that decision is not just-- it does not just rest on me. 526 00:26:20,211 --> 00:26:23,114 I have to be on the same page as the Commonwealth Attorney's 527 00:26:23,114 --> 00:26:24,316 Office. 528 00:26:24,316 --> 00:26:29,621 So in consultation with them, we decided to wait. 529 00:26:29,621 --> 00:26:34,926 Law enforcement may not have moved, but Megan Hargan did. 530 00:26:34,926 --> 00:26:37,896 Though she never got Pam's money, she and her husband 531 00:26:37,896 --> 00:26:41,032 used a VA loan to buy a different house 532 00:26:41,032 --> 00:26:42,334 in West Virginia. 533 00:26:42,334 --> 00:26:43,234 We kept an eye on her. 534 00:26:43,234 --> 00:26:44,936 We knew where she was. 535 00:26:44,936 --> 00:26:48,740 Byerson methodically kept building his case. 536 00:26:48,740 --> 00:26:52,110 Evidence kept trickling in, including the results 537 00:26:52,110 --> 00:26:55,747 of Megan's gunshot residue test, which showed 538 00:26:55,747 --> 00:26:58,917 she had it on both hands. 539 00:26:58,917 --> 00:27:03,054 And on November 9, 2018, almost a year 540 00:27:03,054 --> 00:27:06,958 and a half after the deaths of Pam and Helen Hargan-- 541 00:27:06,958 --> 00:27:10,929 This morning, at approximately 7:40 AM, 542 00:27:10,929 --> 00:27:13,365 detectives from our Major Crimes Bureau 543 00:27:13,365 --> 00:27:18,069 stopped and arrested Megan Hargan near her home 544 00:27:18,069 --> 00:27:20,271 in West Virginia. 545 00:27:20,271 --> 00:27:23,174 As Detective Byerson takes Megan in, 546 00:27:23,174 --> 00:27:26,511 investigators search her home and find yet 547 00:27:26,511 --> 00:27:30,615 another important clue, that missing password sheet 548 00:27:30,615 --> 00:27:33,051 to Pam Hargan's accounts. 549 00:27:33,051 --> 00:27:37,222 Do you have any doubt that Megan was the person who 550 00:27:37,222 --> 00:27:39,290 pulled that trigger? 551 00:27:39,290 --> 00:27:40,592 I have no doubt at all. 552 00:27:40,592 --> 00:27:44,129 What the defense would say is that there is doubt 553 00:27:44,129 --> 00:27:46,998 all over this case. 554 00:27:46,998 --> 00:27:49,401 Megan Hargan's defense will include 555 00:27:49,401 --> 00:27:53,972 a specific theory of how Helen could have killed herself. 556 00:27:53,972 --> 00:27:56,241 She puts her head down and that she's 557 00:27:56,241 --> 00:27:59,744 able to utilize the trigger, probably with her toe, 558 00:27:59,744 --> 00:28:02,547 to be able to discharge the weapon. 559 00:28:02,547 --> 00:28:04,749 But will the jury agree? 560 00:28:04,749 --> 00:28:07,419 Even the expert said it's possible. 561 00:28:07,419 --> 00:28:10,755 [music playing] 562 00:28:26,938 --> 00:28:28,706 What did you see in her eyes? 563 00:28:28,706 --> 00:28:30,542 Nothing. 564 00:28:30,542 --> 00:28:33,144 I don't see much behind those eyes. 565 00:28:33,144 --> 00:28:35,547 More than three years after her arrest 566 00:28:35,547 --> 00:28:37,849 for the murders of her mother and sister, 567 00:28:37,849 --> 00:28:40,652 Megan Hargan is going on trial. 568 00:28:40,652 --> 00:28:42,420 I think she's pure evil. 569 00:28:42,420 --> 00:28:44,722 Whitney Gregory and Tyler Bezilla 570 00:28:44,722 --> 00:28:46,491 are prosecuting the case. 571 00:28:46,491 --> 00:28:48,460 Megan is a pathological liar. 572 00:28:48,460 --> 00:28:50,328 That's what she is. 573 00:28:50,328 --> 00:28:52,397 The Commonwealth of Virginia opens 574 00:28:52,397 --> 00:28:56,935 by arguing Megan tried to steal more than $400,000 575 00:28:56,935 --> 00:29:01,439 from Pam for this new house and got so desperate for the cash 576 00:29:01,439 --> 00:29:02,907 that she killed her. 577 00:29:02,907 --> 00:29:05,477 Then, she killed Helen to keep her quiet 578 00:29:05,477 --> 00:29:09,047 and staged the scene as a murder-suicide. 579 00:29:09,047 --> 00:29:12,050 This is an individual who murdered two of her closest 580 00:29:12,050 --> 00:29:14,252 family members for money. 581 00:29:14,252 --> 00:29:18,923 The defense argues Helen was the killer, mentally unstable 582 00:29:18,923 --> 00:29:23,128 and furious at her mother, who had offered her a new house, 583 00:29:23,128 --> 00:29:25,730 but the morning of the shooting, announced there 584 00:29:25,730 --> 00:29:28,433 was one devastating condition. 585 00:29:28,433 --> 00:29:31,970 Helen had to break up with the man she had hoped to marry, 586 00:29:31,970 --> 00:29:33,972 Carlos Gutierrez. 587 00:29:33,972 --> 00:29:36,975 What is your greatest challenge with this jury? 588 00:29:36,975 --> 00:29:39,844 Proving it wasn't a suicide. 589 00:29:39,844 --> 00:29:43,448 To do that, they begin by calling Carlos and Helen's 590 00:29:43,448 --> 00:29:47,252 sister Ashley, who'd testify, on the day she died, 591 00:29:47,252 --> 00:29:50,221 Helen seemed normal and fine. 592 00:29:50,221 --> 00:29:53,725 Did Helen have a diagnosis of depression? 593 00:29:53,725 --> 00:29:55,059 No. 594 00:29:55,059 --> 00:29:57,328 And she didn't take her own life, 595 00:29:57,328 --> 00:29:59,664 says Detective Julia Elliott-- 596 00:29:59,664 --> 00:30:00,999 It's a homicide. 597 00:30:00,999 --> 00:30:04,636 --who tells the jury about the bloodstains and possession 598 00:30:04,636 --> 00:30:05,703 of the rifle. 599 00:30:05,703 --> 00:30:08,173 She did not have an arm span long enough 600 00:30:08,173 --> 00:30:09,340 to pull the trigger. 601 00:30:09,340 --> 00:30:11,276 Her fingers are not reaching the trigger. 602 00:30:11,276 --> 00:30:14,913 Crime scene reconstructionist Iris Graff agrees. 603 00:30:14,913 --> 00:30:16,281 What's on the screen? 604 00:30:16,281 --> 00:30:19,784 This is a forensic animation, a virtual model. 605 00:30:19,784 --> 00:30:23,454 Prosecutors hired Graff to use photos and measurements 606 00:30:23,454 --> 00:30:26,791 from the house to create this digital model. 607 00:30:26,791 --> 00:30:28,026 She can't reach that trigger. 608 00:30:28,026 --> 00:30:30,495 Right, we still need another 5 inches. 609 00:30:30,495 --> 00:30:32,730 So based on your scientific analysis, 610 00:30:32,730 --> 00:30:38,069 was the wound that killed Helen self-inflicted? 611 00:30:38,069 --> 00:30:39,804 Within the context of this scene, 612 00:30:39,804 --> 00:30:42,840 it's not possible that she could self-inflict that wound. 613 00:30:42,840 --> 00:30:46,411 Gregory says that's just common sense. 614 00:30:46,411 --> 00:30:49,447 Did the tooth fairy put the gun hole here? 615 00:30:49,447 --> 00:30:53,651 Helen's wound isn't the only evidence pointing at Megan. 616 00:30:53,651 --> 00:30:57,555 Megan's conduct in her police interview is damning too. 617 00:30:57,555 --> 00:30:59,057 Yes, she did. 618 00:30:59,057 --> 00:31:01,893 And so are those phone calls to the bank. 619 00:31:01,893 --> 00:31:03,695 Thank you for calling Cap One Bank. 620 00:31:03,695 --> 00:31:05,463 Would you tell me your name, please? 621 00:31:05,463 --> 00:31:07,065 Pamela Hansen Hargan. 622 00:31:07,065 --> 00:31:08,733 I understand you want to complete a wire 623 00:31:08,733 --> 00:31:10,868 transfer with us today? 624 00:31:10,868 --> 00:31:11,402 Yes. 625 00:31:11,402 --> 00:31:12,270 That wire-- 626 00:31:12,270 --> 00:31:13,605 They need it today. 627 00:31:13,605 --> 00:31:15,707 Megan's panicking because she still 628 00:31:15,707 --> 00:31:17,275 owes that money on the house. 629 00:31:17,275 --> 00:31:21,079 Prosecutors reveal Megan lied to police about Pam buying 630 00:31:21,079 --> 00:31:24,349 her a house, saying the reality is that Megan 631 00:31:24,349 --> 00:31:26,217 was trying to buy that West Virginia 632 00:31:26,217 --> 00:31:28,586 property with her mother's money. 633 00:31:28,586 --> 00:31:33,291 Turns out, Megan still owed more than $400,000, 634 00:31:33,291 --> 00:31:35,226 due the day of the shooting. 635 00:31:35,226 --> 00:31:38,162 The prosecution contends she'd secretly 636 00:31:38,162 --> 00:31:41,899 substituted her name onto Pam's bank statement 637 00:31:41,899 --> 00:31:44,269 as proof of funds. 638 00:31:44,269 --> 00:31:46,704 Pam was apparently totally in the dark 639 00:31:46,704 --> 00:31:49,240 until the day before the shooting, 640 00:31:49,240 --> 00:31:52,110 when the bank called the real Pam. 641 00:31:52,110 --> 00:31:54,212 Hi, who am I speaking to? 642 00:31:54,212 --> 00:31:55,313 Who am I speaking to? 643 00:31:55,313 --> 00:31:57,682 My name is Jeff with Capital One. 644 00:31:57,682 --> 00:32:01,052 OK, this is Pamela Hansen Hargan. 645 00:32:01,052 --> 00:32:05,390 A bank officer had called her to authenticate the attempted wire 646 00:32:05,390 --> 00:32:06,524 transfer. 647 00:32:06,524 --> 00:32:08,393 Somebody tried to do a wire out of your account 648 00:32:08,393 --> 00:32:10,862 for 400-and-some-odd thousand dollars. 649 00:32:10,862 --> 00:32:11,863 What? 650 00:32:11,863 --> 00:32:13,898 I did not do that. 651 00:32:13,898 --> 00:32:18,603 The defense would say that there is doubt all over this case. 652 00:32:18,603 --> 00:32:21,005 The defense declined to be interviewed, 653 00:32:21,005 --> 00:32:25,743 so we asked Matt Troiano, an attorney with decades in court. 654 00:32:25,743 --> 00:32:30,148 He didn't try this case, but we hired him to review the file. 655 00:32:30,148 --> 00:32:32,583 To help prove reasonable doubt, he 656 00:32:32,583 --> 00:32:35,553 says the defense contends Helen was 657 00:32:35,553 --> 00:32:37,388 the suspicious one that day. 658 00:32:37,388 --> 00:32:39,357 Helen doesn't call 911. 659 00:32:39,357 --> 00:32:42,460 She doesn't run out of the house for safety. 660 00:32:42,460 --> 00:32:46,264 She tells her boyfriend, do not call for help. 661 00:32:46,264 --> 00:32:48,366 Why didn't Helen call 911? 662 00:32:48,366 --> 00:32:50,968 That is one of the pieces to the puzzle that we'll never have. 663 00:32:50,968 --> 00:32:53,638 That's a question that came up during the trial. 664 00:32:53,638 --> 00:32:54,739 Why didn't she just leave? 665 00:32:54,739 --> 00:32:55,840 Why didn't she call 911? 666 00:32:55,840 --> 00:32:57,775 We don't know. 667 00:32:57,775 --> 00:32:59,811 There's a lot authorities may never 668 00:32:59,811 --> 00:33:02,747 know for sure about the roughly two hours they 669 00:33:02,747 --> 00:33:06,351 say lapsed between Pam's and Helen's deaths. 670 00:33:06,351 --> 00:33:10,755 If Megan killed Pam, why did she wait so long to kill Helen, 671 00:33:10,755 --> 00:33:14,258 and why on Earth hadn't Helen made a run for it? 672 00:33:14,258 --> 00:33:16,561 Testimony suggests she was worried 673 00:33:16,561 --> 00:33:19,931 about eight-year-old Molly, who was home at the time. 674 00:33:19,931 --> 00:33:23,468 Not a good enough explanation, says Troiano. 675 00:33:23,468 --> 00:33:25,069 For hours, Peter. 676 00:33:25,069 --> 00:33:31,242 She allowed what is claimed to be a murderer run loose 677 00:33:31,242 --> 00:33:35,480 in a home with a rifle without seeking help, 678 00:33:35,480 --> 00:33:38,416 without barricading her in to a room. 679 00:33:38,416 --> 00:33:43,054 He says Helen's body showed no definitive signs of a life 680 00:33:43,054 --> 00:33:44,188 and death struggle. 681 00:33:44,188 --> 00:33:46,657 Why wouldn't she have fought back? 682 00:33:46,657 --> 00:33:50,962 And how credible are the witnesses against Megan Hargan? 683 00:33:50,962 --> 00:33:53,631 Troiano says the defense wants the jury 684 00:33:53,631 --> 00:33:56,868 to believe one may not be credible at all, 685 00:33:56,868 --> 00:34:00,238 her sister Ashley. 686 00:34:00,238 --> 00:34:02,173 Her story has changed. 687 00:34:02,173 --> 00:34:04,442 When she'd spoken to investigators 688 00:34:04,442 --> 00:34:07,512 soon after the shooting, Ashley told them 689 00:34:07,512 --> 00:34:11,315 Helen had once been in emotional turmoil. 690 00:34:11,315 --> 00:34:14,051 I know my sister was depressed. 691 00:34:14,051 --> 00:34:17,288 Has she ever talked about hurting herself? 692 00:34:17,288 --> 00:34:19,157 Yeah. 693 00:34:19,157 --> 00:34:22,193 But once on the stand, Ashley testified 694 00:34:22,193 --> 00:34:24,996 she doesn't remember ever saying that. 695 00:34:24,996 --> 00:34:29,467 She says 150 times thereabouts that she doesn't 696 00:34:29,467 --> 00:34:31,736 remember certain things. 697 00:34:31,736 --> 00:34:33,137 There's two ways to look at that. 698 00:34:33,137 --> 00:34:35,840 Number one is that she doesn't remember. 699 00:34:35,840 --> 00:34:38,209 Number two is that she doesn't want 700 00:34:38,209 --> 00:34:43,247 to say things that are not helpful for the prosecution. 701 00:34:43,247 --> 00:34:45,383 Ashley testified that she couldn't 702 00:34:45,383 --> 00:34:48,686 recall more than 150 times. 703 00:34:48,686 --> 00:34:49,821 Why was that? 704 00:34:49,821 --> 00:34:51,589 Any time you're dealing with a victim of trauma, 705 00:34:51,589 --> 00:34:55,726 there are always going to be aspects that she can't recall. 706 00:34:55,726 --> 00:34:57,995 Whatever the jury thinks of Ashley, 707 00:34:57,995 --> 00:35:00,398 the defense wants to explain to them 708 00:35:00,398 --> 00:35:03,801 how Helen could have pulled the trigger on that rifle. 709 00:35:03,801 --> 00:35:07,672 And they have a theory, with her toe. 710 00:35:07,672 --> 00:35:09,607 She puts her head down and that she's 711 00:35:09,607 --> 00:35:13,444 able to utilize the trigger, probably with her toe, 712 00:35:13,444 --> 00:35:16,080 to be able to discharge the weapon. 713 00:35:16,080 --> 00:35:17,048 Her toe? 714 00:35:17,048 --> 00:35:18,649 She's got to figure out some way. 715 00:35:18,649 --> 00:35:23,287 And the critical question is, could it have been done? 716 00:35:23,287 --> 00:35:25,823 Even the prosecution's expert witness 717 00:35:25,823 --> 00:35:30,161 concedes, while very unlikely, it is possible. 718 00:35:30,161 --> 00:35:32,530 Can her toe reach the trigger? 719 00:35:32,530 --> 00:35:34,565 Yes, her legs are long enough that her toe 720 00:35:34,565 --> 00:35:35,900 could reach the trigger. 721 00:35:35,900 --> 00:35:38,736 Either way, the judge thinks Iris Graff's 722 00:35:38,736 --> 00:35:41,906 digital reconstruction isn't necessary, 723 00:35:41,906 --> 00:35:44,842 so he prevents the jury from seeing it. 724 00:35:44,842 --> 00:35:47,612 And though Megan Hargan never testifies-- 725 00:35:47,612 --> 00:35:50,548 Every shred of evidence shows that Megan Hargan was the one 726 00:35:50,548 --> 00:35:52,884 who committed these murders. 727 00:35:52,884 --> 00:35:57,788 In closings, Prosecutor Bezilla argues there's no evidence Pam 728 00:35:57,788 --> 00:36:01,092 Hargan was actually going to cancel the contract 729 00:36:01,092 --> 00:36:05,196 on Helen's new house, and he urges the jury to compare 730 00:36:05,196 --> 00:36:09,333 Helen's behavior around the time of the shooting to Megan's. 731 00:36:09,333 --> 00:36:13,204 He says Megan's actions speak for themselves. 732 00:36:13,204 --> 00:36:15,873 She's doing all these things that a murderer would do. 733 00:36:15,873 --> 00:36:19,777 But the defense insists there's reasonable doubt in this case. 734 00:36:19,777 --> 00:36:24,115 They argue the prosecutor's forensics are inconclusive, 735 00:36:24,115 --> 00:36:27,919 and the toe on the trigger theory cannot be ruled out. 736 00:36:27,919 --> 00:36:30,321 It's possible, and if it's possible, 737 00:36:30,321 --> 00:36:32,523 that then lends itself to doubt. 738 00:36:32,523 --> 00:36:35,159 Megan Hargan is innocent. 739 00:36:35,159 --> 00:36:39,230 Megan's friend Rebecca Wolfe spent about five years working 740 00:36:39,230 --> 00:36:40,765 for the Justice Department. 741 00:36:40,765 --> 00:36:43,301 She knows her way around a criminal trial 742 00:36:43,301 --> 00:36:46,737 and has been at this one almost every day. 743 00:36:46,737 --> 00:36:50,775 I would not be comfortable sending someone 744 00:36:50,775 --> 00:36:52,643 to prison for the rest of their life 745 00:36:52,643 --> 00:36:55,913 without knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt in my mind 746 00:36:55,913 --> 00:36:57,248 that they did it. 747 00:36:57,248 --> 00:37:03,421 On March 24, 2022, almost five years after the shootings, 748 00:37:03,421 --> 00:37:05,790 the jury gets the case. 749 00:37:05,790 --> 00:37:07,992 Based on your review of this case, 750 00:37:07,992 --> 00:37:10,628 as the jury is heading into deliberation, 751 00:37:10,628 --> 00:37:11,896 could this go either way? 752 00:37:11,896 --> 00:37:12,396 Sure. 753 00:37:16,968 --> 00:37:19,704 What do you think of the defense's toe on the trigger 754 00:37:19,704 --> 00:37:20,838 theory? 755 00:37:20,838 --> 00:37:23,040 For a look at a timeline of the investigation, 756 00:37:23,040 --> 00:37:24,308 go to 48hours.com. 757 00:37:31,248 --> 00:37:34,685 As the jurors come back to the room, they have a decision. 758 00:37:34,685 --> 00:37:37,021 Are you looking at their faces? 759 00:37:37,021 --> 00:37:38,189 Yes. 760 00:37:38,189 --> 00:37:40,791 After a three-week trial, it takes 761 00:37:40,791 --> 00:37:44,095 the jury less than two days of deliberations 762 00:37:44,095 --> 00:37:45,329 to reach a verdict. 763 00:37:45,329 --> 00:37:46,998 I thought my legs were going to go weak. 764 00:37:46,998 --> 00:37:49,867 We were standing up, and it had been just months of our lives 765 00:37:49,867 --> 00:37:52,603 that this is all we had done. 766 00:37:52,603 --> 00:37:55,506 Megan Hargan is guilty, two counts 767 00:37:55,506 --> 00:37:58,542 of first degree murder for killing her sister Helen 768 00:37:58,542 --> 00:38:00,144 and mother Pam. 769 00:38:00,144 --> 00:38:03,948 How did Megan react to the verdict? 770 00:38:03,948 --> 00:38:05,783 Least for me as a prosecutor, I don't want 771 00:38:05,783 --> 00:38:06,917 to look over at that table. 772 00:38:06,917 --> 00:38:08,319 I think it's not very classy. 773 00:38:08,319 --> 00:38:11,622 I'm just in the zone, trying not to pass out. 774 00:38:11,622 --> 00:38:13,391 I think weight lifted off of everybody. 775 00:38:13,391 --> 00:38:17,395 But it was a very emotional moment. 776 00:38:17,395 --> 00:38:20,731 The jury recommends the sentence to the judge of life 777 00:38:20,731 --> 00:38:23,267 in prison on each murder count. 778 00:38:23,267 --> 00:38:26,771 He will rule on that this fall. 779 00:38:26,771 --> 00:38:29,674 I thought for sure that I would be getting a phone call 780 00:38:29,674 --> 00:38:32,777 and coming to pick her up, 100%. 781 00:38:32,777 --> 00:38:35,079 Megan's friend Rebecca Wolfe thinks 782 00:38:35,079 --> 00:38:37,715 this jury was short-sighted. 783 00:38:37,715 --> 00:38:40,751 I thought they were going to see through all of this. 784 00:38:40,751 --> 00:38:43,220 They were going to look at all the evidence. 785 00:38:43,220 --> 00:38:46,390 They were going to ask the right questions. 786 00:38:46,390 --> 00:38:48,626 They were going to do their job. 787 00:38:48,626 --> 00:38:50,127 This job is difficult. 788 00:38:50,127 --> 00:38:52,296 Detective Byerson thinks there are 789 00:38:52,296 --> 00:38:54,699 parts of authority's conduct in this case 790 00:38:54,699 --> 00:38:57,401 that he would have changed if he could, 791 00:38:57,401 --> 00:39:01,939 how 911 dispatchers responded to Carlos Gutierrez 792 00:39:01,939 --> 00:39:05,476 and how quickly the Fairfax County PD went public 793 00:39:05,476 --> 00:39:07,712 with the murder-suicide theory. 794 00:39:07,712 --> 00:39:12,116 I don't find it helpful to make a blanket statement about what 795 00:39:12,116 --> 00:39:13,484 we think it is because it doesn't 796 00:39:13,484 --> 00:39:14,618 matter what we think it is. 797 00:39:14,618 --> 00:39:17,354 It only matters what it turns out to be. 798 00:39:17,354 --> 00:39:20,057 Was justice served in this case? 799 00:39:20,057 --> 00:39:22,526 Depends on what justice is. 800 00:39:22,526 --> 00:39:27,364 You're never bringing back the two lives that were lost. 801 00:39:27,364 --> 00:39:29,667 The domino effect of tragedy from what 802 00:39:29,667 --> 00:39:35,706 happened is immeasurable, 803 00:39:35,706 --> 00:39:39,477 Though the trial is finally finished, waves of grief 804 00:39:39,477 --> 00:39:43,848 still wash over the surviving Hargan family. 805 00:39:43,848 --> 00:39:46,617 It's just an immeasurable grief. 806 00:39:46,617 --> 00:39:49,687 And ripples still reverberate in the lives 807 00:39:49,687 --> 00:39:54,191 of people they touched, like Pam's former neighbor Tami. 808 00:39:54,191 --> 00:39:58,462 And I was just devastated. 809 00:39:58,462 --> 00:40:00,898 I mean, just-- 810 00:40:00,898 --> 00:40:02,366 I didn't have any words. 811 00:40:02,366 --> 00:40:07,071 It was just unbelievable. 812 00:40:07,071 --> 00:40:09,373 And Helen's friend Erin-- 813 00:40:09,373 --> 00:40:10,875 I was in shock. 814 00:40:10,875 --> 00:40:13,477 --who had moved abroad after graduation 815 00:40:13,477 --> 00:40:17,014 and had to hear about her death from us. 816 00:40:17,014 --> 00:40:22,853 I had no idea that happened to her. 817 00:40:22,853 --> 00:40:26,490 You're convinced, if Helen were alive today, 818 00:40:26,490 --> 00:40:29,460 she'd be on the road to some great success, 819 00:40:29,460 --> 00:40:31,962 some great career. 820 00:40:31,962 --> 00:40:33,664 Absolutely. 821 00:40:33,664 --> 00:40:37,168 She'd be a trailblazer. 822 00:40:37,168 --> 00:40:41,472 How do you want your friend Helen to be remembered? 823 00:40:41,472 --> 00:40:47,044 For being kind and compassionate, driven, 824 00:40:47,044 --> 00:40:51,382 and caring, just a very caring person. 825 00:40:51,382 --> 00:40:54,819 [music playing] 826 00:41:12,670 --> 00:41:16,073 A popular college professor found dead in a hot tub, 827 00:41:16,073 --> 00:41:17,741 accident or murder? 828 00:41:17,741 --> 00:41:19,543 Suspected, her boyfriend. 829 00:41:19,543 --> 00:41:20,945 Sheriff's Office. 830 00:41:20,945 --> 00:41:25,216 Then, a stunning act from their host, a sudden shotgun blast. 831 00:41:25,216 --> 00:41:26,884 There's something he's hiding. 832 00:41:26,884 --> 00:41:29,720 48 hours, two weeks from tonight on CBS. 833 00:41:29,720 --> 00:41:31,388 [music playing]