FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. – A Virginia woman was convicted on Monday of killing her mother and sister before staging the crime scene to make it look like a murder-suicide.
According to Fairfax County prosecutors, Megan Hargan, 39, fatally shot her mother, Pamela Hargan, 63, and younger sister, Helen Hargan, 23, and then staged the scene to make it appear like Helen killed their mother before taking her own life, Law&Crime reported.
The jury found Megan Hargan guilty of two counts of first-degree murder, and two counts of use of a firearm.
The double homicide occurred July 14, 2017 after the mother denied her defendant-daughter $400,000 to buy a new home. Megan believed her mother favored Helen over her, prosecutors said.
#BREAKING: A woman was arrested in the connection to the murder of her sister and mother in their McLean, Virginia home. Helen Hargan and her mother Pamela Hargan were shot to death in July of 2017. https://t.co/dWWQLUHKeW pic.twitter.com/o7fYjpqPdl
— WUSA9 (@wusa9) November 9, 2018
“We in Fairfax County have no tolerance for such disregard for human life and I am committed to addressing crimes of this magnitude with the seriousness they merit,” Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano said. “We will be asking for a substantial sentence that reflects the seriousness of the crime.”
Statement from CA Descano on guilty verdict in Megan Hargan's double murder trial: pic.twitter.com/tUKL5XlfVt
— Fairfax County Commonwealth's Attorney Descano (@FairfaxCountyCA) March 28, 2022
According to NBC journalist Julie Carey, the jurors on Monday recommended a double life sentence for the convicted killer.
BREAKING: Life in prison X 2. That’s the sentence recommended by jurors for Megan Hargan, just hours after they found her guilty of first degree murder for killing her mother & younger sister in their McLean home. Details ahead on #NBC4DC at 4pm @nbcwashington pic.twitter.com/JGhKolBVov
— Julie Carey (@JulieCareyNBC) March 28, 2022
Fairfax County Police Major Ed O’Carroll said at the time of her arrest that Megan tried to make fraudulent money transfers from her mother’s account the day before and the day of the double homicide.
The Washington Post reported that Megan shot both women using a .22 caliber rifle to make sure they didn’t stop her, prosecutors said.
