Toe on the Trigger | "Blood is Thicker" | "48 Hours" Podcast (Episode 5) | Forensic Files

this episode contains graphic audio and references to self harm and Family Violence please listen with
care I think that she is contemplating how to murder her family that night and she wants to do that for what purpose
the sole purpose of greed money when detective Brian berson first walked through the crime scene on Drive
in mlan Virginia he saw a maob jigsaw puzzle and he wasn't yet sure how the bloody pieces fit together but now
nearly 16 months after the shootings he was ready to make an arrest detective byerson told me he believed Megan
started plotting the murders after her first failed attempt to wire money from her mother's account and it may have all
come down to as strange as it may seem her mother's cell phone that's how Petty this whole thing
is she knows that she has to have her mother's cell phone because she has to answer that phone and she has to
regurgitate a security number that they're going to give her on that cell phone and in order for her to get that
phone she's going to have to kill her mom that petty that petty but what about Helen what motivated Megan to also shoot
her youngest sister perhaps it was to eliminate a witness even if it was her own flesh and blood I think Helen knew
what happened I mean I will never understand I don't think in in any capacity why it is that Megan went
upstairs and told her that she had shot their mother I have no idea why she did that I can only assume that at some
point after telling her that she realized that was probably not a great idea and realized that the only way out
for her was to Stage this scene as if Helen had killed Pamela and then took her own life so she could just walk away
and she' get the money as she thought and then everybody would just blame Helen two lives a sister a mother a
family destroyed to buy a house all for a house in fact when Megan finally went on trial in 2022
that's the story prosecutors plan to tell the eldest of three daughters wanted her mother to buy her a house
when she didn't get her way she chose to kill her mother then kill and frame her
youngest sister it's just an immeasurable grief and tragedy all the way around Megan's defense team embraced the
theory that Helen was most likely the murderer they said there was a way she could have killed herself with that long
rifle using her foot in fact an expert for the prosecution had given Megan's lawyers an opening it's possible for a
person to use their toe to engage the trigger that is certainly possible and that claim would change the course of
the trial [Music] I'm Peter Van Sant from 48 hours this is blood is thicker the haran family
killing episode 5 Tow on the trigger I've never seen a case like this and how would you characterize it
particularly deliberate willful and cruel Tyler basilla served as lead prosecutor on Megan haran's case this is
an individual who murdered two of her closest family members for money and for no other reason basilla and his
co-counsel plan to tell the jury the story of a calculating killer I'm telling them the facts and showing them
that we're going to demonstrate over the next several weeks that every shred of evidence shows that Megan haran was the
one who committed these murders and she did it for greed and it's not Helen haran Helen haran was an innocent
24-year- old girl having a normal day the prosecution laid out how it believes Megan murdered Helen then
showed how it believes Megan tried to frame her sister as the killer there was no evidence that Helen had done any of
those things and all the evidence was that Megan did remember to make police think Helen was suicidal Megan had said
Helen was depressed and under the spell of a bad boyfriend she had also given officers a motive for murder that Helen
was angry with her mom for cancelling a contract on a new house in Aldi Virginia
but prosecutors asserted that none of it was true it was all just a smoke screen
there was no evidence that the house was being canceled in fact they had an appointment for 2 days later to go meet
with the blinds guy when you talk to the real estate agent the real estate agent
says there's a whole process you have to go through to stop the purchase of a house they had never once initiated did
that prosecutors also countered Megan's character attacks on Helen and her boyfriend Carlos Gutierrez there was no
evidence of drugs whatsoever there was no evidence that Carlos was was bad to Helen if anything he seemed like a very
loving guy Carlos played a key role at the trial testifying for the prosecution he was very emotional even before he
walked in the courtroom he was emotional during his entire testimony especially when he had to talk about Helen um this
is not something he has has gotten over I it's just stuck with him while the court did not release
audio we have reviewed Court transcripts and 48 Hours producers attended some of
the trial Carlos was emphatic that Helen was not suicidal not when he spoke to her the morning she died not ever she
was not a person that was plotting a murder thinking her life was was ready to kill herself Carlos said that Helen
was scared sced and that she told him Megan confessed the unthinkable shooting the woman who gave her life and loving
support in Cold Blood he's an eyewitness without his eyes but through his ears and he was sort of there through Helen's
words Whitney Gregory was co-counsel for the prosecution she said that Carlos was
genuinely heartbroken on the stand the intangibles of him just crying staring down Megan it was there's no way he was
acting and just that raw emotion showed that there's no way that Helen could have done this Carlos's emotional
testimony was followed by another compelling witness after initially defending her
sister Megan Ashley haran agreed to testify against her for the prosecution she was the middle sister by
birth and caught in the middle by this tragedy between two sisters she had always loved Ashley presents herself
very stoically she's very strong independent but she's grieving in a way that none of us have ever experienced
and I think because she comes off so stoically people may think she's not as upset as she really is adding to the
stress of her testimony was the fact that Ashley was pregnant with her first child when she testified she was eight
almost 9 months pregnant and and she kept her composure with one exception she got very teared eyed when I showed
her an autopsy photo of her mom and sister but she's grieving like anyone would so for Ashley haran one day she's
having lunch with Mom and her niece and getting Snapchats from her sister and the next day her entire family is either
murdered or suspected of murder mean she lost everything in in a day at trial Ashley strongly defended her
sister Helen but as you'll recall back when she was initially interviewed by detective Brian byerson Ashley suggested
Helen might have been the killer prosecutors said that Ashley had been in shock and was simply paring what she had
been told by her big sister Megan out of all the family members is the only one that ever suggests Helen did this
because mom was going to pull the house no one in the rest of the family had ever heard that they never even
suggested it it's important because and Helen always talked to her sister Ashley
and Ashley would have known this Ashley would absolutely know yeah because Ashley was close with Pam Pamela was
actually visiting Ashley the day before the murders she was around when cap called and said hey someone tried to
take all this money out of your account Ashley knew that that all the stuff Megan saying's not
true in cross-examination the defense attacked Ashley's credibility accusing her of
lying out of self-interest they claimed Ashley wanted the money from Pamela's estate all to
herself and if Megan took the fall Ashley would inherit Millions she has to grieve the loss of her family grapple
with the fact that her sister is a murderer and then be targeted for somehow wanting all this estate and
that's why she's blaming Megan but it turns out Ashley had a very good reason for her change of heart according to the
prosecution she had listened to the Capital One calls of Megan impersonating their mother she knew 100% through the
evidence and in her gut that Megan is the killer so she testified for us testified factually and I think it was
very powerful for the jury to see that Ashley believed in her heart and through the evidence that Megan did this heinous
[Music] act when Ashley haran was on the stand Megan's defense attorneys played her
recordings of what she previously told police long before she knew the facts of the case when was the last time that
Helen had ever talked about hurting herself with me it was probably last year I want
to say this call between Ashley and detective Brian berson was recorded 5 days after the killings did you know
that there was your mom was um financially supporting the the buying of the house with Megan I knew
that she was not not afterwards but right I knew that she was going to be helping them with purchasing a house
yes okay and she'd agreed with all that mhm in this conversation before she heard the Capital One calls Ashley
backed up Megan's story you didn't know how much your mom was giving her but you
knew that she was helping her out right for the house for the house yes however on this stand Ashley claimed to not
recall these conversations 48 Hours consultant and criminal defense expert Matt trano
reviewed her testimony so it's my understanding Peter that during Ashley's cross-examination she says 150 times
thereabouts that she doesn't remember certain things and that's a lot of times to forget what you said 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 that she has an interest Ed interest financial interest emotional interest in
protecting her mother and her sister Helen and that she is not going to be cooperative the defense tried to use
Ashley's memory lapses in their favor all they needed to do was so doubt that Megan was the killer it's not the job of
the jury to answer the question of who did it the job of the jury is to determine if the state the prosecution
has proven the case Beyond A Reasonable Doubt and Megan's lawyers zeroed in on other curious some might say baffling
facts remember Helen didn't try to escape the haran home even after her mother had been shot and her sister had
confessed to The Killing Helen didn't even call 911 and Carlos testified that she also asked
him not to report anything here's Matt trano again she actually says don't don't call 911 as I understand it the
question is why why why would that ever be reasonable what is the reasonable explanation for Helen to not want to get
help I asked detective byerson that same question that is one of the pieces to the puzzle that we'll never have we
don't know why she didn't call 911 we don't know why she didn't leave but prosecutor Whitney Gregory offered a
potential answer perhaps Helen was trying to protect Molly Megan's daughter I think it could be survival
mentality she believes that Molly's in the other room if Megan's capable of killing her own mother who else is she
capable of killing in the home so I think in part is just she couldn't W herend around what happened and also to
just trying to protect herself and other survivors in the household but Helen this point is not a 12-year-old she's a
University graduate two two degrees a very bright woman and she tells Carlos I can hear my mother gurgling
downstairs and she doesn't call 911 to get medical help for her mom that makes no sense she also is in the home with a
crazy maniac with a gun and so I think she's barricading herself in a bathroom she doesn't know what to do she panics
prosecutors hope to convince jurors how the crime scene clearly indicated Megan killed Helen that Helen didn't pull the
trigger herself but then the trial took an unexpected turn a witness for the prosecution conceded there was one
possible way Helen could have taken her own life Matt trano said the defense saw
an opening the critical question is could it have been done if it is impossible ible to do it that's one
thing if it is implausible that's a different [Music] thing in the second week of the trial
the prosecution and defense focused on one critical question was it possible that Helen could have first killed her
mother and then herself with a long rifle the Fatal bullet had traveled from a wound at the top of her head downward
which seemed physically impossible the prosecution called Iris Deli graph to the stand I'm a forensic
specialist and I was hired to look into a reconstruction of the events that happened when Helen haran died in the
bathroom one of the first things I do is I look to the autopsy what do we know from the autopsy that's fact Beyond
change in this this case she had an entry wound through the bone at the top of her head and an exit in the lower
part of the cranium going down into the right neck with that kind of wound graph
didn't think it was likely that Helen shot herself top of the head is usually a sign that something else is happening
someone else is in that room certainly for a downward to the top of the head yes graph said she tested several
scenarios and showed me her digital reconstruction of the crime scene this is a uh forensic animation a virtual
model that is a depiction of the data the jury was not allowed to see graph's reconstructions in court but
they mostly challenged the idea that Helen died by Suicide since the autopsy revealed the bullet entered the top of
her head graph tested all the ways Helen could have pointed the rifle and still reached the trigger
in most scenarios Helen's fingers couldn't reach fully extended we still need another 5 in so she's 5 in short of
reaching the trigger if the gun was held at this angle and based on my experience
and covering a lot of these cases I've never seen a suicide with a weapon a rifle place on someone's head by
themselves like this have you U not with this particular trajectory but there was
one scenario where graph found Helen could have reached the trigger using her toe people have done that use like their
toe to engage the trigger that has been done yes okay try to imagine this for a moment in graph's digital reconstruction
Helen is sitting on the toilet leaning forward so that the top of her head is against the Gun Barrel in that scenario
Helen could have used her toe to pull the trigger yes her legs are long enough that her
toe could reach the trigger but what do you think of this scenario basically you're standing on your head to try to
to get to this position which makes it very difficult to find the trigger and the other thing is that you're leaning
so far forward that your center of gravity is over the floor not over the toilet seat which you could fall down
exactly she conceded this scenario is technically possible but graph didn't think hel killed herself someone else
has to engageed the trigger so this is a homicide not suicide in your opinion this would be homicide yet graph's
finding that Helen's legs were long enough to reach the trigger raised enough doubt that the defense made it
part of their argument only a producer of a movie could come up with this and even then I don't think an audience
would even buy that even in Hollywood prosecutor Whitney Gregory was not convinced and she didn't think anyone
else would buy the tow trigger Theory it's utterly nonsensical for several reasons the defense attorneys even
discussed how Helen socks could have prevented her from leaving Prince on the trigger I asked prosecutor Tyler basilla
about the theory I mean I thought it was ridiculous I'll tell you this that in combination with them using the word
framed that Helen framed her sister to me meant that they didn't have an offense at all
because if you frame somebody this isn't the way you do it but remember all the defense needed to do was convince one
juror that there was reasonable doubt that Megan haran was the murderer for her part Megan chose not to
take the stand and defend herself the jury deliberated on Thursday March 24th 2022 took off Friday and returned a
verdict that follow foll ing Monday guilty on all four charges so first degree of Pamela first degree of Helen
and then the two Associated firearm the commission of the felony charges and how
could 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 detective Brian byerson who had been
working this case from the very beginning was also in the courtroom there's some Rel belief there when that
verdict is read uh but more so there's a sense of uh I think weight lifted off of
Everybody uh I know that it was very emotional for Ashley haran sitting in there listening to that the jury
recommended two life sentences a mlan woman could be headed to prison for the rest of her life for
killing her mother and her sister jurors found Megan haran guilty of the murders
and staging the crime scene to look like it was a murder suicide but the Saga over whether Megan haran killed her
mother and sister wasn't over not yet that argument about Helen using her toe on the trigger caused one juror to go
Rogue and what she did next would put the verdict and the entire case in Jeopardy that's next time on the finale
of blood is thicker from 48 hours this is blood is thicker the haran family killings Judy Tigard is
the executive producer of 48 Hours original reporting by 48 Hours producers Josh Jager Sarah elely Holz Michelle
sagona and Lauren white Jamie Benson is the senior producer for permont audio and Mara walls is the senior story
editor recording assistants for from Alan Pang and Marlin polycarp special thanks to Paramount
podcast vice president Megan Marcus and 48 Hours senior producer Peter schwitzer blood is thicker is produced
by Sony Music Entertainment it was written and produced by Alex Schuman our executive producers are
Katherine St Louis and Jonathan Hirsch our associate producer is Zoe culin theme and original music composed
by hansdale shei he also soundd designed and mixed the episodes we also use music
by Blue Dot sessions Katherine Newan is our fact Checker our production managers
are tamaa balance kassi and Samantha Allison I'm Peter vanent if you're enjoyin the show be sure to rate and
review it helps more people find it and here are reporting you can listen to blood is thicker the haran family
killings early and add free right now by joining wry Plus in the wry app or on Apple podcasts thanks for listening
[Music]

Detectives finally arrest a suspect in the Hargan family murders. But at trial, defense attorneys argue a new theory for how the killings might have happened. And that theory might cast enough doubt to throw the entire trial into question.

Get early, ad-free access to episodes of Blood is Thicker: The Hargan Family Killings by subscribing to 48 Hours Plus on Apple Podcasts or Wondery+ on the Wondery app. The series is widely available everywhere else you get your podcasts: https://link.chtbl.com/2Ou_YlUw

True crime. Real justice. "48 Hours" investigates the most intriguing crime and justice cases that touch on all areas of the human experience including greed and passion. "48 Hours," which premiered in 1988, has developed a rich history of original reporting and impact journalism that has helped exonerate wrongly convicted people, caused cold cases to be reopened and solved, and along the way changed lives.

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Brief Summary

Megan Haran is convicted of murdering her mother and sister for financial gain, with key testimonies revealing the tragic family dynamics.

Key points

The Tragic Motive. Megan plotted to murder her family for greed, wanting a house.
Trial of Megan Haran. Megan's trial reveals a complex web of deceit and family tragedy.
Emotional Testimony. Carlos Gutierrez's emotional testimony challenges the defense's claims about Helen.
Unexpected Turn in Trial. A witness's testimony raises doubts about Helen's potential suicide.
The Verdict. Megan Haran is found guilty of murdering her mother and sister.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

Two lives a sister a mother a family destroyed to buy a house.

2:21WatchJun 5, 2024

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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