Megan Hargan, 40, of Virginia, was found guilty of two counts of first-degree murder in the 2017 shooting murders of her mother, 63-year-old business executive Pamela Hargan, and her 23-year-old sister, Helen Hargan, on September 22, 2023.
The double killing occurred on the afternoon of July 14, 2017, inside Pamela Hargan’s home in McLean’s 6700 block of Dean Drive, where all three were at the time.
According to the Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office, Megan Hargan staged the crime scene to make it appear as if her sister committed a murder-suicide.
Megan Hargan’s first-degree murder conviction was overturned in 2022
Megan Hargan was convicted last year, but the conviction was overturned by a judge because a juror conducted outside research, resulting in jury misconduct according to NBC Washington. Tasha Nix, according to WUSA9, attempted to re-enact the slayings at home with a rifle and then advised fellow jurors during deliberations that the defense’s interpretation of the case was unlikely.
The following was the defense motion that persuaded the judge to reverse Megan Hargan’s conviction: “Ms. Nix went home and used her own rifle to see if that was possible. She tried to hold the rifle and maneuver it with one hand. Then she tried to see if it was possible to hold the rifle without leaving fingerprints. She tried to see if [it] was possible to shoot herself at the angle that the medical examiner explained to the jury. Based on these experiments at home, Ms. Nix concluded that she was unable to figure out a way that Helen Hargan could have committed suicide, due to the weight of the rifle itself and her inability to maneuver it in such a way to match the angles described by the Medical Examiner.”
According to WUSA9, after the conviction was overturned, Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano stated, “We are disappointed that a juror’s inappropriate actions led to this double murder conviction being vacated, We are still committed to getting justice for the victims of this crime. My office will move forward and prepare for the new trial.”
The evidence produced at the retrial stated that Megan and her sister Helen were both looking for new homes, and Megan was unhappy when she discovered that her mother, Pamela, was financially aiding Helen rather than her according to WTOP.
Megan Hargan faces life in prison for 2017 double murder
Megan attempted to transfer approximately $400,000 from her mother’s bank account the day before the event in order to afford a new property according to WTOP. Despite the fact that the initial transaction was flagged as fraudulent, prosecutors alleged that Megan shot her mother with a rifle the next day, retried the wire transfer, and then moved the firearm upstairs and shot her sister.
Megan Hargan was captured near her home in Monongalia County, West Virginia, on November 9, 2018, and convicted three years later. Her younger daughter was present at the time of the shootings. According to NBC Washington, the second guilty conviction comes after years of misery for the family, according to Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano.
He said, “When the first conviction was vacated, I promised that my office would continue to fight for justice for the Hargan family and for the community, and today we have obtained that outcome. Today’s guilty verdict has been a long time coming, and I hope [that] Pam and Helen’s loved ones will be able to take one step closer to healing.”
Megan’s small daughter was inside the house when the shootings occurred. Megan Hargan is scheduled to be sentenced on January 26, 2024, and faces life in prison according to NBC Washington.