00:00:01
thank you for calling Capital One Bank my name is Jeff me I have your name please hey Jeff my name is Felix I'm
00:00:08
multiple Capital One I've got a customer Pamela Harens the phone call you're hearing is
00:00:15
from July 13th 2017 the day before Helen and Pamela haran were found dead inside
00:00:23
their home in mlan Virginia on the call two employees from Capital 1 Bank are talking about Pamela haran earlier that
00:00:33
day someone had called the bank asking to transfer hundreds of thousands of dollars from Pamela's account Felix is
00:00:43
with the wire callback authentication team he's trying to speak with Pamela to confirm that the request had come from
00:00:52
her here's Felix talking to his colleague I've got a customer Pamela haran who uh when I called her back she
00:01:01
did not call in to create a wire request and she is the only signer on this account so whoever requested that wire
00:01:10
transfer wasn't Pamela and uh she asked us to uh to transfer her to you guys for
00:01:16
fraud uh because it looks like they tried to send out a $419,000 wire request so yeah you know just you know
00:01:24
Chum change before he brings Pamela into the conversation Felix warns Jeff that she's suspicious that they're really
00:01:32
Bank employees she was a little bit weary uh you know not trusting that we're actually Capital One who's calling
00:01:40
her Felix puts Pamela on the line with Jeff and she is immediately skeptical hello
00:01:49
hello yes hello hi who am I speaking to who am I speaking to my name is Jeff with Capital
00:01:58
One okay this is Pamela Hanson hardan at this point Pamela has only been told that someone tried to move money from
00:02:07
her account Jeff is about to tell her how much I do have your account in front of me so I hear that um somebody tried
00:02:15
to do a wire out of your account for 4400 and some odd thousand what yeah that's what the other gentlem
00:02:23
was saying 400 and some OD thousand he said Pamela is stunned and insists she never agree to any such transfer I did
00:02:32
not do that well no I know he called you because of a pending wire and then you told him that you didn't do any wires is
00:02:41
that correct correct correct okay okay you made me nervous for a minute those those accounts are not to be touched
00:02:48
period can you freeze all my accounts yeah yeah actually I've already done that police would later explain that
00:02:55
Pamela was on her way to Pennsylvania to meet with her daughter Ashley when she got this call she asked her other
00:03:03
daughter Megan who was still home in mlan Virginia to go into the bank and figure out what was going on in the
00:03:11
meantime Jeff from Capital 1 reassures Pamela you don't need to worry your funds are are are safe all right thank
00:03:21
you you're more than welcome you have a great day you as well thank you byebye Pamela was adamant she wasn't the one
00:03:32
who initiated the wire transfer so who did after the killings police went back and listened to the mystery caller thank
00:03:42
you for calling cap my name is Brooks would you tell me your name please Pamela Hansen Haren do you recognize
00:03:50
that voice detectives thought they did do we think we killed your mom absolutely yes oh my God
00:04:03
I'm Peter vanat from 48 hours this is blood is thicker the haran family killings episode 4 the
00:04:14
[Music] impersonator after Pamela and Helen haran were found dead on Friday July
00:04:28
14th 27 17 police learned about that call made to Capital 1 the day before the murders it was baffling so they listened
00:04:39
to the call a little more closely good morning thank you for calling capan B my name is Brooks would
00:04:46
you tell me your name please Pamela Hansen hargen this is the earlier call from that same day the caller claimed to
00:04:54
be Pamela haran but the voice sounded different I was just transfer to you I was told that I could do a wire transfer
00:05:03
online not able to do a wire online but I can try to help you about fun the caller said she needed the money for her
00:05:11
daughter who was closing on her new house that day what time is is the closing in 20 minutes okay it's it's
00:05:21
very unlikely it will be there in 20 minutes Brook with Capital One told the caller that someone would call her back
00:05:28
to verify the details and if everything checked out the funds would be released an hour or so after that can you also
00:05:38
verify because my phone numbers were inverted I think on my account this is my home phone number and this is where
00:05:44
I'm at so this is the phone number that needs to be used I just don't want to miss anything right right and the number
00:05:51
that you gave me match what we have on file police discovered that the caller clearly not Pamela answered the multiple
00:05:59
choice security questions accurately all right next question what color is your 1991 chevrol
00:06:09
Cavalier is it black chrome green yellow or you've never been associated with this veh never been associated with a
00:06:16
Cavalier all right this caller posing as Pamela also knew she had other daughters
00:06:24
I'm going to be doing this again for my other daughter in about three weeks not suspecting any fraud the Capital One
00:06:30
employee then asked how much money she wanted transferred okay let me get the exact amount it's
00:06:38
um 49,000 $34. 77 that's the exact payment the real Pamela haran would cancel about an hour
00:06:54
later the next day Capital One received yet another call from that woman again purporting to be Pamela haran at
00:07:03
that time the bank had no way of knowing that Pamela had been shot may I have your first and last name please Pamela
00:07:12
Hansen haran thank you I understand you want to complete a wire transfer with us
00:07:15
today uh yes we attempted to yesterday and there was a bit of a mixup so we would like to do it again now okay this
00:07:23
is where things unraveled for the impersonator remember Felix from earlier in the episode well he happened to get
00:07:31
assigned yet again to call Pamela haran to verify the wire transfer Felix with Capital One call to
00:07:40
speak with Pamela Hansen this is she uh Hansen haran this time this Pamela didn't seem
00:07:48
to recognize Felix's Voice or name and please have your name again uh my name is Felix we spoke yesterday oh I'm sorry
00:07:57
I thought you said Stuart Felix verified some personal information and the impersonator approved the transfer
00:08:06
anything else I can help you with Before I Let You Go uh no and thank you so much
00:08:10
for yesterday I really appreciate it yeah no worries of course three days after the shootings
00:08:17
someone else from the banks fraud division called detective Brian byerson the representative said that they saw
00:08:24
the news of Pamela's murder and thought police might want to know about the wire
00:08:30
transfers and the message basically reads hey this is who I am this is who I'm with Capital One fraud we saw the
00:08:38
news regarding uh the murder or the the death of Pamela haran Capital One sent the police all
00:08:47
the recordings of their calls when detectives listened they soon identified the phony Pamela they recognized the
00:08:55
voice as the sister who had gun residue on her hand who talked their ears off in a police
00:09:02
interview 5 days after the shootings this caller also said she needed money for a house in West
00:09:11
Virginia all signs were pointing to Megan haran so now we have a really really really good motive for murder I think
00:09:20
she thought she was going to get the money we would think that this was a murder suicide she would get her house
00:09:27
and she would just be in West Virginia Living her life I don't think she ever thought that we'd figure this out but
00:09:33
detectives did catch on and plan to let Megan know they asked her to come into the station for an update their plan was
00:09:41
to play her the calls and see how she would react you know when the when you call the bank to do a wire transfer you
00:09:49
know they record the calls right okay [Music] Megan arrived at the police station not
00:10:04
knowing that investigators planned an audio Ambush those Capital 1 recordings it was July 19th 5 days since the
00:10:14
murders Megan had been talking with detectives Brian byerson and Steve needles for nearly an hour when they
00:10:22
brought up those calls so one of the things that's always been bothering me a little bit yeah um
00:10:30
is that call I'm going to play the call for you all right good morning thank you for calling
00:10:37
one B my name is would you tell me your name please thank you for using automated
00:10:44
system for verification today I was just transferred to you I was told that I could do a wire online no they kept the
00:10:52
audio plane while they peppered her with questions were you with her or anything
00:10:57
like that I'm not able to do a wire on Thursday morning yeah detective berson said he hoped she could explain
00:11:05
something that happens on the call 6 minutes in the caller impersonating Pamela asked the Capital One employee to
00:11:14
wait while they call someone else byerson suspected the caller was reaching out to her
00:11:21
husband is it okay if I just give him a call to let him know that I'm not actually doing this over the phone
00:11:27
because they were panicking take forever with me in the bank okay sure is that sure you just want to put me a little
00:11:34
bit F I can keep you on the phone while I do that okay detective byerson confronted Megan Point
00:11:43
Blank listen is that your mom come on back it's not it's time to tell the truth I know who that you called your
00:11:51
husband okay and I know that because when I looked at your phone dump right armed with phone records the detective
00:11:59
told Megan they know she called her husband at the same time the person in the recording makes a phone call
00:12:07
initially Megan didn't confess but then she gave in okay who who is that on the phone it is me it's you right the
00:12:18
detectives didn't back off they played her the Capital One call you heard at the top of this episode The One
00:12:26
detectives were certain was the real p somebody tried to do a wire out of your account for 400 and some
00:12:33
odd, what suddenly Megan started apologizing I'm sorry I'm sorry the detectives kept pushing they wanted
00:12:44
Megan to say why she was sorry just tell us the truth that's all we want to know
00:12:50
I need I have to understand it the problem is you can continue to it just did yourself a deeper hole I was listen
00:12:58
we okay I'm fine I'm fine I'm fine in the police video you can see detective needles move his chair toward Megan just
00:13:06
a foot or two away as he pressed her for answers you're trying to think right now
00:13:12
how am I going to talk my way out of this no no you think I okay do we think we killed your mom absolutely oh my God
00:13:19
yes we do in his rush to confront Megan detective needles misspoke they thought she killed Pamela she caught you in on
00:13:29
Friday it's okay absolutely convince me that you didn't we have you right there Megan whispered I did
00:13:41
not kill my mom but cops had other new evidence to ask Megan about there was also a bank statement this was one of
00:13:51
the financial documents detective Julia Elliot spotted the day Helen and Pamela were murdered here's what Detective
00:13:59
Elliot told us it was a photocopy of Pamela's spreadsheet that she used for all her accounts account numbers and
00:14:08
passcodes it was also a photocopy of Pamela's bank statement Detective Elliot had
00:14:16
photographed the documents but when detectives returned with a warrant to collect them they were
00:14:23
gone detectives had learned that Megan sent the West Virginia real estate agent a bank statement with her name on it but
00:14:33
suspiciously the amount sent matched what was in her mother's bank account not hers the detectives presented Megan
00:14:41
with their Theory she shot her mother then her sister Helen so all this looks like you killed your mom and sister so
00:14:51
help us hel would have let me get Megan's saying no way her sister would have let her walk away if she'd shot
00:14:58
their mother what you're not saying is no I didn't kill no no no I said no I didn't that's detective needles laughing
00:15:07
he's signaling that he didn't believe her finally the detectives decided to tell her exactly what they think
00:15:15
happened and how they think Pamela was already dead by the time Capital One got the second request to make a wire
00:15:23
transfer I already know that your mom is dead when that phone call is made Detective berson said he thought Megan
00:15:31
shot Pamela before she called the bank on July 14th remember someone had covered
00:15:39
Pamela's body with a quilt they also found her cell phone set on top of a pool of blood leaning against the
00:15:50
quilt how does her phone get over to where her body is and said on top of where she's phone
00:16:02
she always carries her no no she couldn't listen to No I'm sorry okay it's fine she I'm telling you I'm
00:16:08
telling you where her phone is found she didn't drop it there it's impossible detective needles leaned in again
00:16:16
directly accusing Megan you shot your mom you covered her up with a blanket cuz she could live with the guilt no and
00:16:24
then you used your phone and you got your money for your settlement but the bank was already on to you and and what
00:16:29
nobody was ever going to come to the house you thought that through yet then why does your sister
00:16:37
call and tell him the truth remember Helen the youngest sister had called her boyfriend I do because he spends an hour
00:16:45
trying to call 911 to make sure the love of his life is fine meanwhile unknown to
00:16:51
Megan Ashley and Steve haran Megan's sister and father were listening to these same bank calls in another room in
00:16:59
the police station along with Megan's husband Frank what you're not realizing is your family is being told off this
00:17:06
stuff right now I know yeah right now they're going to be swimming in qu they're going to be they're up there
00:17:10
right now the interview went on and on the detectives dug into more details about the wire transfer they accused
00:17:20
Megan of lying that's complete lie why in the world would you lie to if I I'm here investigating the murder of your
00:17:27
mother and the death of your sister which is undetermined as to how she died okay you understand what I'm saying I'm
00:17:33
investigating that during that investigation to try to figure out what happened to the two people you're
00:17:37
supposed to love and then Megan seemed to break she seemed to contemplate her child growing up motherless blame me
00:17:47
blame me listen my family's been through enough let Molly grow up without me you
00:17:52
have got to unload this blame me that's fine there's nothing just blame me Megan seemed to be
00:18:03
crumbling but detectives still didn't have what they needed a full confession detectives established they
00:18:11
had plenty of circumstantial evidence but only a few days after the shootings they needed more that could stand up in
00:18:20
court so the question was would Megan confess [Music] Megan haran had come into the police
00:18:39
station around 5:00 in the evening there's been some issues over the last couple hours talking I'm sorry I'm sorry
00:18:46
I I understand it's hard and Megan was still there nearly 4 and a half hours later again and again she denied making
00:18:56
the Capital One calls and then suddenly her story changed at that point had she given you approval to act like her and
00:19:05
to Wi transer she sent me in she even sent me in the Capital One bank to verify that everything had been frozen
00:19:11
Megan not only admitted to making the calls she claimed Pamela wanted her to be the one to request the wire transfer
00:19:20
despite the fact her mother was on tape saying she knew nothing of that transfer
00:19:26
Megan was starting to sound defeated so during this whole process you know many many times you said blame me blame
00:19:34
me blame me just blame me I know but why I would think you'd be more concerned with Molly Molly is Megan's daughter I
00:19:41
am concerned about Molly but so if you're locked up forever and ever amen what happens to M she has my husband
00:19:48
Megan still hadn't admitted she had anything to do with the murders of her mother and sister so she could walk away
00:19:56
from this interview at any time the door was wide open though she didn't seem to understand that I'm not allowed
00:20:05
to go I she we told you that from the very beginning course you are you're free to leave I'm allowed to stand up
00:20:10
and walk out why would I do that when you you guys are accusing me of something like this I don't understand
00:20:16
you're saying you think I did this but I'm allowed to leave Megan thought she was being played no because you told me
00:20:24
that you guys had DET he us telling my family everything and that yeah you believe I do I did this that's our
00:20:31
belief right now you're you're you're a prime suspect absolutely that doesn't mean that you were locking you up and
00:20:37
taking you to jail tonight we're just talking what Megan didn't realize was at the time of this interview the case
00:20:45
against her was relatively weak later I asked detective berson about this after the police interview he told me the
00:20:55
investigation was far from over so murder investigations can be extremely complex um and especially in something
00:21:04
like this where you have a family member who you believe has killed almost her entire family her
00:21:12
entire immediate family other than her father and her middle sister you not only have to be
00:21:17
sure you have to be right and that decision is not just it does not just rest on me I can't just go
00:21:24
to the to the magistrate and swear out a murder warrant so Megan left that day with her family a
00:21:32
free woman Days Go By no arrest weeks turn into months during this time Megan and her husband used a VA loan to buy a
00:21:44
different home in West Virginia Megan's friend Rebecca wolf told us that Megan decided to start a new life out of state
00:21:54
she immediately got involved in her new community so Molly is getting settled in
00:22:01
her new school settled in her new Girl Scout Troop um finding the new church getting settled into the church Rebecca
00:22:09
said that Megan went to work with her at her pet rescue I had held a huge fundraiser for one of the rescue
00:22:17
missions that we worked with so she actually helped me set the whole thing up so we spent several months
00:22:24
researching vendors getting vendors locked on Megan her husband and Molly were finally
00:22:32
all under their own roof together at last but Megan was in a kind of limbo because the investigators still had her
00:22:43
in their sights I asked byerson if Megan had killed her mother and sister then that would mean a brutal killer was free
00:22:52
to kill again during all those months all I can say to that is we kept an eye on her we knew where she was prosecutors
00:23:00
in Virginia convened a grand jury to look at the evidence and decide whether Megan should be charged investigators
00:23:09
had to wait for documents forensic accountants had to comb through layers of Records which also delayed any
00:23:18
possible indictment all of those investigative steps took almost a year and four months
00:23:25
before we had everything back and we got the okay to indict her for those two murders Megan's borrowed time was coming
00:23:34
to an end detective byerson and a team of officers made the three-hour drive from
00:23:42
the DC area to morgant toown we all went up there Megan haran that morning dropped her daughter off at
00:23:50
school and once she left school grounds we had a local officer uh conduct a traffic stop on her and she was arrested
00:23:59
detective byerson and Megan came face to face again what did you see in her eyes
00:24:06
nothing when I look at Megan um I don't see much behind behind those eyes it's kind of empty to me she
00:24:15
has no remorse for what she did at all Megan was taken to a local police station in West Virginia for another
00:24:23
interview before she was brought back to Northern Virginia that same day the Fairfax County Police
00:24:31
Department updated the public at a news conference for the first time since they
00:24:37
called the killings a murder suicide we did arrest 35-year-old Megan haran in West Virginia this morning for the
00:24:45
murders of her mom Pamela haran and sister Helen haran July 14th 2017 in mlan understandably reporters had
00:24:55
questions could I ask them why you didn't put out another directive uh to the public that it was a
00:25:01
double murder because our community had so many questions they were told it was a murder of suicide and then you know
00:25:07
you all knew it's double murder all along do you not think maybe the public should have been informed of that yeah
00:25:12
so we always drive to inform our community um this case in particular we'll we'll always debrief what we did
00:25:18
and why we did it um I I will say an investigative strategy is to find the person that's responsible for double
00:25:25
murder uh is is a is ofmost most importance the fact that cops had waited so long made Megan's friend Rebecca wolf
00:25:36
skeptical that they had a strong case why'd you wait 18 months to arrest her Rebecca learned Megan had been arrested
00:25:44
while she was listening to the radio on her way home from yoga I never in a million years saw this coming and I
00:25:51
heard that name and thank God I was turning into my road at that point because I probably would have wrecked
00:25:59
cuz I just immediately started balling she thought this had to be a mistake after the arrest Rebecca traveled to be
00:26:08
at Megan's trial and the hargens they had to face the possibility that Megan might have pinned the murders on her
00:26:17
sister Helen and why then did Helen have to die I think Helen knew what happened I
00:26:26
mean I will never understand I don't think in in any capacity why it is that Megan went upstairs and told her that
00:26:35
she had shot their mother have no idea why she did that I can only assume that at some
00:26:42
point after telling her that she realized that was probably not a great idea [Music]
00:27:00
from 48 hours this is blood is thicker the haran family killings Judy Tigard is the executive producer of 48 Hours
00:27:11
original reporting by 48 Hours producers Josh jerger Sarah elely Holz Michelle sigona and Lauren white Jamie Benson is
00:27:21
the senior producer for Paramount audio and Mora walls is the senior story editor recording assistants from Alan
00:27:29
Pang and Marlin polycarp special thanks to paramont podcast vice president Megan Marcus and
00:27:37
48 Hours senior producer Peter schwitzer blood is thicker is produced by Sony Music
00:27:45
Entertainment it was written and produced by Alex Schuman our executive producers are
00:27:52
Katherine St Louis and Jonathan Hirsch our associate producer is Zoe kulin theme and original music composed
00:28:02
by hansdale shei he also soundd designed and mixed the episodes we also use music
00:28:09
by Blue Dot sessions Katherine Newan is our fact Checker our production managers
00:28:15
are tamaa balance kassi and Samantha Allison I'm Peter Van Sant if you're enjoying the show be sure to rate and
00:28:25
review it helps more people find it and here our reporting for early and adree access to blood is thicker subscribe to
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00:28:43
today thanks for listening