A Pennsylvania mother accused of killing her husband and their 3-year-old son at Great Wolf Lodge could potentially face the death penalty, according to a private investigator.
Metallica Rose Harrison, 27, is being held in Monroe County after prosecutors alleged that she used kitchen knives, reportedly brought from home, to stab Charles “Chaz” Harrison, 36, and their son, Tristan.
Harrison is scheduled to appear in court next month.
Metallica Harrison, 27, faces murder charges after prosecutors alleged that she stabbed her husband and the couple’s 3-year-old son at Great Wolf Lodge in Pennsylvania’s Poconos region. (Pocono Township Police Department; Great Wolf Lodge; Facebook/Meta: Chaz Harrison)
Rod Devine, a Lehigh Valley-area private investigator, said Harrison could be eligible for a death sentence if she is convicted under the relevant circumstances.
Devine has interviewed convicted killers in jail and has served as an expert witness for criminal defense teams in several cases.
Police said Chaz and his son were found stabbed inside their room at Great Wolf Lodge. (Facebook/Meta: Chaz Harrison)
Pennsylvania law includes several requirements for capital punishment, Devine said. A person convicted of murder in the first degree can be sentenced to death in the state.
To receive a death sentence, however, a defendant must be convicted of first-degree murder and have a “statutory aggravating circumstance” established in the case.
Devine previously told News Media that the alleged killings appeared to have been premeditated, a factor that could support the first-degree murder element.
A family member remembered Chaz Harrison as a man “whose whole life was centered around his wife and child.” (Facebook/Meta: Chaz Harrison)
“The other component is that there’s a 3-year-old child that was killed,” Devine said.
Under state law, the killing of a victim younger than 12 can qualify as an aggravating circumstance.
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Even if those legal conditions were met, the larger question is whether an execution would actually take place. In this case, that is considered unlikely.
Metallica Rose Harrison, 27, faces charges after investigators alleged that she stabbed her husband and their young son. (Facebook/Meta: Metallicarose Harrison)
Although Pennsylvania law still allows the death penalty, executions have been paused for more than a decade under an active gubernatorial moratorium. As a result, even a death sentence would probably not lead to an execution while the moratorium remains in effect.
Devine said it is important to consider how Harrison’s defense attorneys might approach the case before drawing conclusions about a possible sentence.
Devine said before any insinuation of penalty, it’s important to understand how Harrison’s defense team will possibly strategize.
Metallica Rose Harrison, 27, had been married to Chaz Harrison for three years before prosecutors alleged that she stabbed him. (Facebook/Meta: Chaz Harrison)
“As a defense, working with defense counsel, what they would probably be looking at in something like this would be mitigating circumstances,” Devine said.
One of those being “mental illness,” he said.
“There’s also speculation that possibly the husband could have been part of a murder-suicide,” he said.
He went on to say the possible plot may have been “botched on her end.”
Harrison is now scheduled to appear in court on Nov. 3.
News Media reached out to the governor’s office and the Monroe County District Attorney’s Office.