‘Best’ Mom Fatally Stabbed Husband, Son at Great Wolf Lodge: Cops

Her name is Metallica Rose Harrison and. she had been charged with two counts of. criminal homicide. >> An unthinkable tragedy at a place. dedicated to family fun. Police say a. Pennsylvania woman drained her family. savings, took her husband and. three-year-old son to Greywolf Lodge. indoor water park, stayed for 3 weeks, and then allegedly murdered both of. them. We're examining the latest. disturbing details emerging from the. Poconos's as the suspect faces severe. consequences. Welcome to Sidebar,

presented by Law and Crime. I'm Jesse. Weber. 27-year-old Metallica Rose Harrison is. accused of taking her son and husband on. an extended vacation before allegedly. stabbing them to death in their hotel. room. three-year-old is identified as th. in police paperwork, but family members. have now come forward and identified. this little boy as Tristan. He and his. dad, Charles Chaz Harrison, were found. in their hotel room at Great Wolf Lodge.

on Monday. According to a probable cause. affidavit, Miss Harrison apparently. called 911 in the Pocono Township area. around 300 p.m. and reportedly asked for. advice on how to harm herself. Now, dispatchers didn't provide that, of. course, but instead they sent police. straight to Great Wolf Lodge, and when. they arrived at Harrison's room, they. say that she had a few superficial cuts. and scrapes on her, but was otherwise. unheard. WFMZ TV was at a news. conference held by Pennsylvania.

authorities. Take a look. >> Officers arrived at the scene and they. assessed the situation and they found uh. two deceased victims uh in that room. Um, a boy aed three uh and his father. The. female also had injuries about her and. she was hospitalized. uh while in police custody. and u as a result of a very.

strong response by law enforcement. investigating u every detail which we. could fer it. Uh it's been determined. that there's no threat to public safety, that this was a violent uh domestic. tragedy in which uh two people, boy and. his father, lost their lives. >> So Harrison faces two criminal homicide. charges. And according to the probable. cause paperwork that was filed in. Pennsylvania court, quote, "A person,

namely Metallica Rose Harrison is guilty. of criminal homicide if she. intentionally, knowingly, recklessly, or. negligently causes the death of another. human being. Charles Harrison and. Juvenile TH. So, according to the lead. detectives on the case, quote, "The. female, who was later identified as. Metallica Harrison, advised Monroe. County Control Center that she needed. help dying and she was unable to find. the vein in her neck to stab. So, what. exactly did first responders find when. they got to this resort room?" Quote,

"Officers entered the room, locating a. deceased adult male on a mattress laying. on the floor and a deceased male child. on a separate mattress on the floor. The. adult male was identified as Charles. Harrison. Charles Harrison suffered. multiple stab wounds to the chest. The. child, TH, appeared to suffer a single. stab wound to the chest. Now, I'm going. to tell you right now, the reported. location of those wounds going to be. very critical for a legal case. We'll. get into it, but Harrison had to go to.

the hospital. So, what happened was a. Pocono Township officer wrote along and. noted her alleged ramblings. Quote, "While in the ambulance, the defendant. kept making statements that she was not. supposed to be here." The defendant. further stated, "I bleeped up. I bleeped. up. I just needed energy and strength.". The defendant apparently stated how she. didn't understand and asked why there. wasn't an easier way. The defendant. inquired of EMS personnel how deep her. wrist vein is. so that she knew for. quote next time. The defendant advised.

that she took medication to help thin. her blood and expressed verbal. frustration that the blood was clotting. when it wasn't supposed to. The. defendant further stated, quote, "Every. day I work so hard to be the best. person, the best mother, the best wife. It wasn't supposed to end like this. I. was supposed to have my happy family. That's what I envisioned since I was a. child." Now, according to investigators, and this is key, they apparently found. two knives in the room with teal. handles, which importantly, Great Wolf. Lodge staff say did not come from their.

property, which means that Harrison. seemingly would have had to bring the. knives with her on this trip. In fact, according to media outlet WG, police. seize 10 teal knives from the home, including two inside a knife block. That. goes to this element of premeditation. WG reports that police also seized other. property from the home, including. journals and a laptop, as well as nine. sealed envelopes addressed to Metallica. Harrison and four sealed envelopes.

addressed to Charles Harrison. It's. unclear what might have been inside. those envelopes. Reporting from outlet. WNP also notes that when officers went. to the Harrison home in Towanda, Pennsylvania, about two hours north of. the waterpark resort, they found a. notice that was posted on the door. saying the family's gas service was set. to be shut off. There was apparently an. unpaid balance of just under $30. This. is according to the New York Post. And. when detectives spoke with neighbors, a. lawn care company said they hadn't seen. the family in around a month. Hey, so.

this is a paid advertisement for Rumble. Wallet. they're sponsoring this portion. of the show. Now, have you ever wondered. why people used to put money under their. mattresses? Think about that. Some. people think, you know, being paranoid, but really it was about having control. over their own money. And with Rumble. Wallet, you have that same type of. control. It's your money. You decide. where it goes. You can use your Rumble. Wallet to send tips to any creator you. want in Bitcoin or stable coin. So, you. set up your own Rumble wallet right now. with my code sidebar 10, and Rumble. hands you $10 in USAT free just for.

activating it. Is that easy? All you got. to do is scan the QR code on your screen. or you go to my link. wallet.rumble.com/crcime. and enter code sidebar1010 when you sign. up. And with Moon Pay, you can fund your. Rumble wallet with either a debit card, credit card, or bank account, which. takes only about a minute. Then you'll. claim your $10, open chat, hit pay with. Rumble Wallet to send it. And this offer. is only good for the first 500 wallets. So you got to act now. Scan the code. Use sidebar 10. Claim your $10 in USAT.

Restrictions apply. There are limited. number of entries available. Terms and. conditions apply. See the description or. visit rumble.com/promo. official rules for more details. And the. family was at apparently at the Great. Wolf Lodge for a long time. According to. the probable cause affidavit, the family. of three checked in on September 21st. On October 5th, they reportedly extended. the reservation until October 13th. But. on Monday the 12th, the day before.

checkout, that is when this tragedy. struck. And to be clear, and this is. significant, too, for the investigation, that resort stay would have cost a. pretty penny. Nightly rates are around. $300. The cost for the trip would have. been in the thousands. And get this, Harrison's stepmother, so April Tetka, told the New York Post that Harrison had. apparently drained Chaz's retirement. account to pay for the vacation. Tetka. says it was framed as an early Christmas. present for Tristan. Harrison was also.

reportedly planning a kitchen remodel. That told the Post, quote, "She had. called and were video chatting, and then. she says she loved us very much, just. like she normally would." The very next. day, Chaz and Tristan were dead and. Harrison was in custody. And this is. key, too. So, the affidavit laid out a. timeline for the family's last. movements. And as you can imagine, that. is based on the surveillance footage. from around the resort. So, the cameras. reportedly show all three returning to. their room just before 7:00 p.m. on. Sunday. And at one point, Harrison.

leaves the room or apparently leaves the. room to microwave something in a. communal area, then returns. And at. 10:45 p.m., it appears the couple then. leaves three-year-old Tristan alone in. the room to go to the arcade for about. half an hour. They return about 20. minutes after 11, and they're not seen. again until Harrison calls 911. What happened in that room? I want to go. back to the affidavit. Quote, upon. reviewing the 911 recording, the. defendant made the following statements. I'm too weak to stab my neck. I need.

police. When asked if she has any. weapons, she confirmed that she has. knives and said, "That's what I've been. using and it's not working." The. defendant stated, "I don't want to be. here anymore and that she needed help. dying." When asked if she's by herself, she responded, "My husband and son are. already gone in the bed in the living. room." The defendant then stated, quote, "They're already gone. I'm sorry. At no. time during this call did the defendant. request help for her husband or son.". End quote. And Harrison also reportedly.

made a really telling statement while. she was at the hospital. Quote, Afen and. Detective Sicotella responded to St. Luke's Hospital to speak with the. defendant. Afion advised the defendant. of her Miranda warnings and requested to. speak with her about what brought her to. the hospital. The defendant advised that. she is suicidal, not stupid, and advised. that she was not willing to speak with. this Afen. And authorities say this is. just the beginning of their. investigation.

>> There's a lot more testing. Uh there's a. post-mortem examinations yet to be. conducted. Uh there's a review of. various items of evidence. All of that. will be unfolding over the course of the. next several months. So this is only the. first stage in a long process. approximately. 80 to 90 items of evidence was recovered. uh from the search of the uh the room. itself and there's several other areas. that are still subject to search. >> Great Wolf Resorts released a statement.

to WG on Tuesday saying quote we are. deeply saddened and heartbroken by a. tragic domestic incident that occurred. yesterday in a guest room at a resort in. the Pocono Mountains. It was an isolated. family incident and we're cooperating. fully with local law enforcement as they. conduct their investigation. Our. thoughts are with the family and loved. ones of those affected. How do we get. here? What would cause a mother, a wife. to so totally lose control that she.

allegedly kills her closest family and. then tries to harm herself? WG reviewed. search warrants that kind of give us. details about the family dynamic. So, the Pocono Township Police reportedly. spoke with Chaz's mother and sister to. notify them of his death, and they just. revealed some disturbing alleged. details. They claimed that Harrison was. quote dominant and controlling. Said. she'd isolated them from Chaz and. Tristan over the last three years. They.

also claimed that Harrison had never. wanted to get pregnant, that she. believed Tristan was getting in the way. of her relationship with Chaz. According. to Pocono Township Police, Harrison was. arraigned on Tuesday. Bail was denied. There is going to be a preliminary. hearing scheduled for next week. But I. want to talk about this. I want to talk. about this investigation. Let me bring. in friend of the show, Tom Smith, retired NYPD detective, co-host of the. Gold Shield Show. It's excellent. I. encourage everybody to check it out. This is awful. you we were talking.

beforehand and I know we're still trying. to understand what happened here and. there's been a lot of allegations but. you know you see some reporting about. whether there was some sort of break and. whether there's some reporting. suggesting this was pre-planned. When. you look at this, if she did this, what. are the elements you're looking at that. this was possibly planned and thought. out and deliberated and premeditated? Well, a couple of things right up front. that that lead me to that conclusion is. when the knives were recovered, the. detectives and investigators did a great.

job in asking the lodge if these knives. belong to them if there's any indication. that they came from the lodge and they. all said no. So, to me, that means she. brought them with her, which is. disturbing in and of itself. The other. reporting of the blood thinners and. taking them uh beforehand also leads me. to to the conclusion that this was. planned way in advance. And we're going. to get a better view of that, Jesse, as.

the investigation goes on because one of. the first things that's going to happen. is they're going to look into her. computer and her phone and her Google. searches and all that to see what else. was on her mind before this trip. Well, the this allegation of her draining the. 401k bank account, right, the 401k. account uh to pay for this trip because. it can get quite quite pricey at this uh. this resort, this lodge. Um it seems to. me it all becomes a question of did her.

husband know about it or not. If she did. it in secret and was paying for it and. draining it, questionable behavior. But. if they had some sort of agreement, I. wonder if that would muddy the issues, the muddy the waters. >> Yeah, it will because, you know, when. when you see these events happening, some stories that we've covered do do. have a financial part of it in in. draining accounts and spending and. spending before certain events take. place. So, that is definitely a viable.

avenue to look down. And then there's. also this allegation that she got a. notice that the gas was going to be. turned off, right? And I don't know, like I wonder if that's how that's going. to play into it. >> Yeah. You know, the thing is, like I. said, when the investigation really. kicks in now and a number of interviews. get done by family members, by friends, by neighbors, and really get a kind of. look into this family and what they've. been going through is going to lead. investigators down a certain path. you.

know whether this is a ongoing problem, a domestic problem, uh a financial. problem which leads to a domestic. problem. So all of those questions are. probably going to get answered in the. days and weeks to come when and. interviews start getting done. Speaking of interviews, the the um. family members have spoken with. investigators and they talk about. Metallica Harrison being dominant and. controlling this allegation that she was. jealous of this three-year-old boy for.

taking attention away from her husband. How much do investigators really focus. on that the family members? because. family members could be quite emotional. during this time. But at the same time, how much do they say that this is. credible information and they follow. through with because at the other other. way of looking at it, they knew the. family best. They knew those those. involved best. So, how much do you um. weigh the credibility of the family. members when they make allegations like. this? >> Well, you're going to add them all up.

and you're going to corroborate each one. that's given to you. And if all of them. have a similar story, no one's going to. have the same story. obviously because. that's why you you interview many. people. So, you don't go on one person's. account of of their background or their. relationship. You're going to keep going. and then you're going to collectively. put them all together to see if they all. link up, if the stories are similar, if. the allegations or or questions about. their relationship are similar. And then. that's how you're going to come to a.

conclusion of of what a theory is of. what the background was with this. family. It seems to me the evidence that. it's come out so far from the reporting, >> it's quite strong that she did this. It. becomes, I think, a question for a. defense attorney, right, in terms of. there's some sort of diminished capacity. defense, a mental health defense. I. don't know. Um, you know, there were. allegations that she's she called, she. said she was suicidal, that when police. arrived, she said, "I'm suicidal, not. stupid." You know, that was one of the. allegations that she also reportedly. said that she was the best mother while.

speaking to EMS. So, what's being. reported is this level of instability, but at the same time, she's accused, as. you said, bringing the knives, 401k. account, and then stabbing her son and. husband in the chest. In the chest. That. tells you something, doesn't it? >> Yeah, that that's a lot of rage. And and. the husband was stabbed numerous times. The son reportedly was just stabbed. once. But that's rage. That's making. sure you know what you want to.

accomplish gets accomplished. And it's. just a horrific thought of having a. mother, you know, do this to their. family. But getting to your first. statement, defense attorneys have a job. to do and we all understand that. And. one way or another, they're going to. come up with something uh, you know, of. why she did this, whether it's. medication she's on, you know, a mental. health issue she's on, and and all. that's going to play into the. investigation. And that's why detectives. and prosecutors have to work so close.

together to make sure everything they. have is sealed and tight. So no matter. what the defense says, their case is. strong of a premeditation, a planning or. anything like that. >> You know, she reportedly said when she. was recovered from the scene, "Every day. I work so hard to be the best person, the best mother, the best wife. It. wasn't supposed to end like this. I was. supposed to have my happy family. That's. what I envisioned since I was a child. Not supposed to be here. This is.

according to an affidavit that was. reviewed by the New York Post. Those. statements are interesting, aren't they? >> They are. Because now you take it to the. next question of, okay, if you think. that, why are we at this point? What. happened that your thoughts of having a. great marriage and being a great mother. and everything you dreamed about as a. child, what led to this? It's the most. extreme turnaround that I've heard in a. while with past statements and then. looking at a crime scene of what this.

woman did. >> Great Wolf Lodge. I'm sure investigators. are combing through it. What are they. looking for? Every piece of surveillance. footage that might cap capture the. family. >> Absolutely. Uh you're going to. especially her, you're going to track. her movements uh to see just what was. going on and all that's going to do. really. We know what happened. It. happened in the room, so there's not. going to be any surveillance of that, but it's going to just give a a look. into this family and what was going on. Uh they'll put they'll put together a.

timeline, which is going to be very. important with this of when the last. time they were together in and out of. the room, which has been reported a. little bit already. But that's what. investigators are going to do just to. really shore up what they have and what. they're looking at. It's so horrible to. be thinking about do I mean in these. kinds of cases. What are some of the. things that jump out to you about motive. here, right? I mean, motive is not an. element of a crime that they need to. prove prosecutors necessarily, but it.

really can help tell the story. It can. help explain it as we're trying to piece. together, you know, what statement she. made, what the family is saying, the. allegations that she didn't want to be. pregnant, maybe she had a resentment. towards this young boy. What are the. things you look out for? How do you get. to the bottom of it? Well, you just keep uh, you know, picking away at it and along with the. prosecutor, you're just going through. each and every piece of element of this. crime that you can to piece together a. story. And that's what this is. The.

motive, like you said, isn't necessarily. a guilt or innocence, but it builds the. case for the prosecution. And that's. what you want to do. Now, you're pretty, you know, airtight of who did this. So, you want to make sure if you're going to. go to a trial and this is going to go to. down that road, you want to make sure. everything's right, you want to make. sure the stories are right, the timeline. is right, the evidence was collected. right, and you have a strong case. against her going forward. >> And it also goes to what her level of. consciousness was. Allegations that she,

you know, during the call where she was. reporting that she was going to be. suicidal, too weak to stab my neck, my. husband and my son are already gone in. the bed in the living room. They're. already gone. I'm sorry. There's a. recognition of what happened. >> Oh, no doubt. And that's what I said. when part of this is going to be going. even further back into her electronic. and and electronic footprint that she. has of any searches she did and what. that where that lies on the timeline. that's going to play a big part in this. because if she started searching how to.

do this and how to do that which Jesse. and I both both of us have done these. stories numerous times where these. Google searches really come into play. and it's going to be how long ago they. were done and how close to them leaving. for vacation maybe the last search was. done. So that's going to play a pivotal. part in this case, especially for the. prosecution. >> And and going into this idea of do you. see in these cases, is it financial. pressure that sometimes can lead to it? Is it being a mother that can sometimes.

be a pressure being a wife? I mean, is. it a combination of everything? I'm just. trying now as we scout the story to get. a sense of what her life was like uh and. what might have happened here. But in. your experience seeing these kinds of. familial homicide cases, what's the. explanation usually? >> Yeah, you know what? All of the above. what you just mentioned, uh it could be. anything because everyone's life is. different. So some people have financial. problems, some people have marital.

problems and extrammarital affairs and. jealousy and all things like that all. play a part when you come into homicide. of of family members. All of those. always play a part and it's a matter of. just picking them apart to see which one. caused this and like I said, you know, it's just sad that, you know, a. financial problem might have led to. this. I mean, that's disturbing in and. of itself. So, for, you know, detectives. and investigators, it can be anything.

I've seen them all. everything we just. rattled off, every aspect of this when. it comes to to violence against family. members have played into it. >> is just a horrible, horrible, horrible. story. And look, this is the beginning. stages of trying to get to the Y. Tom. Smith, thank you so much for taking the. time, sir. Really, really appreciate it. Uh, and again, everybody, check out Gold. Shield. It's awesome. It's. >> always a pleasure, Jesse. Thank you. >> That's all we have for you right now. here on Sidebar, everybody. Thank you so. much for joining us. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll speak to you next time.