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A 27-year-old woman is charged with two counts of criminal homicide in the deaths of her husband and son at Great Wolf Lodge in Pocono Township.
Metallica Rose Harrison, 27, of Towanda, is accused of killing her husband, Charles Harrison, and her 3-year-old son on Oct. 12.
According to the criminal complaint, Pocono Township Police Department officers responded to Great Wolf Lodge that afternoon for the report of a suicidal woman. The caller, later identified as Harrison, told the Monroe County Control Center that “she needed help dying and was unable to find the vein in her neck to stab,” the complaint said.
When police officers responded to their room, they saw bleeding cuts on her left wrist, and superficial puncture wounds on her neck. The complaint says that Harrison told officers she “wanted to be with her husband and son.”
Officers found Harrison’s husband and son, both deceased, on separate mattresses that were on the floor. Charles Harrison suffered multiple stab wounds to the chest while the son, identified by his initials in the complaint, “appeared to suffer a single stab wound to the chest.”
While being taken to St. Luke’s Monroe Campus for treatment of her injuries, Harrison kept “making statements that she was not supposed to be here,” the complaint says.
“I f—ed up, I f—ed up,” Harrison said, according to the complaint. “I just needed energy and strength.”
According to the complaint, she said that she works to be the best mother and wife and, “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.”
Complaint affiant and Pocono Township Police Department Detective Sgt. Earl Ackerman found two knives in the bathroom where the family had been staying. Great Wolf Lodge staff confirmed that they did not belong to the resort. Also found within the room were several bottles of medication, and a plastic container next to Charles Harrison and a garbage bag in the bathroom, both containing a “brownish red liquid, believed to be blood.”
Great Wolf Lodge security told Ackerman that the family initially checked into the resort on Sept. 21, and that their reservation was extended on Oct. 5 to check out on Oct. 13.
During the 911 call, Ackerman wrote, Metallica Harrison said that her husband and son were “already gone” when asked by the operator if she was by herself. She also said that her knives were “not working,” and that she was too weak to stab her neck.
When detectives went to the hospital to speak with Harrison and advised her of her Miranda rights, she said that she was “suicidal, not stupid,” and was unwilling to speak, the complaint says. No defensive wounds or bruises were observed on Harrison.
Monroe County District Attorney Mike Mancuso said during a press conference on Oct. 13 that it was a “violent domestic tragedy” and there was no threat to public safety.
Monroe County Coroner Thomas Yanac said that autopsies for both the husband and the son would occur later in the week.
