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The Pennsylvania mom accused of killing her husband and their 3-year-old son at a Poconos resort showed no signs of trouble in a video call just hours before the attempted murder-suicide, according to her stepmom — who now believes she had planned it for weeks.
Metallica Rose Harrison, 27, had never shown signs of mental illness and appeared normal in a video call Sunday, soon before she allegedly stabbed her husband and son and tried to slit her own wrists and neck, her stepmom April Thetga told The Post.
“She had called and we’re video chatting, and then she says she loved us very much, just like she normally would,” Thetga recalled.
“It wasn’t an odd conversation,” she said. “She didn’t give us any indication that anything was ever going to happen.
“It was a loving family. We’re just as shocked as everybody else.”
Here’s the latest on the Great Wolf Lodge stabbing:
- Killer mom drained husband’s 401(k) for Great Wolf Lodge trip before hacking him, son to death: step-mom
- Stepmom reveals Metallica Rose’s chilling final call with family hours before she stabbed son, husband — and sign she planned killings for weeks
- Accused Great Wolf Lodge killer mom’s chilling words after allegedly murdering husband, son
- Accused killer mom posted glowing pics of family life before allegedly murdering husband, son at Poconos Great Wolf Lodge
Harrison’s family found it “odd” that the mom and her husband, Chris, were having an extended stay at the Great Wolf Lodge, but assumed it was because their “amazing” and “very happy” son Tristan loved playing in water parks so much.
They sent regular photos from their stay to show loved ones how much fun they were having.
But after the murders, they were shocked to find out that the murder weapon was from a set of knives Metallica had brought from home, the stepmom revealed.
“I was told the knives came from her home. Her house. So to me, it was planned,” Thetga told The Post.
A butcher knife was found on the bathroom floor and a smaller knife in the bathroom sink, according to the police, who say Metallica called 911 to ask for help on how to kill herself after reporting the slayings.
As for the motive, Thetga said she and the rest of the family “don’t have one.”
“That’s the thing. I don’t have one. We’re just as shocked as everybody else. … We want answers,” the stepmom said.
“They were always happy. This is devastating.”
Harrison worked as an in-home caregiver and her husband was a cabinetmaker; they had leveraged his retirement account for home improvements and other expenses, in addition to funding the resort vacation, Thetga said.
She didn’t know whether the couple had borrowed against the account or withdrawn the money outright, but found the choice “odd.”
“It was definitely odd, but they’d taken their 401(k) out … There was nothing we could do about that.”
Cops were called to the resort in Scotrun, PA, just after 3 p.m. Monday after Harrison — who lives around two hours away in Towanda — said she needed help dying and was unable to find the vein to stab in her neck.
Harrison called 911 after the killings and ranted about how she worked hard to be “the best mother, the best wife,” according to an affidavit obtained by WNEP.
“My husband and son are already gone in the bed in the living room. They’re already gone, I’m sorry,” Metallica Rose told the 911 operator of the pair found with multiple stab wounds to the chest.
She also asked for help finding a vein to stab in her neck — telling cops when they arrived that she was “suicidal, not stupid,” according to her affidavit.