
On June 23, 2026, six members of a family were found dead inside a Mechanicville, New York apartment during a welfare check. Grandmother Amy Steadman, her daughter Sarah Myers, and Myers' four children, were found poisoned, and a handwritten note and medications strongly suggest Steadman was involved in the deaths, with investigators exploring a possible link to a recent custody decision involving the children's father.
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D
Hey, everyone. Welcome back to Crime Weekly News. I'm Derek Levasseur.
E
And I'm Stephanie Harlow.
D
And as you can probably see from the title today, this is going to be a rough one. And, you know, we're just. We're just compounding it right now between Harmony Montgomery and now this story. But Stephanie made me aware of it. It's absolutely horrible. A father who was preparing to finally see his four children after an extended period of time apart is now planning their funerals after they were found dead alongside their mother and grandmother inside an apartment in upstate New York. According to reporting, Brady Harmon had not seen his children in person since 2019, but he was expecting them to come and stay with him in Utah for the summer, a visit that was supposed to begin within days of Brady being informed that his children were gone. Investigators say evidence at the scene points toward intentional poisoning, and they are now looking closely at the custody dispute and the timing of what happened. But this case is still unfolding and there are a lot of unanswered questions which Stephanie's going to try and help us out with today, but what a absolutely horrific story. And it is interesting that we're talking about this type of incident when Harmony, although very different, also has some similarities when you talk about custody disputes and who's going to be taking, I guess possession, for lack of a better way of saying it, of the children and
E
one parent, you know, not seeing the child, the child or children in this case for an extended period of time.
D
Right. That being a completely different guy though apparent, you know, we don't know Brady too much yet, but obviously with Harmony situation, dad should have never seen her.
E
Yeah. So this actually happened in an area close to me. So this was Mechanicville, New York, Saratoga county, just north of Al Albany. I'm in upstate. And so there's obviously been a lot of talk about this in, in the area. Not just like on the, the regular news, but I see it on Facebook and stuff. People are talking about it because it is absolute, shocking, horrible. Six people including four children were found dead in Mechanicville, New York. The six people found dead have been identified as 64 year old Amy Stedman, 44 year old Sarah Myers. So Sarah is Amy's daughter and the mother of the four following children, 13 year old Harper Harmon, 11 year old Hudson Harmon, 10 year old Gavin Harmon and 10 year old Grace Lynn Harmon. So, so all six were found dead inside Amy Stedman's apartment at the John S. Moore apartment complex on Harris Avenue in Mechanicville. Sarah Myers and the children reportedly lived in the same complex, but not in Amy Stedman's unit. So you have grandmother, daughter, four children. They appear to all have lived in the same apartment complex, but they were all found dead in the grandmother's apartment. Now the police were called for a welfare check on Tuesday evening, June 23, 2026. So this literally did just happen a few days ago as we're filming. A neighbor said they had not heard from or seen the family for some time. One report says the neighbor has not seen them since around June 9th. And police did say that the bodies had been there for quote, unquote, an extended period of time.
D
That's going to be a tough scene.
E
They said the decomposition was reportedly severe enough that visual identification of the bodies at the apartment was difficult.
D
Yeah, yeah. I'll tell you right now from just like a layman perspective, you may be saying, oh, two weeks, that's not too bad, you know, like how bad could it really be inside? Let me tell you, I've had cases where I've shown up three Days after a person has passed and there's already fly larvae activity, especially based on the circumstances, whether it's really hot out.
E
Yeah, I was just going to say something like. June.
D
Yeah, June, New York. It's been, we've had a hot couple of weeks. We've had rain too, but it's been hot. No air circulation going through there. If the windows were closed, that's a tough scene. I, I would not want to be the first one for that, that's for sure.
E
Yeah, I think what you said too, it's been raining a lot. So it means humidity, moisture. Yeah, yeah.
D
The. It would not be a pleasant sight. And then on top of that, considering it's four young children, that just adds insult to injury.
E
Now, here's the thing. So, Mechanicville Police Chief William Rabbit said that evidence recovered in the apartment indicates intentional poisoning, including numerous prescription and over the counter medications. Autopsies were performed, but police said the official causes and manner of death remain pending additional investigation and obviously toxicology. They said syringes were found inside the home and investigators believe the children may have been injected with the drugs, according to the New York Post. But one of the children, it does not say which one. One of the children also suffered fatal sharp force injuries, according to police. This is one of the most important details because it means this may not have been a straightforward everyone was poisoned scenario. Maybe there was more of a struggle or the kids were aware of, of something happening. Not, not just this kind of like, oh, we'll, we'll give them medication.
D
They were all, they all fell asleep. One of them might have woke up
E
or seen what was happening. Yeah. It appears most of the deaths may involve poisoning, but we know at least one child had a separate fatal injury. Police have not publicly announced final responsibility. Like, they haven't said, this is who we think did it, technically. But they have said that a handwritten note and other circumstantial evidence strongly suggests that Amy Stedman, the grandmother, was involved in the deaths. So they have not at this time released the contents of the note. And like I said, they're still working on toxicology and a full medical review before making final determinations. But yes, at this time, police are saying no evidence of an outside person being involved exists. There's no known threat to the public. And this note that they haven't told us what it says, along with other circumstantial evidence, kind of shows that it was the grandma, Amy who may have been responsible for this. Now, whether the daughter, Amy's daughter Sarah, the children's mother, whether she knew, whether she was complicit. This is all stuff that's going to, I think, unfold and come out as, as we go on.
D
But I also think the context behind the custody dispute will be important here. You had said when we were talking about it earlier, and I said it in the opening, 2019 was the last time that Brady had seen his children. Right. So that's a long time. We're talking seven years. And so what happened? I mean, that's most of those children's lives. Some of them are only 10 years old. So for most of their life at this point, they had no interaction, at least in person, with their father, from what we know. And, and I have to imagine, just from a historical perspective, that this wasn't a amicable custody dispute. And there's probably a high likelihood that the grandmother and the mother weren't on board with this. This was something that was court ordered and they were reluctantly having to hand over the children to Brady. And on the surface, it appears like it would be a murder suicide situation. But the reason law enforcement is still waiting to announce anything is because even though it appears to be that based on the note and based on the circumstances surrounding their deaths, they have to make sure that they cross their. Their T's and dot their I's, because you also have to ask the question, was it made to look this way? Is there something else here, another layer to this where there's another person involved who we haven't identified yet, who wanted us to come in here and say, oh, yeah, this doesn't appear to involve anybody else. So that's the approach you have to go with. Even if you walk in there and you're like, I'd bet my house on it, that this was a murder suicide, they shouldn't publicly say that right away until they've conducted a full investigation. And this investigation is not necessarily for the murder suicide. It's to rule out any potential possibilities that there was foul play and there's an outside party involved that hasn't been identified yet.
E
Well, they say that there, there is no outside party involved. I think maybe a lot of that is that they do have strong evidence. We don't know yet. But also they don't want the public to feel like there's some maniac out there sneaking into homes and, you know, poisoning entire families. Right, Exactly. Yeah. They want the public to feel like, listen, if this is anything, this is a personal family matter. There's no, you know, random attacker out there just sneaking into homes in Albany and, and injecting people with poison. So don't worry about that. I think that's where there's a balance, right? Yeah.
D
Like putting the, the community at ease, not raising any type of fear, but also being professional and not coming out and putting your foot in your mouth and concluding something before the investigation is complete. It's a tough, it's a tough thing to navigate, but I feel like this is. I feel like this is the right approach. Hey, listen, we don't think you should be concerned. However, we're going to reserve saying anything else until we finished, you know, completing this entire investigation and we know for certain this is what happened.
E
Even though I feel like with the University of Idaho, remember, after that happened, they, they were also really quick to be like, hey, don't worry. Yeah, like, there's no, you know, the public doesn't need to be concerned. And, and really, if you, if you think about it and look at it like, that was absolutely not true. Because according to Brian Coburger, this was a completely random attack. There was no beef between him and the victims. There was no reason that he chose these victims, even though he's, I think, still denying that he did this. But there's no known connection between Brian Coburger and the victims besides, like, oh, maybe he knew, you know, one kids from when they were. There's nothing like that you would look at and be like, that's a motive for Brian Coburger to kill these, these kids. So for the, for the public at that time to be told, like, there's no concern, you're good. That was kind of inaccurate because if Brian Coburger had gotten away with it, like, you know, he may have struck again. So.
D
And he could have had co conspirators too. Right. Like, even with him in custody, if they had, like, or they had an eye on him at that point, how do you know he didn't have someone else helping him out?
E
Yeah. And that is where this case with the Harmon kids, it gets a little bit more disturbing because the children's father you talked about briefly in the. The opening, his name is Brady Harmon and he lives in Utah, so not in New York. And court paperwork obtained by wrgb, it's just a CBS affiliate. It says Sarah Myers and Brady Harmon married in December of 2015. They separated in 2019. They finalized their divorce in 2020. And the custody agreement reportedly gave both parents joint custody, with Sarah having custody during the school year and Brady supposedly having uninterrupted summertime with the children from July to September, plus regular video calls, holidays and birthdays. And that's where we have to be like, okay, what happened here, though? Because according to Brady, if this divorce was finalized in 2020 and the custody agreement was finalized around that time, even if it took another year for the custody agreement to be finalized, why have you not seen your kids since 2019? And I think I kind of found some answers to that. We're going to take a quick break and we'll come back and talk about it. You know what's funny? We spend so much time talking about eating healthier, exercising more, drinking enough water, you know, all the things you do during the day when you're awake. But people almost never talk about sleep.
D
Yeah. Which is crazy, because if you don't get enough sleep or you don't sleep well, everything else gets harder during the day. I mean, it's a proven fact.
E
Honestly, for the longest time, I thought I just wasn't a good sleeper.
D
Yeah. Yeah. I was in the same boat. However, that was until we got Helix.
E
Yeah. And honestly, I didn't expect the difference to be as noticeable as it was when I switched to Helix. But I'm sleeping deeper now. I don't wake up nearly as much. I actually wake up feeling rested instead of immediately wanting to hit snooze. And the back pain is pretty much not. Not a thing anymore. And I also upgraded to one of their cooling options, which has been amazing now that it's warmer outside.
D
Yeah, no, I think that's one of the great things about Helix is they don't expect one mattress to work for everybody. Right. They understand that people are different and people sleep differently. And so they have different mattresses designed for whatever you're looking for.
E
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D
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E
Okay. So according to the Times Union, Brady Harmon said he was preparing for the children to come with him to Utah from July 1 to September 1. And then police notified him of their deaths about a week before he was expecting to see them. He said he had not seen them in person since November 2019. And and like I said, at this point, without knowing more, that did stand out to me. The custody agreement appears to have existed on paper, but Brady says that Sarah didn't comply with it and he's been fighting to enforce it. But that's a long time like to fight to enforce a custody agreement that, you know, appears to have been court ordered.
D
So but think about it like we've all I'm going through a court case right now with that civil that's residential thing. But there's so many hurdles that you have to jump through. And I'm in the state where the case is taking place. I can't imagine how hard it is for someone who's in Utah to go to court or find someone in, in New York who can handle it for him. Yeah, you can hire an attorney, but I don't know his financial situation. There's a lot of barriers to entry there when you're not in the same state where the, where the whole thing is taking place and you can't physically do anything about it because again, you're across the country. You wouldn't want to anyways because you run the risk of actually hurting whatever has already been decided.
E
Yeah, well, I mean, I think that once again we're in a position where we don't know enough about the exact divorce and the custody agreement because looking at the reporting, the union, the Times Union says Brady learned of the deaths of his children one week before he was supposed to see the children for the first time since November 2019 and that he and Sarah had, quote, only reached a custody agreement last year in their divorce decree. So that wording is a little confusing alongside with the the CBS reporting saying that the divorce finalized in 2020 because he said we only reached a custody agreement last year in the divorce decree. But the key point is, I guess there was apparently a recent custody or enforcement development that was finally supposed to give Brady in person. Summertime CBS 6 also reports that Sarah Myers had been ordered to appear in Utah court on June 29, 2026, because she was being accused of not following the divorce custody terms through a motion to enforce. That is probably the missing piece. It suggests that Brady had to go back to court because whatever the custody plan said, Sarah allegedly was not honoring it. And then Brady's own public account is that he's been fighting for access and was finally about to get the children for a 60 day summer visit in Utah. He told Spectrum News that this would have been the first time he was allowed to see them in more than six years. He said he was supposed to fly out on June 30, get his kids and then fly them back to Utah and have them for 60 days. Now, still for me, though, like, you are having FaceTime calls with them and you're talking to them, and we'll talk about that in a second. Why wouldn't you. If you weren't allowed to see them or you weren't allowed to take them back to Utah, why would you not have, since 2019, fly to New York and just show up and be like, hey, I'm here to see my kids? Like, what are they going to do? Call the police and. And be like, the. The child's. The children's father is here to see them?
D
Yeah.
E
You know, like, what would the police do? Nothing.
D
Yeah. So what would more than likely happen? And I've had this happen hundreds of times. We don't enforce those court orders. So hypothetically, dad shows up to mom's house and says, I have a court order here that says I'm supposed to have the children. Mom says, that's not right. He's misinterpreting it. This is what the judge actually said. I'm not giving him the children. We don't have the ability to take the children from the home.
E
Not to even take them. Not to take them. Just to say, I haven't seen my kids since 2019. I want to see my kids. I want to have a visit with them. And the police show up and he's like, listen, this is the court order. She won't let me see them. And I'm not saying I want to take them. I want to see them. I want to sit with my kids, put them in my arms and tell them I'm here. And I'm like, trying.
D
He. He can say all that. My point being, for Brady, if he were to fly out to New York and do that, there's a high probability, I would say 90 chance that when he shows up and then the police arrive because she calls on, she calls them to come over. The police, unfortunately, are going to say, listen, man, we hear you. We're not saying you're wrong. We're not saying we even disagree with you. But this is a civil matter and we can't do anything about it. We can't force her to bring the children out just to let you hug them. You have to go back to court and you have to go through this lengthy process. I'm not even saying it's fair. And then at that point, maybe there's something we can enforce. But he runs the risk of flying out to New York, making that trip, going over there all to be told you gotta leave.
E
Yeah, I mean, that, that sucks.
D
But we know it's true, right? We know that happens all the time.
E
Yeah. Especially because it's not his. It's not his property.
D
Yeah, no, it's a custody dispute. We have it happen all the time. Even when we have custody disputes where they use the police station as like the exchange of the children, there's times where it doesn't go smoothly and we hear an argument in the lobby, we got to go out there and like, oh, yeah, but he was supposed to bring these toys. And I'm like, dude, listen, here's the deal. Take the kids and go. You got to go back to court. File it. We don't do that. This is not the courthouse. We can't do nothing. We can't choose sides here. We're only making sure the children are okay. That's why we're doing this. But ultimately, we're not going to enforce a court order. You have to go back to court with your law, your lawyers, your legal team, and find them in contempt if they're violating the. Whatever the judge has, has ruled.
E
So there has to be more to this. Six, seven years of trying to make your. Your wife or your ex. Wife.
D
Yeah.
E
Go ahead and, and, you know, cooperate with a court ordered custody agreement. Seems long even for the court system, which we know is, is greatly.
D
There's definitely more context to this.
E
Yeah. And I mean, I was looking online, a lot of people are talking about this on Facebook and Facebook people, they, you know, they, they be speculating and spilling the tea, what they call it. But a lot of people on Facebook from, from my area have said, you know, there's clearly a reason that the custody arrangement maybe wasn't initially that Brady would get all this time during the summer with the kids and that maybe there's a reason why Sarah and her mother were afraid for the kids to Go back to Brady.
D
No doubt.
E
That's what a lot of people are. Now. I don't know if there's any truth.
D
No, we don't know nothing about this guy.
E
Yeah, yeah. We don't know. We don't know what. Who he is or. Or what happened to. To make it so that Sarah felt like. Because they got married in Utah. So at one point, Sarah and the kids lived in Utah.
D
Yeah.
E
With Brady. And then she was like, I'm going and flying to New York. Like, I want to take me four kids. Yeah.
D
And leaving you.
E
Yeah.
D
I think, again, this is a great time to cover it, because we don't know Brady. So we're not sitting here saying that he's like a superhero.
E
We don't know.
D
We don't know anything about it. This is very new. But when you consider what we're talking about right now on Crime Weekly with Adam, here's a guy who was an Adam Montgomery.
E
You mean Harmony's father?
D
Yeah, yeah, Adam Montgomery. You know, the dad. Absolute scumbag. Should have never had any visitation rights for Harmony. And if he hadn't, we wouldn't be here right now. And yet, because of that process, unfortunately, Harmony ended up in his custody. So are we looking at a similar situation where. And I'm not saying they made the right call. They absolutely didn't. But the family members said, we would rather us be together and. And leave this earth as one than to allow these children to be exposed to what this guy's capable of. And again, purely speculative. This guy could be an absolute angel. But we also know the other side of that coin. And did they feel that it was so bad in Utah for these children that this was the better alternative? Yeah, clearly they're wrong. But, yeah, I definitely want to know more.
E
Yeah. And I. So the last time Brady talked to his kids was on June 7th. So at least we know they were
D
alive at that point.
E
Yeah. They're saying they don't know when this happened. We know that the father of the children saw them on June 7th during a roughly 15 minute FaceTime call. And he said at that time that the kids seemed like happy kids. There was nothing off, nothing going on. He said the kid's maternal grandmother, Amy Stedman, had lived with their family at one point during his relationship with Sarah, which lasted for what, about a decade? They were. Were married, or at least they were married in 2015. They got separated in 2019.
D
Yeah. So they're married four years. But how long were they together before
E
that divorce was finalized in 2020. So it's been kind of a decade long, whole situation here. But he said that Amy did live with them for a while. And he said she wasn't like a warm person. He said, quote, she was never really a cordial, warm person to be around. It was very arms distance, I guess, end quote. He did say, though, she seemed like she had a close bond with his children. He said, quote, she was just a do grandma, you know, she'd spoil the kids, end quote. So it seems like maybe Amy was not a huge fan of Brady, but really did have a good relationship or seem to love her grandkids. And this is coming from Brady himself. So the possible motive being reported is that the children were days away from spending the summer with their father after years of separation. But to be very clear, police have not publicly confirmed this as a motive. It just seems kind of common sense at this point now.
D
But real quick though, it's a little contradictory because. And it still could be true if we're to believe the timeline of when they were last seen and the level of decomposition. And that will become more. We'll know more about that as the time goes on. But if they have been dead for two or three weeks, then it doesn't really align with them just being days away from having to hand them over to Brady.
E
No. So June 7th, he talked to them. June 23rd, they were found and then he was supposed to fly out to New York on June 30th and pick them up.
D
Yeah, but my point being that eyewitnesses hadn't seen them since June 9th. And then more important than that, if the level of decomposition supports being dead for more than a week or two, then my question would be, why so far in advance? What triggered this at that moment? Was there something that happened? Was there a conversation? Why is this day, if they can pinpoint within like a 24 hour window,
E
it seems like this happened around that FaceTime call.
D
Yes, exactly. So what happened around that time where whoever made this decision decided this was the best, this was the best option, whether it was Sarah or Amy.
E
And it had to happen now.
D
Yeah. Because that's still a couple of weeks before they're going to be going to Utah.
E
Three weeks before.
D
Yeah. So why, why then? That's something I'm sure they're trying to figure out right now.
E
Yeah. So I would say that that is also very interesting. And it seems More like the FaceTime call maybe triggered that happening.
D
Seen them getting along or whatever. I don't know.
E
I don't know. Yeah. A newer Times Union report says Brady Harmon claims he received 10 letters from Saratoga County Child Protective Services over three years notifying him that CPS was investigating the children's living conditions. This is what Brady says. He said he does not know who made the reports, like who called into cps, but he suspects the school district may have been involved because according to him, the letters stopped after the children left the district and started being homeschooled in 2024. And neighbor Stephanie Sweeney said the kids have been homeschooled for the last two years, which lines up with that 2024 time period. But neither the police nor school officials have confirmed why the homeschooling began. And CPS also has not come out and confirmed, like, yeah, we sent him 10 letters in the last three years. So this is just what Brady is saying.
D
For all we know, Brady was calling on her. Well, yeah, or he just said he received the letters. He didn't say who initiated it. He's saying, I don't know who initiated.
E
But yeah, but he said it may have been the school district because the kids, when they were homeschooled, CPS stopped getting called. But also, don't you think the school district, if they were worried about these kids living situation when the kids got pulled out to be homeschooled, the school district wouldn't stop calling. They wouldn't be like, well, not our problem anymore, you'd hope at least.
D
But yeah, that's, that's a wishful thinking.
E
So, yeah, we, we know that. So Brady Harmon said he's now trying to obtain his kids school records. He claims in previous years, Sarah did not include him in the school's disclosure of educational records. He said he's been asking for the records in accordance to the parenting plan, but he's got nothing. So Brady kind of makes it seem like, yeah, for years I've been. But once again now you have CPS sending you, sending you 10 letters in three years. You take those letters to whatever court's handling your custody dispute and say, my wife, my ex wife won't let me see my kids. I haven't seen them since 2019. Now I got CPS in the area, they're living, saying that their, their living conditions are being investigated. Like, can we get an emergency hearing for this so that I can make sure my kids are okay. Like, what was happening behind the scenes that it's been this long since you've seen the kids? And no legal body is getting involved.
D
This whole case to me, now that we're starting to talk about it is interesting on multiple levels. We see child custody disputes every day, both in our personal lives, in the news, whatever it might be. And they're never fun, but they usually don't go to this extreme. And so I. The detective in me is really curious as to what was the background with this, not only with Amy and Sarah's mental health, but I'd also like to know a lot more about Brady. What's his background look like? Does he have a criminal history? What were some of the police reports, if any, that were filed when they were living together, were lawn? Was law enforcement ever sent to that location, dispatched to that house for domestic disputes? These are all things that I would want to have access to before casting any judgment. There's one thing I'm sure of. This was not the right approach. This was not the right answer. And I think that goes without being said. But I do wonder, because right now you're looking at two ends of the spectrum. On one hand, it could be a tragic story where this father who has been fighting to see his children, this good guy who had been fighting to see his children after all these years, was finally getting that opportunity, and these women took that from him. On the other hand, you could be looking at a story where this could be an absolute monster. And the mother and the grandmother did everything they could to keep the children away from him and having to experience what they had to experience. And when the court systems failed them, they had no choice but to do this so that they didn't have another Harmony Montgomery situation. I'm not saying it's that. I'm just saying when. And I'm not trying to use hyperbole here. Like both are still in play right now. I want to know more before saying anybody's a hero here or a victim. I just want to know what the details are behind all of this.
E
Well, we might have some insight, actually. So we're going to take a quick break and we'll be right back.
D
Hey, can I ask you something?
E
Of course.
D
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E
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D
Okay, and that's exactly why I asked, because it seems like that's a common occurrence around here.
E
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D
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E
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D
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E
They have fast shipping, easy returns. It just makes everything easier. That's Revolve.comCrimeWeekly. you can shop our faves and get 15% off your first order. Offer ends July 13, so don't miss out. All right, so we're back. And the way I'm kind of looking at it when I see a case like this, and then, yes, there's a custody element, there's a broken home element, big factor. I still look at it and I'm like, okay, it could be true that Brady, maybe not the best father, maybe not the best husband. Maybe there were things that had happened that would make Sarah and Amy want to keep the kids away from him, not feel comfortable. Yeah. And then, you know, this custody order goes through. There's no longer anything they can do, and then he's going to take them. Still. Still. When I look at that and then I see this murder suicide thing happen where it's the. The parents and the kids, I have to wonder that there. That there must be some mental health instabilities here, because like you said, you can feel the way that you feel and you can know, hey, I don't feel safe with the kids going with him, something bad may happen to them, but this still is not, it's not the way, the way to do it.
D
Run away with them. I'm not condoning this.
E
Run away and hide. Exactly.
D
Take off to Canada, go to another country, do everything you can.
E
Not condoning this. Not telling you, but maybe border hop, something like that, right?
B
Yes.
D
Something get you.
A
You don't.
D
The United States is definitely letting people leave, so just go.
E
Yeah. You don't kill them because why would you think they're better off dead than they would be with their father where you still have a chance to, you know, save them and bring them back. And then, and then I think, is there a religion aspect to this? Because it is often very heavily religious people who feel like, okay, well, in the afterlife it is going to be amazing and we'll all be together and they would be better off there than they would be there. Right. So. And I kind of looked more into it and I found an article where they were talking about having a vigil for the four children. And so the family friend, the neighbor of Amy Stedman, who called the police for a welfare check, this was Stephanie Sweeney. So that's the neighbor. She said she had no idea what was going to happen. Just next door, she said, quote, if it came down to even had any kind of thought about it, I'd snatch the kids and ran myself. They did not deserve this. Not in any way. End quote. And Stephanie Sweeney says that, you know, nothing can justify the deaths of these four innocent children. She says they need to be remembered, but she ultimately blames the father. Back in Utah, Brady Harmon. Now over the phone, according to this article, this 13Wham article over the phone, Brady Harmon denied any abuse towards his children and their mother.
D
Of course he did.
E
Was there some sort of maybe allegation from Stephanie Sweeney that according to conversations she'd had with Sarah or Amy, that there was abuse? It kind of sounds like that. Even though this article doesn't come right out and say Stephanie Sweeney says that she blames the father because he was abusive or because he did the wrong thing. No, it goes from the article saying Sweeney ultimately blames Brady Harmon and then the article saying, according to a phone call that this, this outlet had with Brady Harmon, he denies any abuse towards his ex wife or children.
D
We're gonna have to, like I said, we're gonna have to see those reports, if there were any reports filed.
E
Yeah. So. And it does according to Stephanie Sweeney, though she also says religion guided those grieving the lives of Amy Stedman's family. And it does maybe seem like the family, Amy, Sarah, maybe the kids were, did have a little bit of, like, a religious aspect. They were from Utah initially. We can see that. I'm trying to say this without saying this in a way that sounds, like, offensive, but I'm just going to say it. If, if Brady and, and Sarah got married in, I think, what was it, 2015, and they'd had four kids by 2019 when they separated. First of all, this marriage does not deteriorate to the point of separating with four kids overnight. This was a steady decline of the marriage. Right. Because usually when you have a bunch of kids together, you try to stay together. So it wasn't just like, one day. Brady and Sarah were like, our marriage sucks. Let's get separated. No, this was probably happening steadily from the time that they got married and the same issues were present and they continued having kids. They're from Utah. Brady lives in Salt Lake City. There could be, you know, maybe an LDS Church aspect to this, and that's why maybe Sarah felt that she had to take the kids and go to New York. But it does feel like there was some sort of religion aspect. Their family members were deeply tied to their local church and religious community. That, once again, is what I usually see where it's like, oh, we, we killed ourselves and the kids because we felt they would be better off that way than, than in the reality of what this new custody arrangement would mean for them.
D
The only other thing I want to add, just looking back at the children's ages, because I think it's important. Harper and, and Hudson. What I believe Harper was probably born before they got married because she was 13 at the time of her death and they were together for seven years. So they hadn't. She. He hadn't seen them in seven years. They got married in 2015. So wouldn't that make her six years old at the time when she left? Right. Am I wrong here with the math? Let me, let me redo that again. Right. She was 13 when she passed away. He hadn't seen her in seven years. So that means they left in 2019.
C
Right.
D
And they got married in 2015. Right. So she would be. No, maybe right around the. Yeah, she might have been a year or two old. Right. Because 2015 was basically 11 years ago. So she was around. If they got married in 2015, she was 13. That means she was around two years old when they got married, the first one, at least. And then the, the Hudson, Gavin and Graceland would be around like right after he got. They got married and then a couple years later. So it looks like Harper was the only one they had before they got married.
E
Yes.
D
If my math is wrong on that. I'm not a mathematician, guys. I suck. You can correct me if I'm wrong, but I asked. I have Stephanie checking my math, which is just as bad. We're not in good company.
E
No, I mean, either way, they, they had a lot of kids in a pretty close secession.
D
Yes.
E
Right.
C
Yeah.
D
Yep.
E
And. And like I said, this is not.
D
I say that because. Did they get married because they had a. Children. A child before marriage and that was like, like frowned upon and that kind of forced them to get married. I wonder, like, what's the dynamic there?
E
They could have. But then either way, they stayed together and kept having kids.
D
Right. Yeah. Not the right call. Things are getting worse. You don't have more kids.
E
Yeah. You just don't. You don't. You can't. You can't do that. Right.
D
So I am so fascinated by this one because there is. This is probably going to turn into a crime weekly at some point because I think we are even with everything we know so far, which is more than we usually know at this point in the investigation, I feel like we're just scratching the surface.
E
Yeah. And I mean, you once again, like, if you look at the case, it looks like there was a reversal in the custody arrangement. So it kind of seems like maybe for a while, like several years, Brady didn't have a ton of rights when it came to his children. And this reversal happened shortly before these deaths happened. And so you once again have to go back and ask, like, why was Brady not allowed a lot of rights when it came to his children? And if we look into this more and we find out he was absolutely a perfect father, there's no allegations, nothing was going on. You know, then I think there's going to have to be some, once again, some legal bodies who have to answer for that. But I would be surprised if that's, if that's what we found out now, once again, does not justify the solution that it appears was chosen. But once again, when you bring in the religious aspect and maybe thinking they would be. Be better off and safer this way, it's not understandable. But you can see how we got from point A to point B, unfortunately.
D
Yeah. And I'm still. Even the, the murder itself, if that's what happened here, I'm still wondering how that was decided on it. Could it have been Amy? Was it Sarah? Did Sarah Kill Amy. What, what, what happened here? And I'm hoping law enforcement can shed light on that to let us know exactly what happened, who made the call. And I would imagine that the note, once it's finally revealed what the contents of it, will give us an insight into who made this decision. Was it a collective decision by Amy and Sarah? Was it one person over the other? That's something I want to hear about as well.
E
Did Amy make the decision and Sarah was just another. A victim of that? Now, the. Like I said, nothing legal, nothing really concrete, but There was a GoFundMe that was created earlier this month. The GoFundMe was created and shared by Sarah Myers. But in this GoFundMe it says that Sarah Myers is a survivor of domestic violence and a caring mother. And each of her children has unique needs. And she had to go to Utah for a custody battle and needed money for an attorney and travel costs. So Sarah and a friend of hers made this GoFundMe to try to raise money for the travel and, and her having to go to Utah. But she didn't have to go to Utah until after the kids. Kids were found dead. Right. So she was going to have to go around that same time. So she's trying to raise money to go and she says she's claiming that she is a survival survivor of domestic violence. So, I mean, there are. Like I said, I would be very surprised if we, if we look. And there's never been any allegations against Brady.
D
I have a question for you and we'll kind of wrap up this episode on this question, not only for you, but for the audience as well. If in this note, this dying declaration, if you will, she. Let's just say it's for the sake of this conversation, it's Sarah. It's Sarah. And she says, listen, he abused me, he abused the children, and I would rather us die together than put them in a position where I can't protect them. Do you, as a woman, a mother yourself, and I'm asking you guys in the audience as well, do you take that as bible where she must be telling the truth, truth? Or could it be her last attempt to tarnish Brady before killing herself and her children? What, what do you take as not as a true crime research?
E
No, I think she's, I think she's telling the truth. It just still doesn't justify no God what she did. So yeah, she could. Absolutely.
D
There is no world where it's justified.
E
Yeah, in her mind that could be her ultimate truth. And you know, physically with with there's, you know, allegations to back this up and evidence back this up. That could be the truth, that he was abusive and she was like, yeah, I don't. Yeah, but that doesn't. It doesn't justify anything that you.
D
No, I agree with you, by the way. To go to this extreme, if everything mentally is in. In line with her, she's never had any issues of that. And she's coming out in her. Her dying words, her last communication with people that know her and care about her that she's going to say this. There's probably some validity to it, but I definitely want to hear your opinions on this one. Where do you stand currently? Are you influenced based on what we just what we're in the middle of coming covering right now with Harmony Montgomery because we know how this can go. Really sad story. Nobody wins here. This was obviously not the right decision. But before we pass any judgment on anyone, we need to know the full details. And as they unfold, we will let you guys know. And if it becomes a whole nother wrinkle, maybe it is a crime weekly. Stephanie, would you allow me to transition and end this episode on a more positive note?
E
Yes. We got to transition into something more happy.
C
Yes.
D
Yes. Because first off, we have to start with an apology. And I'll. I'll take the blame for this one. We have to do our birthday shout outs for our Patreon Partner in crime members every month. We're recording this episode right now on June 29th. So we're in the green. Right. We wanted to make sure we get the bonus episode out.
F
Out.
D
And we did that. We got your cameos out. You should have them already. So I'm thinking we're doing great. And then I realize this doesn't come out till July 1st. This episode won't come out till July 1st. So I formally apologize to all my June babies. This is going to be one day late, but we have not forgotten about you. Stephanie, hit him with your insight. As far as these, the, the horoscopes here, because this is not my new field of expertise.
E
We have eight birthdays. Six of them are Gemini, two of them are cancer. And I'm gonna go over who. Who we're saying happy birthday to. So we have Stephanie Sabaleko, who's June 11th. Happy birthday.
D
Happy birthday.
E
Kim Brow, June 18th. Happy birthday. Amanda Keith, June 14th. Happy birthday. Serena Cronk. That's June 28th. Happy birthday. Jillian Wassmer. June 23rd. We also have Kristen, June 1st. Lola Fox, June 7th, and Kellen June 18th. So happy birthday to all my June.
D
Happy birthday, guys.
E
And like we said, we've got one of my favorite signs, Gemini. Everyone in my life is a Gemini, which is probably intentional, and a lot of people give Geminis a bad rep, but I like them. So Gemini, this is usually May 21 to June 20. And I think you're different based on if you're a May Gemini or June Gemini, but we're talking about June Gemini. So this represented by the twins. Signs often associated with curiosity, communication, adaptability, and, of course, duality. Geminis are typically seen as people who are mentally quick, expressive, social, interested in a little bit of everything. I think they're very creative people as well. They can be charming, funny, great conversationalists. But because their minds are so fast, they can also come across as, like, restless, indecisive, hard to pin down, kind of switching it up, sending you certain energy, then withdrawing it. Gemini energy is all about movement, ideas, questions, learning, connection. Like I said, creativity big time. So then we have our two cancers. So cancer that usually begins around June 21, goes through July 22. So next month, we'll have a few, too. Cancer's represented by the crab. Now, my daughter Bella was talking to me about cancers yesterday, and she said they're very shy, and that's why they're represented by the crab lab, because they go inside their shell is doing horoscopes. Yeah, she likes this stuff.
D
Okay. All right.
E
So cancer is often connected to emotion, intuition, home, family, protection, deep sensitivity. Once again, like, kind of going inwards. People with cancer energy are usually seen as nurturing, loyal, sentimental, very emotionally aware. They tend to care deeply about the people they love. They may have strong instinct to protect themselves and others. And like the crab, they can have hard outer shell, but underneath that is often a very soft and feeling heart. Cancer energy is about emotional depth, memory, comfort, loyalty, and creating a sense of safety. So the shell is their home. They like to be at home. I have found that with cancer people, they like to be in the house. They don't want to be out in the streets. They like to be in the house. So let me know if I'm right about all of you June babies. Let us know. And happy birthday to every single one of you. Thank you so much for being a crime weekly patron.
D
Yeah, thank you so much. And if you want to join Patreon, the link is in the description box below. We do these birthday shout outs. We do monthly giveaways. We do bonus episodes. We just had a bonus episode drop yesterday, which was insane. And we also have our discussion boards where we're not only discussing the current cases that we're covering, but we have CrimeCon discussion boards, we have local businesses that you may be involved in where you can promote, promote your business or, or causes you care about. It's a really cool community and we love to show support. And this is just one of the little added bonuses, the little benefits you get of being a Patreon member. So again, we appreciate the love and support. We'll be back later this week with Harmony Montgomery Part 2 audio on Friday, YouTube on Sunday. And if you're a Patreon member, you get it early and ad free. We appreciate the love and support, guys. We'll see you soon. Bye out there. Bye.
F
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Episode Title: The Harmon Family Tragedy | 6 Found Dead, A Custody Battle, And A Chilling Note
Date: July 1, 2026
Hosts: Stephanie Harlowe and Derrick Levasseur
This episode covers the deeply disturbing case of the Harmon family tragedy in Mechanicville, New York, where six people—a grandmother, her daughter, and four children—were found dead in an apartment. The discussion explores the context of a prolonged, contentious custody dispute, the nature of the deaths, a possibly incriminating note, and the broader questions arising about mental health, family dynamics, and the failures (or limitations) of the family law system. Stephanie and Derrick draw parallels to other custody-related tragedies, such as the Harmony Montgomery case, and dig into the unanswered questions swirling around this still-unfolding investigation.
[01:48] Derrick:
[02:20] Stephanie:
Notable Quote:
“A father who was preparing to finally see his four children after an extended period of time apart is now planning their funerals…” — Derrick [01:48]
[05:58] Stephanie:
Notable Quote:
“Evidence recovered in the apartment indicates intentional poisoning... One of the children also suffered fatal sharp force injuries, according to police. This is one of the most important details because it means this may not have been a straightforward 'everyone was poisoned' scenario.” — Stephanie [05:58]
[08:00] Derrick:
[11:51] Stephanie:
[15:34] Derrick:
Notable Quote:
“We don’t enforce those court orders... unfortunately, are going to say, ‘listen, man, we hear you… but this is a civil matter and we can’t do anything about it.’” — Derrick [18:57]
[20:49] Stephanie:
[21:51] Stephanie:
[23:53] Stephanie:
[24:29] Derrick:
[25:55] Stephanie:
[27:12] Stephanie:
[28:02] Derrick:
[32:17] Stephanie:
Notable Quote:
“You don’t kill them because why would you think they’re better off dead than they would be with their father where you still have a chance to… save them and bring them back. And then I think, is there a religion aspect to this?” — Stephanie [32:43]
[34:44] Stephanie:
[41:05] Derrick:
Notable Quote:
“Do you take that as Bible where she must be telling the truth, or could it be her last attempt to tarnish Brady before killing herself and her children?” — Derrick [41:05]
The episode leaves many open questions, acknowledging that the investigation and public understanding are still evolving:
Stephanie and Derrick invite thoughtful audience reflection. They promise continuing updates as new facts emerge.
[43:07 & beyond]
This summary aims to provide clarity and depth for those unable to listen, encapsulating the emotional weight, investigative detail, and open questions of this tragic case.