This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Mary Ethyl Hansen — who allegedly killed her 18-year-old daughter and then shot herself in the head — told police she and her daughter had "a plan to die."
Hansen was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail on suspicion of homicide on Thursday afternoon while police also released the name of the daughter killed: Virginia Rae Hansen.
In a probable cause statement, police said they found Hansen's daughter dead in a bedroom on a bed with a gunshot wound to her head. Police also found Hansen, 53, in the family's home in the 8300 block of Bard Lane (1320 West) where she told officers that she shot her daughter and herself, however, the wound to Hansen's head was not life-threatening.
After Hansen was taken to the hospital and advised of her rights she told an officer that she and her daughter had "a plan to die." Hansen said she used a handgun to shoot her daughter in the back of the head and then she turned the gun on herself, according to the statement.
Mary Hansen reportedly had health issues and financial troubles
Audrey Orrillo, who had been a friend of Mary Hansen's for some time, said the mother lived on Social Security benefits, had fibromyalgia and was behind on paying the property taxes on her home.
According to the Salt Lake County Treasurer's Office, Hansen owed $8,819.62 in unpaid taxes and has been delinquent since 2008. Orrillo said Hansen had moved with her daughter from California and used inheritance money to pay cash for her West Jordan home but had gotten behind on the taxes.
Orrillo said the daughter had few, if any, friends and took online classes instead of traditional school. She said the mother and daughter stayed at home and rarely went out.
"They were all [that] each other had," Orrillo said.
The combination of stresses on the mother may have caused her to snap, Orrillo said.
"I guess that does get to people; they don't know where to turn," she said.
Twitter: @CimCity