Roommates of Maryland woman who disappeared in 2017 plead guilty to murder charges
BALTIMORE -- The former roommates of a woman who disappeared in 2017 have pleaded guilty to charges of second-degree murder, according to the Anne Arundel County State's Attorney's Office.
Christina Harnish and William Rice have plead guilty in the killing of Megan Tilman at the Anne Arundel County Circuit Court in Annapolis on Wednesday afternoon, according to Anne Arundel prosecutors.
Tilman was 42 at the time that she disappeared. Her remains were discovered in the bay in Shady Side's Cedarhurst community.
She was reported missing by her cousin on November 1, 2017, according to authorities.
She had a 7-year-old daughter at the time of her disappearance.
Police linked Harnish, also known as Christina Stalings, and Rice to Tilman's missing vehicle, prosecutors said.
Rice was identified as the man seen driving Tilman's vehicle to multiple ATM machines around the time she went missing, according to authorities.
Harnish posted photos of herself to social media as she drove the vehicle to rehome her pet before the pair fled the state, prosecutors said.
Tilman's car was later found abandoned not far from a bus depot, according to authorities.
Harnish and Rice are scheduled to be sentenced for their crime on May 26, 2023, prosecutors said.
The State is seeking the maximum sentence of 40 years in prison for both Harnish and Rice.
"Megan offered friendship, her home, and her trust to Mr. Rice and Ms. Harnish, and when the finances ran dry, they did more than violate that trust—they took her life," State's Attorney Anne Colt Leitess said. "It won't bring Megan back, but it is my hope that today's guilty pleas will bring justice to Megan's family, who have long awaited answers for this heinous crime."
Rice and Harnish were roommates of Tilman in the fall of 2017. They had relied on her and her elderly mother for financial support, prosecutors said.
When Tilman stopped providing that support, she disappeared, according to authorities.
Family members said Tilman stopped contacting her daughter around that time, prosecutors said.
Her ex-husband reported receiving suspicious text messages and seeing social media posts on her account that were outside the norm, according to authorities.
By then, Rice and Harnish had fled to Arizona by bus, prosecutors said.
At the time, Police described Tilman as easily manipulated and that she had been described as having "borderline intellectual functioning."
