Failed Suicide Attempt Leads To Second-Degree Murder Charge
A failed suicide attempt left an unsuspecting victim dead instead. On April 21st, 21-year old Alaskan resident Victor Sibson, put a gun to his head and fired. Only, instead of taking his own life, the bullet passed right through his skull and struck his girlfriend, 22-year-old Brittany-Mae Hagg, in the armpit, ending hers. Despite what doctors initially anticipated, Sibson miraculously survived with a fractured skull.
Investigators believe Hagg had been trying to wrestle the weapon away from her suicidal boyfriend in a failed attempt to get him to reconsider when he fired. Sibson was treated for his injuries, released, and immediately arrested on second-degree murder charges. He appeared in Anchorage Superior Court on Wednesday, May 24th. While waiting to be arraigned, he wore prison garb and a white helmet, keeping his skull in place.
Sibson and Hagg had been high school sweethearts living together at the time of the incident. Their families were close. “[Police said] that it was a shot from Victor Sibson, that he shot my daughter,” said Hagg’s mother, Sheila Lopez, who was initially in shock. “I was hurt because Victor has been part of our family. He called me Mom.” Lopez was also led to believe, however, Sibson took her daughter’s life before attempting to end his own, which was what investigators had originally thought had happened. She didn’t realize her daughter had been trying to prevent the suicide, failed, and was accidentally shot. This conclusion wasn’t reached until much later.
“Knowing my daughter, I would do the same thing, too. If someone was trying to kill themselves, I would go and try to stop them, and I know that that’s what she would do. So, now it makes sense to me,” Lopez said, after making the discovery. “[Suicide] affects a whole bunch of different families, whoever’s around that person. Just get help.”
Sibson pleaded not guilty. It’s unclear whether Hagg’s family has forgiven their daughter’s boyfriend now that they understand what truly occurred, but one thing is clear – they are still angry. “I’m very angry – that anger will never go away,” Lopez said.
Chelsea Hartman, Haag’s sister, is also resentful that her sister’s life was taken and Sibson’s was spared. “I think a lot of it is still hard to grasp of how is it just one bullet, you know? And how does it go through one person and then the other person and kill the second person? It’s just not fair.” However, she too commented on how close the couple had been. “They always seemed happy. Always hugging, always kissing, always for each other. There was no greater love than what they had.”
Hagg loved working with animals. She worked with rescue animals and wanted to be a veterinarian one day. “She would come to my house with these dogs and ask me, ‘Mom, can you adopt this dog?’ No, Brittany, but thank you anyway,” Lopez remembered. Hagg was also described as loving and compassionate by family members, so it came as no surprise she would have tried to save her boyfriend’s life.
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‘Just get help’: Family of woman killed in boyfriend’s apparent suicide attempt speaks out
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