Utah Nurse Charged with Aggravated Murder in Life Insurance Scheme
HIGHLAND, Utah — A registered nurse has been arrested on charges of aggravated murder and obstruction of justice after allegedly convincing a woman she had terminal cancer, injecting her with insulin, and attempting to collect the victim’s life insurance money. The arrest followed an investigation into the death of the victim in August 2024.
A file photo of an insulin vial.
According to police reports, the investigation began on August 12, 2024, after emergency responders were dispatched to a medical emergency in Highland, Utah. The caller reported that the victim was unconscious and struggling to breathe, and she was found with 47-year-old Meggan Randall Sundwall, a registered nurse.
Sundwall told authorities that the victim, who was allegedly suffering from terminal cancer for four to five years, had signed a do-not-resuscitate order and did not wish to be taken to the hospital. Paramedics reportedly found a diabetic needle at the scene, though the victim was not diabetic. She was transported to a hospital where her blood sugar level was found to be dangerously low.
Doctors later told the victim’s family that she had never had cancer. An autopsy revealed no health issues, and no do-not-resuscitate order or power of attorney paperwork for Sundwall was found. The victim never regained consciousness and was declared brain dead. She died on August 17, 72 hours after the 911 call.
Documents indicate that Sundwall believed she was the beneficiary of a $1.5 million life insurance policy held by the victim and that she had been attempting to kill her with insulin for years. A search of Sundwall’s phone revealed over 28,000 texts between the two dating back to December 2019. These texts included messages “detailing different ways Meggan would kill herself if she was (the victim) and of Meggan offering to ‘help’ (her) die,” authorities disclosed.
Additional text messages revealed Sundwall’s financial problems and how the life insurance payout would resolve them. She arrived at the victim’s house shortly before 10 a.m. on the day of the medical emergency and admitted to being the only person with her all day. A text message sent by Sundwall to the victim that morning asked, “Do you want to take some promethazine when I get there so that you are asleep when this is happening?”
The medical examiner determined that the victim died of an overdose of promethazine, probable insulin, and other drugs, and the manner of death was ruled as undetermined. Following the victim’s death, Sundwall reportedly searched for the life insurance policy and deleted over 900 texts from her phone in an effort to erase evidence.
Sundwall was booked into the Utah County Jail on charges of first-degree felony aggravated murder and third-degree felony obstruction of justice.
