by Leah Justice
leah.justice@tryondailybulletin.com

A Polk County Grand Jury indicted a Pennsylvania man on Sept. 15 for second-degree murder.
Sean Michael Harrington, 25, of 2127 Hancock St., Philadelphia, Penn. was arrested by the Polk County Sheriff’s Office in late August. Harrington faces second-degree murder after being accused of mailing a 24-year old woman drugs that she took and overdosed from at a Polk County medical facility.
The sheriff’s office extradited Harrington from Pennsylvania to Polk County on Aug. 29.
The grand jury handed down true bills of indictment on Harrington for second-degree murder from drug distribution, two counts of sell/deliver a schedule I controlled substance and one count of sell/deliver a schedule II controlled substance, according to court records.
Harrington is accused of mailing heroine and cocaine to Elisif Bruun, who was 24 at the time of her death. The Polk County Sheriff’s Office responded to a medical facility in Polk County where Bruun was staying on Feb. 11, 2014 to an unattended death. Det. BJ Bayne of the sheriff’s office said there was evidence of an overdose and once Bruun was sent for autopsy, overdose was the confirmed cause of death by the medical examiner.
The sheriff’s office and the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) began an investigation and discovered the narcotics were mailed to the facility and tracked it back to Harrington in Pennsylvania. Harrington has never been to Polk County prior to him being extradited. North Carolina law includes that a person can be charged with murder if they deliver a drug that causes a death. This is the first in this area where there was no hand-to-hand contact and the drug was delivered by mail.
Bruun had attended school in Maryland and came for treatment in Polk County from working in Maine. Her family lives in Florida.
District Attorney Greg Newman said during Harrington’s first court appearance on Sept. 2 the law is not particularly new in North Carolina, but he has not had a factual scenario quite like this one. What is different, he said, is because Harrington mailed the drugs and he did it for profit.
Newman also said in this particular case, the prosecution feels it has excellent evidence and the DA’s office is in a good position to present the case early next year.
Harrington is still being held in Polk County’s custody at the Transylvania County Detention Center under a $450,000 bond.
If convicted, Harrington faces more than 50 years in prison on the charges. Harrington’s next court date is scheduled for Oct. 15 in Polk County Superior Court.