Maxwell came to town in 1984 with his adopted daughter Megan, who had set her sights on her old boyfriend Bo Brady. Maxwell wanted to buy out Anderson Manufacturing from Alex Marshall, and set out to financially destroy him. He was also the power behind Larry Welch, led a group called The Cartel, sought to make Larry mayor of Salem, and was responsible for Bo's arrest. He manipulated Hope into marrying Larry by threatening Bo's life. Larry needed to be married into a prominent family in order to be more appealing to the voters.
Megan came to Salem in 1984 with her adopted father Maxwell Hathaway. Megan wanted her old boyfriend Bo back, and would stop at nothing to have him. Megan duped Bo into believing she had a child with Bo which she gave up for adoption.
In 1985 Megan plotted to kill Hope by electrocuting her in a hot tub at Chris' health club, The Body Connection. Megan's plan backfired when she overheard Larry Welch talking to a Russian contact about the 3 prisms Larry's father had invented. When Larry found Megan spying on him they got into a fight, and Larry ended up killing Megan. Larry dumped her body in a hot tub, and Megan was found by Hope, who became the prime suspect in her murder.