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Inset: Michael Harding (Clay County Sheriff). Left: Thomas O'Donnell (Cumberland County Sheriff). Right: Julie Harding (California Highway Patrol).
A California antheral who worked with his constabulary serviceman woman to termination her husband successful a execution crippled spanning aggregate states is headed to prison.
Thomas O'Donnell, 64, was sentenced to beingness successful situation connected Monday for the slaying of 53-year-old Michael Harding, an Army and Navy veteran, successful Cumberland County, Kentucky. A Bluegrass State assemblage past week convicted O'Donnell of murder.
At the clip of the murder, O'Donnell was successful an extramarital matter with then-California State Patrol Trooper Julie Vernnan Harding. Prosecutors said Julie Harding, successful the months preceding the slaying, drained much than $220,000 from her estranged husband's slope accounts.
O'Donnell and his person past hatched a strategy wherever helium would enactment arsenic an HVAC contractor truthful helium could get adjacent capable to termination Michael Harding. The veteran, who was past seen live connected Sept. 20, 2022, was aboriginal recovered riddled with bullets.
But determination would beryllium nary storybook ending for the demented couple.
As Law&Crime antecedently reported, Julie Harding was recovered dormant months aboriginal from a self-inflicted gunshot coiled successful beforehand of her one-time home, immoderate 25 miles distant successful Tennessee, with a terse, cryptic, and rueful missive near by her corpse.
At the clip of Michael Harding's disappearance, Clay County Sheriff's Office Chief Deputy Rick Lisi said successful an interrogation with AM vigor presumption WUCT that nary foul play was suspected.
A timestamped image of his achromatic pickup motortruck placed him successful the Bowling Green country of Kentucky connected the time helium vanished. Friends instantly reported his absence.
Six days later, however, Harding was found dead with aggregate gunshot wounds wrong a Cumberland County, Kentucky, residence.
The location was not his, and it was different empty.
An evident interruption successful the lawsuit came connected Dec. 8, 2022, erstwhile O'Donnell was arrested and charged with Harding's murder. O'Donnell, who hails from Napa, was apprehended astatine the Sacramento International Airport conscionable arsenic helium was astir to committee a formation to Tennessee.
That aforesaid day, Julie Harding, 49, was besides arrested, but not successful transportation with her husband's death. Police successful Tennessee had charged her with stalking and burglary. In aboriginal October 2022, she was seen connected a Ring camera from a location successful Murfreesboro whispering to her deceased husband's dog, Charlie, earlier putting a leash astir his cervix and walking distant with him.
Local NBC affiliate KCRA aboriginal reported that Netflix accounts had been hacked into astatine the location wherever the canine was stolen, illustration pictures were changed, and assorted different accounts connected the instrumentality were deleted.
The canine had been staying with the pistillate who had been dating Michael Harding astatine the clip of his death. According to KCRA, determination had been a quality astir erstwhile and wherever she would surrender the dog.
Two days aft her arrest, Julie Harding seemingly died by suicide. Her assemblage was recovered successful the beforehand yard, adjacent the driveway, of the Celina, Tennessee, location she and her hubby purchased 2 years prior. According to comments from Clay County Sheriff Brian Boone and reported by Sacramento-based CBS affiliate KPIX, a missive bearer and "another man" were the archetypal to find her. She died from a azygous gunshot wound, the sheriff said.
Like O'Donnell, Julie Harding has a California connection: She was the Yuba-Sutter commandant and skipper of the California Highway Patrol, wherever she worked since 1999, astatine the clip of her death. She assumed her enactment relation successful 2018. The bureau has told assorted media outlets that she was connected permission erstwhile she died.
At the clip of his disappearance, Michael Harding was going to beryllium a groomsman successful his person Preston Cleary's upcoming wedding. On the time helium went missing, helium was connected his mode to prime up his tuxedo, but stopped to marque a work telephone for the heating and air-conditioning concern helium owned. He ne'er made it to the tuxedo shop.
"Mike was a bully man," Cleary told KCRA astatine the time. "He didn't merit what happened to him. He was [an] 'integrity-through-the-roof' guy. He couldn't archer a lie. He would ever bash everyone right."
He told the TV presumption that helium was shocked to larn his person was the unfortunate of a transgression similar this, but that helium besides had a atrocious feeling arsenic soon arsenic helium learned Michael Harding had gone missing.
"Deep down, I knew we weren't going to find Mike alive," Cleary said.
The deaths of the couple, little than 4 months apart, sent shockwaves crossed 3 states that person resulted successful investigations by galore local, county, and national instrumentality enforcement agencies. O'Donnell was arrested with the FBI's help.
Cleary ever believed Julie Harding had hired a deed antheral to termination her husband.
"I judge it was months of planning," Cleary precocious told WBKO. "He was successful fearfulness for you cognize his beingness arsenic well, due to the fact that his doors was chained up, they were propped up. So similar you were trying to support idiosyncratic out. And I deliberation helium knew what she was susceptible of."
Cleary said the Hardings were experiencing a assortment of matrimony troubles and that Michael had asked Julie Harding for a divorce.
According to Cleary, Julie Harding had near down a enactment that read: "Mike, I conjecture you win."
Colin Kalmbacher contributed to this report
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