Three Kansas City Chiefs fans were found dead in the snow two days after a game day gathering, but their friends and family are questioning police's assertion that foul play was not suspected. , one family has hired a lawyer to conduct a more thorough investigation.
The bodies of Ricky Johnson, 38, Clayton McGeeney, 36, and David Harrington, 37, were found after a man's fiancee told her his partner hadn't heard from him in two days. It was discovered by Kansas City police on January 9th.
Kansas City police told Fox News Digital they are awaiting the results of the man's post-mortem toxicology report.
The last time the men had contact with their loved ones was on January 7, when they joined a group watching a game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Los Angeles Chargers at the Northwest 83rd Terrace home of their friend Jordan Willis. was.
3 Kansas City Chiefs fans found frozen to death outside friend's house 'not aware' of death: lawyer
David Harrington (far left), Clayton McGeeney (second from right), and Ricky Johnson (right) in a friend's backyard two days after gathering to watch a Kansas City Chiefs game. He was found dead. (Ricky Johnson/Facebook)
The victim's family said Willis met officers at the door wearing boxers and holding an empty wine glass, but his attorney John Picerno told Fox News Digital that the glass was filled with water. , said it was refilled after drinking wine the night before.
Picerno said his client allowed police to search his home without a warrant or an attorney present. Ross Nigro, an attorney representing Johnson's family, said police conducted a second, more thorough investigation two days later.
“The main thing people should remember from our perspective is that these were his three friends. If they were in danger, he would have helped them. If he had known they were there he would have called the police.''The police themselves are investigating. Anything beyond that is pure speculation.”
The family claimed that in the previous 48 hours, Willis had ignored repeated emails, Facebook messages, texts, phone calls and knocks on the door. Willis' lawyers argued that Willis went to bed on the night of Jan. 7 with Johnson, McGeeney, Harrington and a fourth man still awake inside.
Picerno said Willis moved out of her rented home “out of fear of retribution” because of the intense media attention following her friend's death. Picerno said he also took time off from his job as a data scientist at IAVI, a nonprofit that develops vaccines for infectious diseases.
The family of Ricky Johnson, 38, told FOX News Digital that they knew something was wrong when he never showed up for work at the family construction business. (Facebook)
“There are no allegations of animosity between Jordan and his three friends,” Picerno told Fox News Digital on Tuesday. “People like to speculate – [but] No one called the police and said, “I'm scared of this Jordan guy.''
Picerno said two of the three had been friends with Willis since high school, and the third had been his best friend for about four years.
“They went to a Chiefs game together, and Jordan had bought four tickets to the Chiefs game the following Sunday. [that] “They can go along. I understand that people are hurting, but that's no excuse to throw unfounded accusations at Jordan,” Picerno said.
Ricky Johnson is pictured with Ricky Johnson Sr. and Linda Johnson and their children.
“The number one thing for people to remember from our perspective is that these were his three buddies. If they were in danger, he would have helped them.” said Picerno. “If he had known they were there, he would have called the police himself. Anything beyond that is pure speculation.”
But Johnson's mother, Norma Chester, suspects Willis played an active role in her son's death.
“Seriously, they were responsible men. Why would they go into the backyard and all three of them freeze to death?” she told FOX News Digital. “It occurs to me that this guy likes to brag about how smart he is and how he's a scientist. In my opinion, he made something up and gave it to all three people. I know I'm just thinking, but how could something like this happen? ”
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“I just imagined him dying and sitting outside in the cold for two days,” Clayton McGeeney's cousin Caleb McGeeney (pictured) told Fox 4 Kansas City. “It's very shocking. His whole family is messed up. He was a very good person.” (Facebook)
Johnson, a father of three, never showed up for work at his father's construction company that Monday, at which point Ricky Johnson Sr. told Fox News Digital that his family was worried about his son's death. He said he was looking for the address where he watched the game.
Meanwhile, Johnson's family and friends have claimed on social media that one of the man's fiancées repeatedly tried to contact her and entered Willis' home after answering a knock on her door. There is. There she discovered one of the male bodies and called police to the scene.
Johnson's father said police were already there when Johnson and his family pulled up to Willis' home on Jan. 9.
“They told us to wait four hours and let us know what they found,” Johnson Sr. said Tuesday. “We waited all night and they never called. I called the next day and they still wouldn't give me any information. So I called my lawyer. .”
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The three men were found dead outside a home on Northwest 83rd Terrace in Kansas City two days after they gathered there to watch a game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Los Angeles Chargers. (Photo) Jordan Willis, who was renting the property, has since moved out, his attorney said. (Google Maps)
“He may have done drugs and stuff in the past, but I don't think all three of them did drugs and collapsed and died in the backyard,” Johnson Sr. said of his son. “I'm not saying he didn't have a drink during the game. But he wasn't irresponsible to go out and freeze to death.”
“I'm talking about three grown men. If it had been freezing outside like they say, they could have kicked in the window and gotten into the house,” the father continued.
Johnson Sr. also said her son's coat was in the house and “he would never go outside without it.”
“I think he drugged them, dragged them outside and waited two days before calling the police,” Johnson Sr. said.
“It's ridiculous,” Picerno said of the accusation that Willis drugged the men. “Is he somehow responsible because he's a scientist? That's an opinion that's not based on facts.”
David Harrington was found dead in his friend Jordan Willis' backyard on January 9th. Willis' lawyer said his client “would have helped his three companions if he had known they were in danger.” (Facebook)
The family's father said he was one of several concerned friends and relatives who called Willis on the men's behalf before he arrived at the home. But Willis' attorney denied his claims in an interview with FOX News Digital.
“What struck me as strange was that no one called his cell phone,” Picerno said. “One of them, I believe it was his fiancée, sent him a message on Facebook Messenger. But he didn't get it until the police got it.”
Picerno said his client was sleeping with noise-cancelling headphones and a loud fan on, so he didn't hear any knocks on the door until police arrived. Picerno said Willis didn't hear anything when the worried woman broke into her home.
“What I found strange about that was that none of those people called his cell phone.”
Three friends and Johnson Sr.'s attorney Ross Nigro wonder how Willis could have avoided going out for two days. Picerno attributed that to working from his home.
Three other guests were at Willis' home the night of the Chiefs game, Nigro said. They claim the owner's two dogs were at the scene.
“If you have a dog and there are three dead people in the house, the dog will alert you that there are bodies,” Nigro said.
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Nigro also claimed that over the course of several interviews, Picerno “changed” the way he described events to reporters. Willis' attorney said there was a fifth person in the home that night when the homeowner went to bed, according to Fox 4 Kansas City.
“At first he was alone, and now there was a fifth magical person coming to the house,” Nigro said. “The fact that the story has changed so much, along with the fact that Mr. Willis has moved out of the mansion and hired a criminal defense attorney, makes it seem completely unbelievable and unreliable. It's a sign that he's hiding something.”
Willis has not been charged with any crime or accused of any wrongdoing.
“First and foremost, this case is 100% not being investigated as a homicide,” Kansas City Police Department Lt. Jake Becchina previously told FOX News Digital.
“No arrests have been made. [or] Charges have been filed and no one is in custody. There is no particular threat or concern to the surrounding community at this time. The occupants of the home were cooperative with detectives the day the body was discovered. ”
