Parents of Kansas City Chiefs fans found dead in friend’s backyard believe victims ‘saw something they shouldn’t have’ as families await toxicology results
The parents of one of the Kansas City Chiefs fans found dead in their friend’s backyard believe the victims “saw something they shouldn’t have seen.”
On January 9, the bodies of David Harrington, 37, Ricky Johnson, 38, and Clayton McGeeney, 36, were found in the backyard of Jordan Willis’ home in Kansas City, Missouri.
They had been there since Jan. 7, when the three men visited Willis to watch the Chiefs play the Los Angeles Chargers, along with the as-yet unnamed fifth friend.
Officials are awaiting toxicology reports, but the men’s families are convinced something sinister is going on. No one has been arrested and police are not treating the situation as a homicide.
Harrington’s father, Jon, said he believes the three victims “learned something” or “saw something they shouldn’t have seen” before their deaths.
David Harrington (second from left), Clayton McGeeney (second from right) and Ricky Johnson (right) are shown with two unidentified fellow Chiefs fans, neither of whom are believed to be involved in the mystery. Harrington, McGeeney and Johnson were found dead in the backyard of another man’s home on January 9
David Harrington was found dead on his friend’s property on January 9
The grieving father told Fox News Digital: â(Harrington’s mother) and I both believe Jordan Willis played a role in this somehow.
‘We just haven’t figured out how yet. What else could it be? Perfectly healthy men don’t just disappear from the face of the earth.’
âThere were four of you in the house and now three of them are dead and you’re not.
‘That is not true.
I think he, all three of them, learned something or saw something that they shouldn’t have seen, and he decided, “Well, I’ve got to get rid of you now.” Friends or not.’
He referred to the theory that the men’s deaths were drug-related. Officials are still waiting on toxicology reports.
Harrington senior said: âI’m aware they may have used some substances that were questionable, but the idea was to get high, not die. If they were meant to be friends, why didn’t (Willis) come looking for them?
“I’m sure they have a hundred different answers to that, but that’s my question.”
Clayton McGeeney, 36, was also found dead in the backyard
Ricky Johnson, a father of three, was one of three men found dead
Willis told police the men froze to death in his backyard. Their loved ones have raised questions about the lack of coverage of their bodies, and the snow they say was not deep enough to submerge them
Harrington’s mother, Jennifer Marquez, told Fox: âYes, I believe something happened that night and Jordan had something to do with it.
âWe all believe Jordan had something to do with that.
‘He was in that house for two days. No drug test was done on him. He has not had an alcohol test. He hasn’t had anything to see how he could be involved in this. They gave him two weeks to completely get rid of all the evidence.â
Jordan Willis has not been arrested and is not facing criminal charges.
The mother claimed, according to Fox, âJordan is not telling the truth. If you tell the truth, your story is solid. It’s when you lie that your story changes, and that’s what happened. I don’t understand why the police don’t see that.’
The fifth man present that evening insisted that it is “absolutely not true” that he was the “last person to see the three men alive.”
He has now also hired a lawyer, hiring fierce criminal defense attorney Andrew Talge.
Talge said his client arrived at Willis’ house at 7 p.m., and they all hung out until midnight. The four other men were watching Jeopardy as he left.
The lawyer also said that on Tuesday â the day after â the fifth man texted Jordan Willis. He sent this after Clayton McGeeney’s fiancĂ©e and Ricky Johnson’s mother reached out with questions about their loved ones.
This contradicts what Willis’ attorney Picerno has said repeatedly. He said his client only received messages on Facebook Messenger, not text messages or calls.
The other two bodies were found in the backyard. Police initially said there was no foul play, but have yet to confirm the cause of death of the three men
One of the bodies was found on the back porch of the property by the fiancée of one of the men, who broke in after not receiving a response from Willis.
Kansas City police have said there was no evidence of any criminal activity or foul play at the scene.
For two days, the victims’ families said they visited Willis’ home, calling him and sending him Facebook messages asking where they were. He didn’t respond.
Eventually, the fiancée of one of the men broke into the house through the basement and found the first body in the backyard. She then called the police, who arrived to find Willis in his underwear, holding a wine glass.
His lawyer claims he did nothing wrong and has cooperated with police.
The medical examiner’s office has yet to reveal the cause of death or whether any of the men had drugs in his or her system.
Jordan Willis, 38, says he has no idea how his friends died in his backyard or why they were outside
John Picerno said, âHe has nothing to hide. He went to the police station and spoke to officers without a lawyer present, he let them search his house… these were his friends.
âHe had bought tickets for all of them for the next Chiefs game, he didn’t want any harm to come to them. There was no ill will,â attorney Picerno told DailyMail.com.
He blasted internet sleuths and those who assumed he was to blame, calling the speculation “unfair.”
Willis insists he spent the next two days in his house, oblivious to the fact that his friends’ cars were still outside, and only learned they had been killed when the fiancĂ©e of one of the men arrived in broke into the house. the hope of finding him.
He believes that after he saw the men off on Jan. 7, they returned to “hang out” in the living room while he slept.
“Maybe they didn’t want to go to a bar or meeting place somewhere else,” attorney John Picerno told DailyMail.com today, as the families of the three victims demanded answers.
He worked from home and his two dogs were at his father’s house, so there was no need for walks.
Willis has now left the premises and deleted all his social media accounts, amid a wave of public interest in the men’s deaths.
His attorney says he didn’t hear the victims’ loved ones banging on his door because he sleeps with headphones and a fan on. He also claims he only saw their Facebook messages after the police showed up.
Willis is an accomplished scientist whose research on COVID and HIV has been praised in the medical community. In interviews, he described his two pit bull mixes â Sadie and Daisy â as the “light of his life.”
According to an interview Willis gave on the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative website in 2022, he is a senior chief scientist at the IAVI Neutralizing Antibody Center in Kansas City.
Willis said in the interview that he conducts data analysis and interpretation for IAVI’s HIV vaccine trials. He also compared the search for an effective HIV vaccine with the research into the Covid-19 vaccine.
The Virginia native graduated with a Ph.D. in Chemical and Physical Biology from Vanderbilt University in 2014. He previously studied chemistry and molecular biology at Northwest Missouri State University.
In 2022 he has received an award for his ‘significant contributions to the development of HIV vaccines.’
In the intro section of his now-deleted Facebook page, Willis wrote, “Treading the line between being the funniest guy in the room and a complete nervous breakdown.”
On another social media platform, Willis describes himself as follows: “Self-proclaimed man-about-town.”
On January 9, Captain Jake Becchina of the Kansas City Police Department said, âFirst and foremost, this case is 100% NOT being investigated as a homicide. There have been no arrests (or) charges and no one is in custody.
âThere are no specific threats or concerns to the surrounding community at this time.
âThe resident of the home was cooperative with investigators on the day the deceased was discovered.â