Full Breakdown
Florida Family Finds Murder Victim While House-Hunting in Kentucky
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In this breakdown
01
Dead Body Discovered During Kentucky House Hunt
In late September 2022, Florida resident David Hammersley and his family toured a rural 2-acre property near Burkesville, Kentucky. While inspecting a detached cottage, they were overwhelmed by a foul odor and uncovered the body of Michael “Mike” Harding, a California-born HVAC technician who had been missing for more than a week. Authorities identified Harding and noted four gunshot wounds—two to the head and two to the torso.
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Investigation Reveals Luring Plot
Kentucky State Police lead investigator BJ Burton examined Harding’s phone and determined it was a prepaid “burner” device used to lure him to the vacant house. Texts showed a realtor named James Fraser requesting a repair service, but the number traced to the burner phone. Further analysis linked the burner to a second prepaid phone owned by Thomas O’Donnell, a former car salesman residing in Napa, California. Call-log data placed both phones together in the Houston, Texas, area weeks before the killing.
Investigators also uncovered that Harding’s estranged wife, Julie Harding, a California Highway Patrol captain, had exchanged roughly 194 calls with O’Donnell in the months preceding the murder. Burton concluded that Julie likely feared losing “hundreds of thousands of dollars” in their divorce and may have conspired with O’Donnell to arrange the killing.
Visual evidence
Images from the story
03
Legal Outcomes
Authorities arrested O’Donnell in early December 2022 on murder charges. He entered a not-guilty plea and, after a three-year pre-trial period, was found guilty by a Kentucky jury and sentenced to life imprisonment with the possibility of parole after 20 years. Two days after O’Donnell’s arrest, Julie Harding was discovered dead at the Tennessee home where Harding had been living; investigators ruled the death a suicide.
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Official Statements & Responses
Kentucky authorities have not released further details pending ongoing court proceedings.
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Verbatim Quotes
- “The house was immaculate. No furnishings in it. You can eat off the floor,” — David Hammersley, news florida resident
- “It had to be something like a dead raccoon, in my opinion,” — David Hammersley, news florida resident
- “I saw a man on the floor, his arm outstretched, obviously dead, from gunshot wounds,” — David Hammersley, news florida resident
- “Once you start looking through the text messages and phone calls, it becomes very obvious early on that he was lured to the house,” — Burton
- “It was pretty evident early on that this is a burner phone,” — Burton
- “And the first thing you notice is ... the phone is first turned on when it's in the Houston, Texas, area,” — Burton