MO - Furious Friends Demand Answers After 3 Men Found Dead at Kansas City Home Days After Watching Football Game, January 2024 #2

[branmuffin]

Well IMO due to suspicious circumstances and multiple deaths it should have automatically started out as possible homicide until it could be determined that it isn't. Lots of evidence gets missed by just dismissing the possibility and never looking at the homicide angle. Not sure what they were thinking to come right and say this is 100% not being investigated as a homicide before proof it wasn't. Unless they have info they had not yet released to the public. Makes me a bit angry!!!

LE don't have to release anything to assuage the curiosity of the general public.

So now we have contradictory reports on where the cars were. Two days ago, it was "cars were on the street" (I think that's from JW's attorney) and now we hear that the cars are in the driveway (although that's just one article and not from a primary source - isn't clear where that article got the information).

I'll be sticking with cars were in the street for the time being. The stories about the dogs are contradictory as well and I await clarification. If Fifth Person is correct, dogs were at the house that night - and if that's true, then JW (or someone) had to move the dogs. Seems like Fifth Person would remember the dogs accurately, but who knows. One article says at least one is a pit bull. I think a person would remember a pit bull, but maybe if Fifth Person is frequently at the house, they conflated details from more than one visit. It happens.

Whole story is so difficult to understand. I truly understand why the grieving families are so outspoken and upset.

They are both pit bull mixes. I think that was according to the blurb that shows JW sitting outside on a bench with his two dogs looking up at him.

 

[Forest_Wood]

I have a feeling that JW records Jeopardy episodes for later viewing. If JW started watching some saved Jeopardy episodes it may have been a subtle hint that the night was over and time to say goodnight. IMO


I wondered about CO too, but that was in relationship to running vehicles in the garage but since the cars turned out to be on the street it wasn't an issue. However, I remember the real estate images showed a fireplace in the back room that has a door to the backyard having a fireplace, I think a wood burning one. I guess it's possible if JW only started renting the home in August he may never have started a fire there but decided to when he had company. It may have had a build up of creosote in the chimney which in turn can cause CO to leak into the living spaces. It may not have affected JW if he went to a different room to lie down. If the fire burned out then the danger passed. He may have had a killer headache, though. Just speculation at this point in time.

That could be another reason he immediately moved out if he felt unsafe due to a leak or something in the house.

 

[Rose1981]

Well JW's lawyer supposed that because JW left the door unlocked they came back inside. That was in one of the numerous changing versions anyway.

JW being unreachable, but number 5 friend was reachable. It was also stated number 5 friend called JW. Why wouldn't number 5 go over to check it out after not getting a response, but also the family members contacting number 5. Number 5 seems fine the next day too.

 

[iamnotagolem]

Of course I can imagine! That is why one calls the police in a frantic, uncertain situation, because nobody knows what has occurred inside that home. Instead, she breaks in. It doesn't add up for me. MOO.

This is what doesn't make sense to me, they had been unreachable for 2.5 days but waited until the 9th to go see if the vehicle was still at JWs? Why wait so long? Why not call for a welfare check when you arrive, see the vehicles and get no answer at the door? Why break into the basement rather than go over the fence to get in the backyard so you could look into the other windows?

 

[MyBelle]

I have a feeling that JW records Jeopardy episodes for later viewing. If JW started watching some saved Jeopardy episodes it may have been a subtle hint that the night was over and time to say goodnight. IMO


I wondered about CO too, but that was in relationship to running vehicles in the garage but since the cars turned out to be on the street it wasn't an issue. However, I remember the real estate images showed the back room that has a door to the backyard having a fireplace, I think a wood burning one. I guess it's possible if JW only started renting the home in August he may never have started a fire there but decided to when he had company. It may have had a build up of creosote in the chimney which in turn can cause CO to leak into the living spaces. It may not have affected JW if he went to a different room to lie down. If the fire burned out then the danger passed. He may have had a killer headache, though. Just speculation at this point in time.

You make a very good point about the fireplace! In one of the real estate listing photos I saw, there is a large television over the fireplace so I'm assuming that is where they gathered. If JW went to sleep in another room the remaining 3 may have consumed more CO and that is why they went outside. That also could be the reason JW moved out of the house.

JMO

https://www.redfin.com/MO/Kansas-City/5208-NW-83rd-Ter-64151/home/106395715

 

[RstJ]

The huge question for me is: why didn't the fiancee see the other two bodies? If she didn't see them while searching for her fiance, then they probably weren't lying out in the open. She got close enough to her fiance's body to recognize him, but didn't see the other two friends. If that's the case, then Willis might not have seen them either.

The friends cars weren't parked in his driveway they were on the street. He sees their cars and...what? Immediately assumes they must be dead in his backyard?

"Two of the victims' cars were parked on the street, according to the statement, but he did not see them. The attorney also said “It would not be unusual for his friends to have left their cars there overnight.”" <MORE AT LINK>

There are *three* victims. Where is the third guy's car?


<modsnip: copyright violation>

 

[darring21]

The huge question for me is: why didn't the fiancee see the other two bodies? If she didn't see them while searching for her fiance, then they probably weren't lying out in the open. She got close enough to her fiance's body to recognize him, but didn't see the other two friends. If that's the case, then Willis might not have seen them either.

The friends cars weren't parked in his driveway they were on the street. He sees their cars and...what? Immediately assumes they must be dead in his backyard?

"Two of the victims' cars were parked on the street, according to the statement, but he did not see them. The attorney also said “It would not be unusual for his friends to have left their cars there overnight.”" <MORE AT LINK>

There are *three* victims. Where is the third guy's car?


<modsnip: copyright violation>

Oh, I dont' know, maybe she was too upset at finding her fiance dead to continue looking for others?

 

[darring21]

This is what doesn't make sense to me, they had been unreachable for 2.5 days but waited until the 9th to go see if the vehicle was still at JWs? Why wait so long? Why not call for a welfare check when you arrive, see the vehicles and get no answer at the door? Why break into the basement rather than go over the fence to get in the backyard so you could look into the other windows?

Just guessing here but I suspect she was trying to find a way to get in and couldn't get into the back yard or over the fence, the house was locked and no one was answering, and she found a loose screen and an open window. In hindsight, it seems like the most effective path. If she had called police and said her boyfriend hadn't come home and his car was there, they would have responded to that in 4 hours? (Would they have responded at all?) Knocked on the door and if no answer, wouldn't be able to do anything else, I don't think, without some evidence of a crime.

 

[Peppery]

Oh, I dont' know, maybe she was too upset at finding her fiance dead to continue looking for others?

I’d be hysterical if I saw a dead frozen man sitting there, much less it be my fiancé.

 

[Interested_But_Confused]

In the winter I sometimes go days without opening rear window blinds or looking into the backyard. It's too dark, dreary, cold and depressing.

I have no idea if JW is telling the truth, but I *can* believe someone could go a few days without noticing something in their backyard; especially if they didn't realise there was any reason to be looking for it.

 

[Elley Mae]

Has it been said/reported on how long for any results from blood or autopsy will take?

 

[darring21]

jmo. would agree with those saying the fact pattern supports an overdose and most likely something (unknowingly) cut with fentanyl. there are countless stories of this happening in recent years, and communications from police do not contradict this assumption.

as to why the renter did not succumb it could be a variety of factors. he didn't partake; he did partake but did not as ingest as much; he did partake but for whatever reason did not succumb, which can happen. a young person from my hometown died a few years ago from cocaine cut with fentanyl; 2-3 others that also partook with him also overdosed, but recovered. apparently it all happened very fast and almost simultaneously among those involved.

while my initial thought was the 3 who perished went outside for a cigarette, another possibility is they felt nauseous and went outside for fresh air or to get sick. opioids can make you sick esp if you're "naive" to the class of drug (i.e. no tolerance).

how the renter of the home did not know that his friends were perished on his property is definitely harder to make sense of, given the unmoved cars, texts/msgs, someone breaking into his house, etc. one can speculate that he did but delayed for any number of reasons. he could have been totally overwhelmed by what happened; feared legal/professional consequences; delayed to come up with a "story" or get rid of evidence that may have implicated or reflected poorly on him. admittedly none of those are particularly compelling reasons if these were close friends, and delaying arguably put him in a worse spot than he would be otherwise (certainly reputationally if not legally).

Welcome to websleuths. This seems to be the most likely scenario. I think the guys went to the backyard because they were feeling sick or hot. The mystery to me is the actions of the host.

 

[SMK777]

Oh, I dont' know, maybe she was too upset at finding her fiance dead to continue looking for others?

That’s an experience that no one would ever want and had to have been the worst moment of her life.

 

[Bounceycat]

Today, it made the front page of CNN's website:
Three men were found dead outside a Kansas City home after watching the Chiefs. Two weeks later, it’s still not clear what killed them

https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/26/us/kansas-city-fans-deaths-freeze-cec

 

[sunshineray]

The huge question for me is: why didn't the fiancee see the other two bodies? If she didn't see them while searching for her fiance, then they probably weren't lying out in the open. She got close enough to her fiance's body to recognize him, but didn't see the other two friends. If that's the case, then Willis might not have seen them either.

The friends cars weren't parked in his driveway they were on the street. He sees their cars and...what? Immediately assumes they must be dead in his backyard?

"Two of the victims' cars were parked on the street, according to the statement, but he did not see them. The attorney also said “It would not be unusual for his friends to have left their cars there overnight.”"

There are *three* victims. Where is the third guy's car?


RstJ






From (https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2024/01/23/kansas-city-man-friends-dead-in-backyard/72325035007/)

Attorney: KC man had 'no knowledge' 3 friends were dead in his backyard after Chiefs game
Natalie Neysa Alund
USA TODAY

The attorney for a Missouri man questioned by police when the bodies of his three friends were found outside his home after they gathered to watch a football game says his client had nothing to do with their deaths.

"He had no knowledge they remained in his backyard or that they needed medical attention. Had he known, he certainly would have called for help," the man's Kansas City-based lawyer, John Picerno, told USA TODAY Tuesday.


Ricky Johnson, 38, David Harrington, 37, and Clayton McGeeney, 36, were found dead Jan. 9 outside the man's house in a Kansas City suburb, the Kansas City Police Department reported.
USA TODAY is not naming the man who lives in the home because he has not been arrested or charged with a crime.
Although police said foul play is not suspected in their deaths, officials from multiple agencies have been working to determine how the men died.
According to Picerno, the last time his client saw his friends − two of them who he had been friends with for nearly two decades − was when they left his house "before he went to bed."
"He does not know the timing or manner of their deaths, nor does he know how or when they exited his house," Picerno said.

A body on a back porch and freezing temperatures

On the day they were found, police said the fiancé of one of the men visited the home to check on him, saw a body on the back porch and called police. Responding officers located the body and shortly after found the two other men dead in the backyard.

Harrington's mother, Jennifer Marquez, said her son went to the home to watch the Kansas City Chiefs and Los Angeles Chargers game on Jan. 7 and she said the homeowner later told others "his friends froze to death."


The low temperature on game day was 29 degrees, according to the National Weather Service, and the temperature remained below freezing over the next two days.


Five friends and a playoff game

According to his Picerno, his client, who rents the home, is a 38-year-old scientist who works remotely for a New York hospital.

Picerno said his client lives alone, attended high school with two of the victims, and has known the third victim for several years.

On Jan. 7, Picerno said, his client, his three friends and a fifth person "spent the day watching the game" and eventually the the fifth friend left the home.


"The others did not leave until the early morning hours on Monday," Picerno said.

He said his client slept "most of Monday," got up, worked from home and eventually went back to sleep. On Tuesday, he said, he woke up and worked again until police contacted him that evening.

A missed Facebook message and cars left behind

In a separate emailed statement, Picerno wrote his client did not receive calls or text messages from the victims' family or friends after they left his home. He said the wife of one of the victims reached out to him on Facebook but he did not see the message until after police contacted him.


Two of the victims' cars were parked on the street, according to the statement, but he did not see them. The attorney also said “It would not be unusual for his friends to have left their cars there overnight.”


"Two people came to his house; however, he did not hear them as he sleeps with air buds and a loud fan," Picerno wrote.


Picerno said his client is unaware of how his friends died and is "anxiously awaiting" to learn what caused their deaths.

Cause of death still under investigation


Last week, a medical examiner spokesperson confirmed to USA TODAY autopsies and toxicology tests were conducted on all three men and the results were pending.
On Tuesday, police spokeswoman Alayna Gonzalez said the department was still waiting to learn the trio's cause of death from the medical examiner.
Gonzalez also said no arrests had been made and no charges had been filed in the case.


Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on X @nataliealund.

It's always sounded to me that one man was right by the house while the other two were well into the backyard somewhere. It's quite the large backyard.

 

[iamnotagolem]

Just guessing here but I suspect she was trying to find a way to get in and couldn't get into the back yard or over the fence, the house was locked and no one was answering, and she found a loose screen and an open window. In hindsight, it seems like the most effective path. If she had called police and said her boyfriend hadn't come home and his car was there, they would have responded to that in 4 hours? (Would they have responded at all?) Knocked on the door and if no answer, wouldn't be able to do anything else, I don't think, without some evidence of a crime.

Why wouldn't they have responded? There were 3 men missing for 3 days and their cars were at the location they were last known to be, I'm sure police would have responded and entered the house with force if no one had answered the door.

 

[darring21]

Why wouldn't they have responded? There were 3 men missing for 3 days and their cars were at the location they were last known to be, I'm sure police would have responded and entered the house with force if no one had answered the door.

Not without evidence of a crime. Police can't just enter someone's house because a woman thinks her fiance is there.

 

[ChatteringBirds]

Not without evidence of a crime. Police can't just enter someone's house because a woman thinks her fiance is there.

Sometimes they do enter homes to do welfare checks, though.

 

[musicaljoke]

We don't know if it was locked. There are pictures of the house with the gate open (the one next to the garage) but that doesn't mean the gate was operational that night. However, both gates have traditional framing and would easily climbed from inside the backyard, IMO. Same with the fence, but the gates have a Z-frame and appear slightly shorter than the fence. Certainly, two men working togther could boost one man over the gate. Since we now know there are chairs in the backyard, heck, almost anyone could pull a chair over to the gate (or fence) and climb over. Certainly at least one of those men should have been able to do that.

Which is probably why this story has become international.

IMO.

There seems to be a lot of snow in front of the gate, which would make it difficult to open, but yeah, they could have climbed over it, or kicked a few boards out.

Do we know if the wooden fence went all the way around the back yard? It would make sense if it did because it would be a play area for the dogs, but I recall seeing a photo from the back of the house and there was no wooden fence along the back of the property. It's possible that the photographer was leaning over the fence and that is why it wasn't shown in the picture.

Whatever the case with the fence, it's not reasonable to believe that the men died simply because they got stuck outside on a cold night. I sympathize with the families' anger.

 

[Kingsley]

The huge question for me is: why didn't the fiancee see the other two bodies? If she didn't see them while searching for her fiance, then they probably weren't lying out in the open. She got close enough to her fiance's body to recognize him, but didn't see the other two friends. If that's the case, then Willis might not have seen them either.

The friends cars weren't parked in his driveway they were on the street. He sees their cars and...what? Immediately assumes they must be dead in his backyard?

"Two of the victims' cars were parked on the street, according to the statement, but he did not see them. The attorney also said “It would not be unusual for his friends to have left their cars there overnight.”" <MORE AT LINK>

There are *three* victims. Where is the third guy's car?


<modsnip: copyright violation>

At that point wouldn't there have been snow on the two further in the yard? (Like everyone, I'm just trying to imagine what things were like not only on the night of the deaths but as the 2.5 days passed.)