CHP captain found dead in Tennessee after husband killed

CHP captain found dead in Tennessee after husband is killed in Kentucky

Published Dec. 14, 2022 Updated Dec. 15, 2022 8:46 AM PT

A California Highway Patrol captain on leave in Tennessee was found dead of a gunshot wound days after an arrest in the fatal shooting of her husband in Kentucky and her own arrest on suspicion of trespassing at his girlfriend’s house, police reports obtained by The Times show.

Julie Harding, 49, was found dead Saturday in a home in a rural area near the Kentucky border, said CHP spokesman Sgt. Jeremy Wayland. Her death comes two days after a Napa, Calif., man was arrested in connection with the October slaying of her husband, Michael Harding, 53.

Julie Harding’s death is being investigated by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, but officials have said foul play is not suspected.

A source familiar with the Kentucky-based investigation who was not authorized to speak publicly about the death of Michael Harding said investigators are focusing on whether the Napa man was involved in a murder-for-hire plot connected to the CHP commander.

Julie Harding, who had 22 years of service with the CHP, headed the department’s Yuba-Sutter office since 2018, Wayland said. He could not say how long Harding had been on leave, but officials said she and her husband owned property in Tennessee, where Harding was staying.

Two days before her death, Harding was booked into the Rutherford County, Tenn., jail — about 100 miles away from the home where her body was found in the city of Celina — on suspicion of criminal trespassing, according to a sheriff’s spokeswoman.

According to police reports, the Hardings were going through a divorce, and the CHP captain had been harassing her husband’s girlfriend, who was identified as Natasha Davis.

Davis told police that Harding had trespassed on her property in October and tried to take back the Hardings’ dog, which Davis had been keeping.

Michael Harding was reported missing Sept. 18 from his home in Celina. It was not immediately clear who filed the missing persons report. He was last reported to be in Kentucky, in the nearby Cumberland County area, according to police appeals to the public to help find him.

His body was discovered on Sept. 26 in a vacant home being sold in Cumberland County, authorities said. He had been shot multiple times, according to the county coroner’s office.

Kentucky authorities reached out to Tennessee and California law enforcement as well as the FBI for help in the investigation, said State Police Trooper 1st Class Jonathan Houk.

Thomas Francis O’Donnell of Napa was identified as a suspect in Michael Harding’s death, Houk said, and was arrested Thursday at Sacramento International Airport.

O’Donnell, 60, is being held without bail pending extradition to Kentucky, booking records show.

Authorities are still working to determine whether there is a connection between the deaths of the Hardings, but police have already outlined a disturbing relationship between the CHP captain and Davis.

Police records from Tennessee indicate that “Davis expressed fear of Julie because Michael was shot in the head.”

Two weeks after Michael Harding’s body was found, Julie Harding was recorded on a Ring camera entering Davis’ home without consent to take a dog named Charlie, which was owned by the Hardings, police records show. Davis told police she had indicated she would hand over the dog at a police station, but Harding opened her front door on Oct. 10 and grabbed the dog by its collar and took him, according to a Tennessee report seeking a warrant for Harding’s arrest.

Three days later, Davis reported to police that her Netflix account had been hacked. Davis said that one profile had been altered to show her name with a photo of a monkey, and that the “second profile was named Julie with an angry princess picture.”