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What we do and don’t know about the three Kansas City Chiefs fans who froze to death

A trio of die-hard Kansas City Chiefs fans were found frozen to death in a friend’s backyard two days after watching the team storm to victory against the Los Angeles Chargers on Jan. 7.

Since then the mystery surrounding how three healthy grown men came to perish outside despite their cars being parked feet away and their friend sleeping upstairs has only deepened.

A lawyer for the friend who survived, Jordan Willis, claims he was asleep for the next two days and did not see messages from friends or hear people calling at his house.

Willis, 37, was said to be as shocked as everyone else when cops found his three long-time pals dead in his backyard. Kansas City Police say their investigation is ongoing but isn’t being treated as a homicie and Willis is not a suspect.

Here’s what has emerged since the bodies were found on Jan 9: 

Five guys had partied together the day of the chiefs’ win

Ricky Johnson, 38, David Harrington, 37, and Clayton McGeeney, 36, and a another friend — who has yet to be identified — gathered at HIV reseach scientist Willis’ rental home to watch the Chiefs’ final regular season game against the Chargers.

All were avid fans of the team, regularly hung out together and had been pals for years. Willis is said to have even bought tickets for them all to go to the next Chiefs game before the tragedy, according to his lawyer.

David Harrington (circled in red, second from left), Clayton McGeeney (second from right) and Ricky Johnson (right), were found frozen to death in a yard on Jan. 9.  Ricky Johnson / Facebook

Mystery 5th friend says he left pals watching ‘Jeopardy’ at midnight

The fifth man who was at Willis home, located on NW 83rd Terrace in Kansas City, told the station Fox 4KC via an attorney that he left the home around midnight while the others were watching a “Jeopardy” rerun on TV.

Andrew Talge, the lawyer, said Johnson, Harrington and McGeeney were still alive and lucid at the time of his client’s departure.

Everything to know about the 3 Kansas City Chiefs fans who froze to death outside their friend's home

Three Kansas City Chiefs fans were found frozen to death in the backyard of their friend’s home on Jan. 9, where they had gathered to watch a football game.

The bodies of David Harrington, 37, Ricky Johnson, 38, and Clayton McGeeney, 36, had possibly been there for two days.

Jordan Willis, the man renting the home, insisted he had “no knowledge” of the fate of his friends.

Harrington (circled in red, second from left), McGeeney (second from right), and Johnson (right) were found frozen to death in a yard on Jan. 9. Ricky Johnson / Facebook

Willis’ lawyer said the man was “asleep on the couch” for two days while his friends’ loved ones frantically tried to contact him.

“This case is 100% NOT being investigated as a homicide,” Kansas City police Capt. Jake Becchina told Fox News Digital.


Here’s more of The Post’s coverage of the tragedy in Kansas City:


The trio of men had gone to their friend Jordan Willis’ rental home on Jan. 7 to watch a Kansas City Chiefs game. fox4kc

Jordan Willis’ lawyer says he was asleep for whole next two days

Jordan Willis “was asleep on the coach,” wearing noise-canceling headphones and next to a loud fan according to his lawyer John Picerno.

In an interview with The Post this week, Picerno said: “The last memory [Willis] has is of them leaving [out] the front door. He doesn’t know what happened with them.”

Picerno added Willis works from home and had not ventured outside his house until the police called.

The host of the watch party, Jordan Willis, has not been accused of any wrongdoing or charged with any crime. GitHub

The three bodies were discovered on the morning of Jan. 9

The bodies of Willis’ three longtime friends — two of whom he had known since high school — were discovered by the police in Willis’ yard on the morning of Jan. 9, following frantic efforts by many relatives to make contact with them.

None of the three men had answered called on their cellphones or messages from those closest to them during that entire time.

One victim’s fiancée raised the alarm and called the police

McGeeney’s fiancée, April Mahoney, raised the alarm after heading over to Willis’ home looking for him on the night of January 9.

According to local news reports, after getting no answer at the house she then broke into the home via its basement and discovered a body on the back porch. Mahoney then called police to request a welfare check, leading to the discovery of two more frozen bodies in the yard.

Willis met responding police officers in his shorts and holding an empty wine glass, according to the victims’ relatives.

Clayton McGeeney’s fiancée requested a welfare check after going to the house and finding a dead body. Clayton McGeeney / Facebook

Police say no foul play involved, but cause of death unknown

The Kansas City Police Department has said foul play is not suspected — and the case is not being investigated as either a homicide or a suspicious death.

Detectives are still waiting for the medical examiner’s office to determine a cause of death, which could take up to eight weeks depending on the complexity of the case.

Toxicology reports for the trio of victims, which could potentially provide crucial information, are also still pending.

Harrington was among the trio found frozen to death in the yard. David Harrington / Facebook

Willis is not a suspect in any wrongdoing

Willis has denied any knowledge of what happened to his friends while he slept. He has not been accused of any wrongdoing or charged with any crime in connection with the bizarre incident.

Picerno told Fox News Digital the researcher has taken a leave of absence from his job at a nonprofit which develops vaccines and has moved out of his rental home “in fear of retaliation” amid the intense media scrutiny.

Lawyer for Willis has given conflicting accounts

Picerno has been speaking on behalf of Willis for the past week but made a number of contradictory and disputed statements about the incident.

It was not immediately clear how or when Willis parted ways with his guests, with Picerno initially telling Fox 4 KC he “got tired and went to sleep” while there were still people in the home.

A day later, Picerno said he misspoke, and Willis escorted his friends to the door, said goodbye and only then went to sleep on the couch.

Then in an interview with NewsNation Friday, Picerno said his client had left the home periodically on Jan. 8 and Jan. 9, but he clarified that what he actually meant was Willis “left his bedroom sporadically.”

Picerno also maintained Willis did not receive any texts or calls from concerned family members – and saw a message sent via Facebook Messenger by McGeeney’s fiancée only after the bodies were found.

The fifth friend who was at the house disputed some of Picerno’s statements, claiming contrary to what he said, he had sent Willis a text message which went unanswered.

Johnson’s father also said he called Willis looking for his son, but received no response.

Picerno has yet to address those purported inconsistencies.  

Ricky Johnson’s family has proposed a wild and unfounded theory that he and his friends had been drugged and left for dead. Family Handout

Johnson’s family have speculated the three men may have been drugged and dragged outside

Family members of Ricky Johnson, a dad-of-three, have put forward an unfounded theory that the 38-year-old and his two friends could have been drugged, dragged into the yard and left for dead as temperatures dipped into the low 30s — a claim Willis’ attorney immediately dismissed as “ridiculous.”

Ricki Johnson Sr. told Fox News Digital his son was not “irresponsible” and would have never have left the house without a coat and frozen to death.

Johnson’s mother, Norma Chester, likewise pointed a finger at Willis — although she acknowledged her suspicions were based on nothing more than her own “thinking,” rather than any evidence.

“Something that comes to my mind, this guy [Willis] wants to brag about how smart he is, he’s a scientist. My thoughts are that he concocted something and gave it to all three men,” she suggested.

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