Kansas City Chiefs fan found dead did not use drugs, was ‘murdered,’ longtime girlfriend says
The girlfriend of one of the three Kansas City Chiefs fans found dead after a game-day watch party said he was not a drug abuser — as she revealed she believes he was “murdered.”
Lorie Kruse’s boyfriend David Harrington, 37, was found frozen to death outside Jordan Willis’ rental house in Kansas City alongside Ricky Johnson, 38, and Clayton McGeeney, 36, on Jan. 9.
Though police have said the case is not being investigated as a homicide and no foul play is suspected, Kruse is adamant that Harrington, her boyfriend of 17 years, was killed.
“David was murdered,” she told NewsNation’s Chris Cuomo Friday. “Those three guys were murdered.”
“It does not make any sense to have three men dead, laying in the yard and [Jordan] asleep for 48 hours.”
Willis’ lawyer previously said his client had been “asleep on the couch” near a loud fan while wearing noise-canceling headphones for nearly two days and didn’t learn about their deaths until a welfare check at the home.
Harrington, Kruse believes, must have been “caught in the wrong place at the wrong time” but admitted she doesn’t know “what’s going to come up” as the probe into the tragedy continues.
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.
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:
- Kansas City Chiefs fan found dead did not use drugs, was ‘murdered,’ longtime girlfriend says
- House where Kansas City Chiefs fans partied has large windows facing yard where 3 froze to death
- 5th Kansas City Chiefs fan at party where 3 friends were later found frozen to death ID’d: report
- Parents of Chiefs fan found frozen to death alongside 2 friends in yard think trio was drugged, ‘dragged’ outside by scientist pal: ‘He concocted something’
- Drugs a possibility in grisly Kansas City Chiefs fans’ freezing deaths outside home, doctor says
“I don’t know if Jordan gave them something like they’re talking about,” she told Cuomo. “David wasn’t a drug addict like they’re talking about.”
She also said that despite the party being described as a gathering of friends, she had never heard Harrington talk in-depth about Willis.
“I have heard of Jordan before. I’ve never met him. I’ve heard a lot of terrible things about him,” she revealed.
“I don’t know the truth in it … David’s never had a conversation about Jordan. I’ve heard the name Jordan when he’s talking to his friends … I don’t think I’ve ever heard any stories about Jordan at all.”
She told Cuomo that Willis was “on drugs,” but did not elaborate on what she meant by that.
While there has been speculation that the three friends’ deaths may be drug-related, “David didn’t do stuff like that,” Kruse said. “… Maybe they did take something because they were drinking. But I know David wouldn’t have took it.
“We just had a talk with my kids about not doing drugs and how fentanyl was coming on the news all the time,” she added.
Harrington would have “walked” the mile home “if he was cold” or was big enough to “break through the window” or gone to warm up in his car.
“He was a good guy. Very good guy,” she told NewsNation. “He went to church with us. He coached my son’s baseball team.”
Willis’ father Rodney Willis said his son “would never in a million years do anything,” and insisted his family was grieving along with the victims’ loved ones.
“These were all good friends of his, these were all people he went to school with and he took them to a football game the day before for the Chiefs,” he told The Post Thursday.
The families are waiting on a toxicology report, but “it doesn’t matter what the autopsy said,” Kruse told Cuomo.
Here’s the latest NYP coverage on the Kansas City Chiefs fans found frozen to death
- Did suburban Walter White poison his friends? Unraveling mystery of Kansas City Chiefs fans’ frozen fentanyl deaths
- Bodies of 3 Kansas City Chiefs fans could not be ID’d in person because they had to ‘thaw out’: stepmom
- What we do and don’t know about the three Kansas City Chiefs fans who froze to death
- Kansas City Chiefs fan who hosted watch party where three friends froze to death checks into rehab
- New video shows Kansas City Chiefs fan Jordan Willis being cuffed moments after 3 pals found frozen to death in yard
“That’s what people are forgetting here. We have three guys, we have six children that don’t have a dad. We have families, we have friends, and we’re all hurting.”
The heartbroken mother said she has told her children about Harrington’s death, as her kids see it on TikTok. She also claimed people are making fun of the trio’s death because they “don’t know” him.
“I can’t rest because my phone’s blowing up about ‘did you hear this’ or ‘did you hear that about social media, with all these links.’ And it’s not, those are not true and it’s rude. It’s hurtful. It’s not who David was. David didn’t do stuff like that,” Kruse told Cuomo.
“I truly did not believe everything that they were talking about was real, because that’s not, that’s not who I know. That’s not who my kids know. That’s not.”
The Post has reached out to Kruse for comment.
Harrington, Johnson and McGeeney were found at Willis’ home two days after the Chiefs’ Jan. 7 game after McGeeney’s fiancée requested a welfare check.
Police searched the home, where they found the gruesome discovery. Willis, who had been asleep for two days, said it was the first he had known his friends had died.
Harrington’s father Jon said previously he doesn’t believe Willis’ versions of events, saying: “[Harrington’s mother] and I are both convinced that Jordan Willis played a part in this somehow.”
“Innocent people rarely hire criminal defense lawyers,” Jon told The Post in a text Saturday.
A fifth friend, Alex Weamer-Lee, was also at the ill-fated party, and it was previously reported that when he left around midnight, the four other fans were watching “Jeopardy!”
“It’s a traumatic situation for everyone,” Weamer-Lee’s mom told The Post outside her home Saturday.
“I’m just going to be quiet.”
Willis has not been accused of any wrongdoing.