A Kentucky judge has blown up a plea deal in a murder-for-hire case linked to the killing of a Sacramento HVAC business owner, saying the case belongs in front of a jury. The accused, a Napa man, had been ready to plead guilty to conspiracy charges in a plot prosecutors say involved a former California Highway Patrol captain. Instead of a quiet resolution, a sprawling multi-state investigation is now headed back to a courtroom where jurors will sort out what role, if any, others played.
According to KCRA, Thomas O’Donnell was prepared to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit the murder of Michael Harding. The deal covered criminal conspiracy to commit murder and evidence tampering and came with a 22-year prison term. The judge declined to accept it, saying he wants the matter to go to trial and for someone to be held accountable for Harding’s death.
Prosecutors say Harding was lured to a vacant home in Burkesville, Kentucky, in September 2022 under the pretense of an HVAC service call and was shot there. Court filings and phone records reviewed by CBS Sacramento show dozens of calls between O’Donnell and Julie Harding in the months leading up to the killing, along with alleged bank withdrawals that prosecutors say followed her divorce filing. “He was scared to death,” a friend told CBS Sacramento, describing Harding as the go-to fix-it guy in his Sacramento neighborhood…