BURKESVILLE, Ky. (Court TV) — A man faces a potential death sentence in Kentucky if he’s convicted of killing the husband of a captain in the California Highway Patrol.
Thomas O’Donnell is charged with the murder of Michael Harding. (KXTV)
Thomas O’Donnell has pleaded not guilty to the death of Michael Harding, who was found shot to death at a vacant home in 2022.
At the time of his death, Michael Harding was estranged from his wife, Julie Harding, who worked as a captain with the California Highway Patrol. The couple, who had married in 2019, had homes in California and Tennessee. At the time of his death, Michael Harding was living in Tennessee, where he had an HVAC business, while Julie Harding was living in Sacramento, California. In documents filed ahead of the trial signaling their intent to seek the death penalty, prosecutors said that O’Donnell was hired by Julie Harding to kill her husband…