Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - KANSAS CITY CHIEFS HOMICIDE BOMBSHELL: COURTROOM DRAMA

Episode Date: August 3, 2025

Ricky Johnson, David Harrington, and Clayton McGeeney were last seen alive on January 7, 2024, watching the final regular-season Kansas City Chiefs game at the home of their friend, Jordan Willis. Two days later, authorities found their frozen bodies outside the house. After a yearlong investigation, prosecutors charged Jordan Willis and Ivory Carson in connection with the deaths, which gained national attention. Both men face three counts of involuntary manslaughter and two counts of delivering a controlled substance. Police say Carson, known as "Blade Brown," supplied and sold cocaine to Willis and the victims. Investigators found Carson's DNA on a bag of fentanyl inside Willis' home. During the investigation, law enforcement initially said they did not suspect foul play. A toxicology report later confirmed that the men had cocaine, THC, and fentanyl in their systems. Police have since ruled the deaths as caused by "fentanyl and cocaine toxicity." As the case progressed, Willis moved out of the home and checked into rehab. A forensic analysis of Harrington’s phone uncovered text messages between Willis, McGeeney, Johnson, and others, linking Carson to the cocaine supply. DNA evidence identified Willis as a major contributor, and a second bag contained DNA matching Carson, confirming his role as the drug supplier  Now as the two suspects face each other in court, they don't even look at each other.    Joining Nancy Grace today: Jonathan Price - Brother of Ricky Johnson Derek Smith - Criminal Defense Attorney, dwsmithlegal.com  Dr. Heidi Green - Clinical Psychologist, Trauma Specialist, and Author: ‘The Path to Self-Love and World Domination; IG: @drheidigreen Barry Hutchison -  Former 26-year Law Enforcement Veteran and Detective, Owner & Chief Investigator for Barry & Associates Investigative Services located in Kansas & Missouri Dr. Kendall Crowns - Chief Medical Examiner Tarrant County (Ft Worth), LAUNCHING April 7th, NEW Podcast "DOA - Dead On Arrival;" Lecturer: Burnett School of Medicine at TCU [Texas Christian University] Eric Zahnd - Platte County Prosecutor in Missouri Alexis Tereszcuk - Crimeonline.com Investigative Reporter Dave Mack - Crimeonline.com Investigative Reporter See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart podcast. Crime stories with Nancy Grace. Three friends, three Kansas City Chiefs fans dead in the backyard and on the porch of another friend. Two other Chiefs fans have a cold blooded reaction when they meet face to face in court over the murder of their friends. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. I want to thank you for being with us. Two former friends are accused of killing three Kansas City Chiefs fans and they just sat in the last days shoulder to shoulder in a

Missouri courtroom staring coldly straight ahead, stone-faced and never stating a single word to each other. It was Jordan Willis and Ivory Carson less than five feet apart in the Platt County Courtroom before Judge Abe Quint Schaeffer. Willis was wearing a blue button down and slacks. He's free on a hundred thousand dollar bond, Carson, still jailed, hobbled in wearing an orange jumpsuit and ankle shackles. Each one faces three counts of second degree felony murder and distribution of drugs in

the deaths of their friends, Ricky Johnson, David Harrington, and Clayton McGinney. Their frozen bodies were found outside Jordan Willis's home on a cold January 9th. All of them had gathered for what was supposed to be a fun Sunday watch party watching the Chiefs. And despite a friendship amongst all of them, group text, being fans of the Chiefs, regular get-togethers, these two didn't even look at each other in court and I think I know why. Two arrested over the deaths of three Kansas City Chiefs fans who apparently froze to death in their scientist friend's backyard and on his porch. And he didn't notice a thing for two days.

A guy is dead. Your friend is dead in a lounge chair on your porch, and you go two days ignoring repeated calls, text messages, social media requests from family and friends. You don't see any of that. You show up at the front door in your underwear with a glass of wine and go, huh, what?

Listen. Jordan Willis and Ivory Carson have been charged with distribution of a controlled substance and three counts of involuntary manslaughter. That from our friends at KNBC 9 News joining me in Ulster panel. But first I want to go to a very special guest joining us. It's Jonathan Price, the brother of one of those three victims, Ricky Johnson. Jonathan, thank you for being with us.

Thank you for having me, Nancy. Jonathan, I wonder sometimes if this day would ever come. You said from the get-go, something is wrong. Something is horribly wrong. It didn't happen this way. And you were right. Yeah, it just, from the very beginning, it didn't make sense. And it still doesn't make sense that they were able to rule out foul play from day one. And then, you know, with

these charges, I mean, I don't know the legal definition of foul play, but it definitely seems like they now believe that there was foul play. So it is keeping us in the dark for this long is very troubling. But there is still a sense of relief among all of us that this is hopefully coming to a conclusion. You guys have been dragged through hell and back. And during the Super Bowl, one of the chiefs were playing. I thought about you and your family. And I wondered what's going through their minds tonight as everybody's

celebrating and partying and you still did not have answers in your brother's death. Yeah. I mean, um, you know, I think about Ricky Daly, um, and, uh, you know, even more so when the Chiefs are playing or KU is playing, you know, there's, you know, he cared much about his family and his sports. And we shared that our entire lives. And, you know, those memories will always live on. And like I said before, there is a sense of relief that something is coming from all of this. Well, I was wondering, Jonathan, when everybody was celebrating and there was the big lead up to the Chiefs playing in the Super Bowl and everybody's, what's Taylor Swift going

to wear? And are they going gonna get engaged? Is she pregnant? Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Were you thinking, what about my brother? What about my brother? Cause I was thinking that the whole way through the Super Bowl.

Absolutely. Every day we've been saying this and, it kind of went radio silent for a very long time. And then, you know, we were still hearing that there was no foul play. You know, there's there's just too much still out there. And it's it's all about what's going to come out of trial. But, you know, there's still lots of questions.

Yeah, you're right, Jonathan. There is absolutely going to be a trial. You guys kept in the dark for so long, which must have been agonizing, agonizing as you wanted so badly for your brother to get justice and to think that for all that time, he sat in his house throwing back the booze, hanging around in his underwear. This guy is no idiot. He's a scientist for Pete's sake. Ignoring the dead body in a lounge chair on the porch, ignoring his friend's cars parked directly in front of his house. How can you ignore that? How can you not hear the phone for two

days? Not notice that you are being barraged on social media and texts and emails, acting like nothing happened? And then to pack up and leave town? Uh-uh. Well, this is how the whole thing started. January 7th is a football day for the Kansas City Chiefs as they will be playing the Los Angeles Chargers. So 38-year-old Jordan Willis invites a couple of buddies

to come to his house and watch the game. David Harrington, Ricky Johnson, and Clayton McGinney arrive at Willis' house just in time for the 325 kickoff. They enjoy the game as the Chiefs beat the Chargers 13 to 12 and Willis makes plans for them to get tickets to the next home game. So everything's fine. They're all there watching the game together. Then

what happens? After the game, Jordan Willis waves the guys off and crashes on the couch. On Monday, January 8th, Jordan Willis claims he did not leave his home at all. He would normally have to take his dogs, Sadie and Daisy, outside to do their business, but they're all staying at his dad's place. Okay, wait a minute. He had described his dogs as the quote quote, loves of his life. How did they end up somewhere else? Okay, that's just a tangential question. But right there, something is way wrong.

Joining me, Crime Stories investigative reporter Dave Mack. Right there, Dave. Jordan Willis, and this is on a Sunday the scientist he waves away the friends and claims he crashes on the sofa for what the next two or three days I mean if you take it from Sunday until finally the police were at the front door after the girlfriend breaks in the window to find the dead body and start screaming I mean that, that's his story, Dave. Seriously. And he's sticking to it, Nancy.

He has always claimed that he crashed out, doesn't know what the guys did. He was sound asleep for the next 72 hours and he missed all the messages. He didn't get any, uh, it didn't get any text messages, phone calls, because that phone was ringing off the hook. All those guys, family and friends, were reaching out to him because they were always in contact. But Jordan Willis claims he slept through the entire thing for three days, and he only got up

when they basically broke into his house to tell him there were dead guys on the backyard. Jonathan Price is with me. This is Ricky Johnson's brother who passed away. You know, when I think about what he went through, it was so cold out there. Do you let yourself, I mean, I try not to think about what my fiance went through when he was murdered. He was shot five times in the face, the neck, the head. And I try not to think about it because it will mess me up so badly. And I had children to raise.

Do you ever let yourself think about what Ricky went through while their friend was inside and his underwear passed out? Yeah, I think about that all the time. Especially with these three gentlemen being inseparable for a very, very long time and for all three of them to happen at the exact same time. And what some of them were going through in the final moments of seeing maybe one of their friends go down first, I don't, I just have so many questions still

on how that would have happened. And I pray that all the facts, not just some of the facts, but that all the facts will come out. And we will know. Is no idiot three days, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and I never knew my friend, my friend was dead on the front, on the back porch and my other friends were dead lying in my yard.

How can he, how can he say that? Oh yeah. And all the phone calls and all the texts and all the emails and all the social media. He said he was wearing noise canceling headphones for three days. Really? He was, he says he was wearing noise canceling earphones and he was in? He was obsessed. He was wearing noise canceling earphones and he was in his house. He didn't notice the car in front and he didn't notice three of his friends. He wasn't texting them the day after, hey guys, let's go get tickets for the next game.

Cause the chief said, what? Completely acted like he was completely shut off from the whole world. And noise canceling headphones, sure. Maybe you can't, right? You maybe can't hear a little thing in the next room, but you're gonna hear people beating on your door and you're gonna see your phone blowing up for two days.

So let me understand something, Dave, Mac. How many days passed before the girlfriend, the fiance, has to come and literally break in? When did that happen? Just give me a number. Two days, all right. Two days. What day was it? The game was on. The game was on. Was it Tuesday? Yeah. The game was on Saturday, on Sunday the 7th and Tuesday the 9th is the day police are at the door. Okay, you know

what? They didn't teach me math in law school, but 7, 8, 9. That's three days. Seven is Sunday, the day of the game, which is in the early afternoon. All night, all day Monday until finally Tuesday when the fiance is beside herself. She can't find her fiance and goes looking for him. Listen. On January 8, friends and family are concerned they were headed to Jordan Willis' house to watch the game. But now none of the guys, including Jordan Willis, are replying to messages on social media or by phone. On Tuesday, January 9th, 951 p.m., Clayton McKinney's fiance shows up at the house. She sees the cars in the driveway and since nobody is answering the phone or replying to

messages, she breaks into the home and screams Willis's name. She walks through the house then she looks on the back porch and sees a body. Oh my stars. Okay Jonathan Price is joining me. This is Ricky's brother, beloved brother I might, and they grew up together and they would argue about who's gonna watch Power Rangers and who's gonna watch ESPN. Very, very loving relationship their whole lives. In my mind that's three days. You got the Chiefs game early afternoon Sunday. They're together. Then Sunday night, all day Monday, Monday night, and then Tuesday 9 51. That's nearly 10 o'clock at night. Clayton's fiance comes hysterical trying to find him, has to break in and sees a dead

body. Is my timing correct, Jonathan? I mean, it appears to be correct. You know, I'm not very good at math either. But, you know, there's a question in my mind that there's no possible way you can sleep that long and just not know what's going on. I agree, Jonathan. No way. What was he doing in there? Joining me is a veteran defense attorney who has handled a number of high-profile cases. Derek Smith is joining me out of Ohio. He's at dwsmithlegal.com.

Derek, really? The defense? I slept through the whole thing? I mean, for those of you just joining us, finally, movement. A bombshell arrest of two people in connection with the deaths of three Kansas City Chiefs fans who were frozen to death and their buddy, the scientist's backyard. Derek Smith, can he really look at a jury and say, I slept for three days with noise canceling headsets on, I knew nothing? Yes and no. This is a terrible situation. His best friends, some of his friends

he's with his whole entire life, like they said, they were very close. Utter shock and disbelief and just manic depression will put somebody down. Looking out your window and seeing your friends in the condition they were in, that's enough right there to send a person into deep shock, disbelief and just pass right back out. Does not want to be part of reality. Okay, that's a good one. So he saw the bodies and then passed back out. You know, to Dr. Heidi Green, joining me, clinical psychologist, trauma specialist, author of The Path to Self-Love and World Domination,

drheidegreen.com. Dr. Heidi, so now we're getting a spin on that and they're telling what it's gonna morph into by the time this goes to trial. So Jonathan Price, brace yourself. So Derek Smith is spinning it out. You know, like Rumpelstiltskin would take that nasty hay out of the barn and spin it into gold.

He is now hypothesizing that the defendant, one of the two arrested in the deaths of three people that were left to freeze out in the yard, one on his porch, is that he came to from his deep sleep, you know, I'll throw in Sleeping Beauty there, he came to, saw the dead body of his friend and then passed out. Dr. Heidi Green, psychologically speaking, that seems very unlikely to me. So it is very unlikely that he fell unconscious for 72 hours as a result of

a significant trauma. And we can say if your friends died accidentally, if that's what we're going with and you saw them in your home, it's obviously possible that you would have a significant trauma response. And that trauma response could include a freeze response. I could see somebody maybe being in their house, terrified to answer the phone, terrified to go and look at the bodies, wanting to essentially just pretend

like nothing's going on. But to actually be unconscious for 72 hours, that seems far less likely as a trauma response. Crime stories with Nancy Grace. It was a bone chilling January night. McGinney's fiance, April Mahoney, actually broke into Willis's home after she had called over and over and over frantically trying to find her love who she had not heard from for two days. And it was there she found the bodies of

three men and all frozen solid all still dressed in their Kansas City Chief's gear, slumped in the backyard. And now, there remain two, Jordan Willis and Ivory Carson. The two sat less than five feet apart in court as the judge ruled their case will go to trial. What happened that Sunday afternoon? Clayton McGinney's fiance calls police. Officers arrived to find Willis in his underwear with an empty glass of wine in hand, according to the victim's families.

The other two bodies were then found in the backyard. Jordan Willis tells police he has no idea what happened. John Peserno, an attorney representing Willis, said his client had no idea his friends were dead until police knocked on his door. Haley Letire wrote, My husband banged on his door for 20 minutes. My friend banged on his door and then busted a window and yelled and announced her presence. While she's inside and steal nothing from him, then the cops come ten minutes later and he comes out nonchalant in his boxers with an empty wine glass in hand? Nothing is adding up. Dave, Clay and Ricky need and deserve justice.

Yes, they do. And Jonathan Price is with me. This is Ricky's brother. Jonathan, your brother is always described as a Kansas City Chief fan. That's really not doing him justice. He was so much more. Tell me. Well, Ricky was very humble. He loved everybody he ever interacted with. He always saw the good in people.

He helped out anybody in need anytime. No matter if at one time they were seen as enemies or just not friends in general, but he was just such a kind person, loving father, brother, son, cousin. He was truly cherished by our entire family. Tell me about your family. Well, I mean, we kind of, we grew up, you know, separated at some points, but we always came together for family events. You know, we were always there at Christmas times, holding our own different Christmases to make sure that all of our schedules matched up to where we can all see each other.

And when I was in the military, anytime I came home, Ricky and my other brother Rusty, they always made it a point. And my sister Lisa, they always all made it a point to come home all to be together every time. So we cherished each other. And there's very fond memories of Ricky growing up and everything he was to all of us. When you say the memories you had growing up, what memories? Well, my love for football, my love for all sports came from Ricky. I was seeing my two oldest brothers throwing the football farther than I could imagine when I was a small child. I just looked up to them.

We went to the very first game that Patrick Mahomes was playing in the preseason and he had met my entire family. And even though we were states away, you know, we always, we always talked about the sports of Kansas City and, you know, everything that we were accomplishing finally after so many years of being, you know, an up and down team. You know, we shared a lot of memories together. And, you know, I and I just love them.

We are learning more about the deaths of the so-called three chiefs fans. As news starts to spread of the three friends freezing to death in the backyard while their friend is asleep inside, the families of the victims begin to speak out and ask questions. The biggest question for Jordan Willis is what happened? Next was why didn't you answer calls, text messages, and social media messages from family and friends of the three men? The Daily Mail reports Willis insists

he spent the next two days in his home not thinking anything of the fact that his friends' cars were still outside and only learned they died when the fiance of one of the men broke into the house on January 9th in the hopes of finding him. Jonathan Price, where were the victim's cars parked in relation to the friend's home? I guess if you're based on what I've heard, if you look out the front door, they were just off to the right.

And I guess there was potentially two out of the three cars, because I think someone might have carpooled. But either way, my brother drove an F-150. So it was, you know, semi-large truck right there in the front. There's no way to miss it. So Barry Hutchinson joining me, former LE now chief investigator for Barry and Associates Investigative Services in Kansas and Missouri. Barry, let me understand. So this guy, this so-called friend, could find a wine glass and fill it up with wine and find his noise-canceling headphones.

He could find those, he could see those, but he couldn't see his dead friend on the porch and in the yard or their vehicles parked in front of his house? Man, see this story, you know, his excuses for how everything happened, it just makes no sense at all. You know, I've been thinking about this, and one of the things that I thought about, you know, the guy came to the door in his underwear,

and he said that he had been asleep for 72 hours. We knew that he'd been drinking a lot apparently. So if he slept for a solid three hours, don't you think his body would have evacuated while he was asleep for three solid days if he never got up? He would have wet himself. Did he come to the door with soiled underwear or did he look like he urinated on himself? You know, when you arrest a drunk on the street, most of the time, and they're awake, they pee all over themselves. This guy did the fucking urinated on himself, because if he didn't, that kind of shoots that story right in the in the high end end, if you ask me. Yeah, I mean, he had to

get up and get to the bathroom. Dr. Kendall Crown is joining me, and he's here for other reasons, but since we're on this topic, Dr. Kendall Crowns with me, Chief Medical Examiner, Tarrant County, that's Fort Worth, never a lack of business, esteemed lecturer at Burnett School of Medicine, TCU, and launching a new podcast, DOA Dead on Arrival, March 7. Dr. Crowns, is that true? What Barry just told us? I mean, how could he go 72 hours drinking, let me add that in, and not getting up and finding his way to the bathroom?

Oh, I agree with that. There's no way you could sleep for three days after consuming that much alcohol and also eating that your body wouldn't urinate on itself or defecate. So it's impossible to believe that he spent that entire time asleep and not getting up and at least going to the bathroom. Jordan Willis's attorney, John Peserno, refuses to answer questions about whether the men were using drugs. Peserno says there was a fifth man in the home on the night of January 7th. Willis says the man is a buddy who left earlier than the other three men. As the investigation heated up, Jordan Willis moved out of the home and checked into rehab. A forensic data extraction found text messages on Harrington's phone between Willis, McGinney,

Johnson and others that proved Carson was the person who supplied the group with cocaine. DNA evidence matched Willis, identifying him as a major contributor. And DNA evidence from the second bag matched Carson, confirming his role as the drug supplier. Packs up and goes to rehab. So to Jonathan Price, when did you learn that the so-called best friend of your brother packs up, clears out the house, takes his dog and goes to rehab? I mean, the only time that we found out was whenever it was reported in the news, which is kind of the unfortunate part of all this.

But if you have the mental capacity to know you have a problem after the fact and check yourself into rehab, then you know more about what happened that night. And I don't know if you share that or not with the authorities, but the fact that he was not detained, you know, after that night or the past 14 months doesn't really make any sense to me. Yeah. You know, to Derek Smith, why is that the go-to with your clients and all the stars? It's only after they're busted for something that they suddenly realize they have a problem

and they hide out in rehab. Well, unfortunately, it takes an event like that to really change lifestyle or change your mindset or even in these cases, serious addiction. I mean, it's akin to being in a certain way of life, certain way of doing things. Everything's fine as long as everything's fine. And then something tragic or something terrible or the law gets involved, then you have to make a drastic change. And that's, unfortunately, just how it is sometimes. And joining me right now is a special guest just joining us.

Eric Zand is with us. It is the Platte County prosecutor who was working on the case. And I know, prosecutor who was working on the case. And I know Eric, number one, thank you for being with us, but I know what you can say is limited having been a prosecutor for many years myself, but I want to thank you for being with us. The family questioned this from the get-go, and I know the prosecutors get the case once LA law enforcement finishes their investigation. But I'm sure you know having dealt with so many crime victims how agonizing this has been for the family to be waving the banner, this isn't right, this isn't normal, this

guy's not innocent, he won't say a word to us about what happened, this is the alleged best friend. They've been waiting all this time. Now, Eric, don't get me wrong. I'm glad we finally have bombshell arrests in the deaths of the three Kansas City Chiefs fans. But what took so long? Please explain it.

Yeah, you're absolutely right, Nancy. This was a long time coming and our hearts absolutely go out to these family members. I met with them shortly after these deaths and it's just really tragic. It's honestly, it's another reminder of the dangers of street drugs. And these cases are tough to put together. Cracking down who's responsible for providing these drugs is no easy task. But I can't tell you how proud I am, Nancy, of the Kansas City Police Department and prosecutors in my office who from day one said that they weren't going to rest until

we exhausted every possible resource to bring the people we believe responsible for these crimes to justice. And yesterday was the first step in that, as you know, these men are presumed innocent and less than until proven guilty. But we've charged them what we think happened, which was providing cocaine and fentanyl and causing the deaths of these three men. As a matter of fact, this is what Platte County prosecutor Eric Zand had to say. A doctor with Forensic Medical of Kansas found that Mr. McGinney, Mr. Harrington, and Mr. Johnson all died of fentanyl and cocaine combined toxicity. That's from our friends at KMBC 9 News. So, Eric, your assertion, what you're going to prove, I think, in trial is that the casual

use of a little cocaine, although family says that at least one of the victims had never used cocaine before, but the casual use of cocaine turned deadly because it was cut with fentanyl. Yeah, in this case, what we allege is that there were two baggies found at the scene. One of those baggies contained cocaine. The other baggie, we allege, contained fentanyl. The ME found that it was a combination of those two drugs that caused these men's deaths. And so we've charged both of the men,

one of them who we believe provided the cocaine, the other who we allege sold the fentanyl that caused these deaths. And we allege because we charged them with manslaughter that they recklessly caused the deaths of these three men. As a matter of fact, listen to what Jonathan Price had to say. From the very beginning, he said that before the fifth person came out, he said that Jordan was there sporadically throughout the day.

And then whenever. And then he also did not mention a fifth person. But once the fifth person came out, then he changed it to saying that there was a fifth person and that he then he changed it to saying that there was a fifth person and that he was asleep the entire time. So those were two very specific details that were specific in the opening statement, but then changed over time. So Alexis Tereschek joining us, crime stories, investigative reporter, the best friend now charged in a homicide case, changed his story. He never mentioned anybody else was there beside him and his three buddies, all dead,

frozen dead in the backyard. And he goes three days and doesn't notice they're on his back porch. There's a mystery guy, a fifth person, Alexis. He changed his story. Why? Because the fifth person was a person that provided the drugs, according to police. This is somebody who they have all known for quite a while that Jordan has known. And he, he was

contacted and this man brought the drugs. So this, so there's cocaine, Jordan Willis's DNA is on the cocaine. Ivory Carson's DNA is on the bag of fentanyl. And that is the toxic combination that killed these men. So he was, he had come over and brought them the cocaine. And the way that the police found this out wasn't through Jordan Willis. He never mentioned any of these details. But David Harrington's phone is the one phone that they were able to extract evidence from. And they saw on there, there were group chats about buying the cocaine. Willis was the one phone that they were able to extract evidence from. And they saw on there, there were group chats about buying the cocaine. Willis was the one that would always provide it

for them. These other guys didn't have enough cocaine. It's expensive. It's not a cheap drug. And then you top it off with the fentanyl and he was the one that did it. So there were group chat text messages that showed that these were how they got the drugs. To Eric Zand joining me right now, Platts County prosecutor who is charged with lassoing all this evidence and presenting it to a jury. Did he really think we wouldn't find out about the fifth guy, the mystery man, and all of his statements at the get-go? That was never mentioned. Now we know why. He was the dope dealer. Well, and Nancy, I can't comment on exactly what either of these defendants thought or

said, but what I can tell you is that we allege that Mr. Willis provided cocaine and Mr. Carson sold fentanyl to these men. And we allege that resulted in the deaths of these three great people who were boyfriends, husbands, fathers, sons of people in Kansas City. It's truly tragic. And here's what folks have to understand. If you deal drugs and somebody dies as a result, we will do everything we can to make sure that you're held accountable for the deaths of those people. That's exactly what we're trying to do in this case. Crime stories with Nancy Grace.

Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. The bodies of David Harrington, Clayton McGeeley, and Ricky Johnson all found in the backyard of their friend Jordan Willis' home, Kansas City, last January. Frozen dead. The temperature that night was just 18 degrees Fahrenheit. One of the victims seated upright in a patio chair, the others lying sprawled nearby, ice crusted on their faces. Investigators now calling it, foul play by stealth and toxicology reports confirm all three died of cocaine laced with fentanyl. Police even

find two plastic baggies in the home, one containing cocaine with Willis's DNA and another with fentanyl and Carson's DNA. Video shown in court. Willis sitting in the back of a police car telling his version of the night before. He went on to insist he had no idea his friends died just steps away from him. What more do we know? You look at any of their Facebooks, any picture that's posted, it's not of their family, it's of these men. And if just one of them, even two of them passed out at the same time, which is already impossible, the other man would have absolutely brought them inside

and called for help, something. So that's just insane. This is what Platte County prosecutor Eric Zahn tells us. He saw a large plate of cocaine allegedly supplied by Mr. Willis that everyone was using. According to prosecutors, the defendant provided it. The friend, the friend, the scientist, the HIV possibly laced with fentanyl, to his friends. You were just hearing from our friends at KMBC 9 News to Dr. Kendall Crowns joining us.

Dr. Kendall Crowns, I want to understand how the use of these drugs, potentially cocaine cut with fentanyl, don't know if they knew it was cut with fentanyl. What that would look like. I mean, it's hard for me to understand, although I've heard about it, I've prosecuted, I've seen it at crime scenes, where you have a party and there's a plate of cocaine out. I mean, I would think there'd be sandwiches and chicken chicken wings right? Celery, carrots, ranch dip. There's a plate of cocaine and everybody's doing it. You know how many times have you heard that? Mom everybody's doing it. How are people supposed to know that cocaine can be laced with fentanyl

and what fentanyl can do with you? Even a touch of fentanyl can kill you. So what would fentanyl look like? Can it be in a powder form? Yes it can. Actually it'll be kind of in a white powdery form. It can be in the form of a fake Percocet which is a blue pill that has an M30 label on it. It can be a patch. It can even be on a lozenge type sucker is one of the ways it is distributed. But anyway, cocaine, if it's cut with something, fentanyl can be very deadly and you don't know how much fentanyl has been put in there, how much fentanyl you're actually getting with the amount of cocaine that's been cut with it. So that's why you could have a group of people sitting together and

three of them die and two of them live because one got more fentanyl than the other because it's really not regulated like a drug through the FDA. It's just widely all over the place. So that's why the street drugs are very dangerous, is you never know what you're getting. And one thing, we've had cocaine cut with dog dewormer as well. So it's incredibly dangerous. Under Kendall Crowns, I have investigated cases, for instance, an infant at daycare. Little did the family know that the daycare provider was storing fentanyl there, also dealing like I think the husband or the boyfriend was dealing.

And they moved the fentanyl from one place to the next inside the daycare and that movement released particles of fentanyl and the infant inhaled it or touched it. It killed the baby. So if you've got a plate of cocaine laced with any fentanyl at all, there's your OD right there. What started off as, I guess, a good time, ends in death. I mean, you can die from even inhaling particles or touching particles of fentanyl. Yes, fentanyl is incredibly dangerous and even its friend or another derivative of it, carfentanyl, is even more dangerous. It's come down to the fact that law enforcement and paramedics

will now carry naloxone, which is a way to counteract the effects of the opioid on their rigs or in their cars to, if they get exposed to it and begin having symptoms, they can take it and try and save themselves. So fentanyl is incredibly dangerous. It's not a drug you really should mess with. You know, I'm just thinking about these victims and how they ended up frozen in plain view of their so-called friend, Jordan Willis. You know, I'm trying to think about their families. Dave Mack, tell me about the victim's families. I know Jonathan is here speaking on behalf of his brother Ricky, who died that day, whose body sat out there freezing for so long. What about the other victims?

You know, Nancy, Mr. Harrington's mom, Teresa, claims she's been kept out of the loop since the bodies were found. She said that they wouldn't tell me anything. Now she is saying that the statements made it easy to think that they had already made up their minds and there wouldn't be any further investigation. And she's really pushing back on this. She said the arrest didn't really clear up any speculation

about the death saying, quote, I still don't know anything about how my son died or his last moments. That's pretty upsetting when you look at this over a year down the road that she doesn't know any more than you and I might know. Well, Kendall Crowns, what would someone go through if they literally sat outside in an accidental fentanyl stupor and froze dead? That would be horrible, but they couldn't get up and move. So basically, fentanyl makes your respiratory drive decrease and makes your brain not think

it needs enough oxygen. And so you slowly kind of drift off into a coma that eventually your brain not getting enough oxygen begins to die, which causes your lungs to fill with fluid and then you pass away. It wouldn't necessarily immobilize you to the point that you couldn't get up and get yourself out of an unsafe situation unless you've gone into a coma. So those individuals probably... Well, why would they sit there and on the porch in a lounge chair and lay in the backyard if they could move? I mean, I'm certainly not a medical doctor, but certainly they would get up off the porch or get off

the ground and come inside. According to the defendant, the door was unlocked. I submit they couldn't. Well, that's if they're still conscious. If they've gotten enough fentanyl in and it's caused them to go into basically a coma, they can't move at that point. And then they will either more likely than not die from the fentanyl prior to dying from freezing to death. Because there are autopsy findings you'll find that'll show that they died from hypothermia or freezing

to death, which I haven't seen any reports of that being found. Alexis Terescha, we keep referring to them as the Kansas City Chiefs fans, and they were so much more than that. Tell me about their families. Well, Clayton McGinney was engaged. He was engaged to a woman named April Mahoney, and they were very happy together. They were very young. You know, he worked in construction, small business construction, and he was going through a really rough time. There weren't a lot of jobs, but they were still together at the time. And she in fact started a GoFundMe to tell everybody

like he was so wonderful. And he was somebody that was her whole life. And the two of them had all these future plans together. And then it was abruptly cut short. And in fact, she was the one that found them. April was trying, trying, trying to reach him. Clayton calling him over and over again. She's the one that showed up. April was trying, trying, trying to reach him, Clayton calling him over and over again. She is the one that showed up at Jordan Willis' house.

She broke through the basement window. She got out. She found Clayton and then the other two guys dead. Overnight, we learned two arrested in the horrific deaths of three Kansas City Chiefs fans watching a football game with their so-called best friend. Now, behind bars arrested the so-called best friend Jordan Willis and a guy named Ivory J. Carson, aka Blade.

Okay, straight back out to Jonathan Pryce. This is Ricky's brother. Tell me your thoughts. Well, I mean, summing everything up, he was my brother. I cherished him a lot. And his three daughters, so a couple of them are a little bit young to fully understand.

So a couple of them are a little bit young to fully understand. It's very difficult to think about what they are going through and the answers that they've been neglected for all this time. And it's just very, it makes us very distraught. Jonathan Price, you want to set the record straight on some certain issues. What? Well, one of the things that we've been told since the beginning, which did not make sense, is the ruling out of file play and, you know, the amount of information that we've gotten since then, you know, since January 9th, it's been very disappointing.

I'm glad that I understand that it takes time and, you know, I'm glad that we are finally getting some answers, but there's still a lot out there that we don't fully understand. And just three or four months ago, Jordan's lawyer was saying that he thinks that charges will come, but not to Jordan. And that's from talking to some prosecutor. So that part doesn't make sense to me either. And, you know, just the more I get back into this, you know, the more pain that's coming back just like there was back then, and the more questions that are arising from all of this. Two defendants left standing in the case

of three Kansas City chiefs dead in the backyard. The two were just feet apart in court, but never even looked at each other, much less uttered a word to each other. And that hearing went for over three hours. That's a long time to avoid each other's gaze. What does that tell me? They're going to blame each other.

A lot of finger pointing is going to go down in this courtroom when trial occurs. We wait as justice unfolds. Nancy Grace signing off. Goodbye, friend. Goodbye, friend.