Ray William Johnson: True Story Podcast - This TV Star is in Prison Now - The Chad Ollinger Story

Episode Date: February 17, 2026

Chad Ollinger, a 41-year-old reality TV personality best known for appearing on the Discovery Channel’s Mystery at Blind Frog Ranch with his father, has been charged with open murder in the December 26, 2025 death of his cellmate, Christopher Kelly, at the Clark County Detention Center in Las Vegas.

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Now, the guy's name is Chad, and Chad is 40 years old when this story starts, and bro, you know, like I said, he's somewhat of a reality TV star. He stars in this show on Discovery Channel called Mystery at Blind Frog Ranch, where he and his dad live on a big ranch in Utah, and there they hunt for lost treasure, like gold and ancient Aztec artifacts that they believe are hidden there. They also investigate potential paranormal activity on the ranch, but, you know, of course, they never really find anything. Regardless, Chad, he's kind of a thrill seeker, and he's definitely got some mental health issues. So one night in 2024, those mental health issues start to become

very apparent, because he is out in Emerillo, Texas, riding his Harley Davidson, and the dude blows right through a red light. And a cop in an unmarked police car just happens to see him. So the cop pulls out and he follows Chad and he tries to pull him over. And Chad, he's already got an outstanding warrant for a previous past offense. So he decides fuck the police and he doesn't stop. And this quickly turns into a high speed police chase. So he's cruising along for a while and after he feels like he's lost them, he pulls over in an alley and he did his Harley and he runs away on foot. But he doesn't get too far before police finally catch him and bam, they arrest him.

Here's his mugshot. Now, Chad, he isn't in jail too long before he gets bailed out. And a few months pass. And it's now 2025. And Chad, he's out driving and he happens to be speeding. And again, police pull him over and this time they find that he's driving with an invalid license. And so, bam, police arrest him again. He was his mugshot again.

And he's not locked up very long before he gets out on bail again. Now, during this time, traffic violations aren't the only problems he's having. By now, you know, he's a pretty eccentric guy. I mean, on the TV show he's on, he always claims that his family's home is cursed and it contains buried treasure and maybe also UFOs and ghosts and skinwalkers and just all types of supernatural stuff. So at some point, Chad starts believing that he himself has supernatural powers.

He believes that he has the ability to see inside a person and see if they are an evil spirit. And he refers to them as predators. So around this time, Chad starts seeing his ex-wife as a predator. And he gets angry at her and he accuses her of being that. Not only that, he accuses his kids of being the same thing.

And then he starts threatening to murder them. So his ex-wife, rightfully, goes and she gets a protective order against him, and he officially gets barred from contacting any of them. A few months after that, randomly, Chad just disappears. His friends and family don't know where he is. And his family knows that his mental health is getting worse, and so they get worried about him. So they go to the police and they report him missing.

And eventually, luckily, he is found safe in Albuquerque, New Mexico. But at this point, it's clear that it's only a matter of time before he snaps. A few months after he's found in Albuquerque, he goes to Las Vegas for some reason. And there, he's staying at the Encore Hotel. Well, at some point during this trip, his credit card gets declined and he isn't able to pay for his room. So he gets all angry and belligerent about this, and he goes and he locks himself in the room, and he won't let anyone in, and he refuses to leave the hotel. So the hotel staff calls the police, and police show up, and bam, they arrest him yet again.

Here's his mugshot again. Now, because he was arrested those times before in Texas, Chad has an active warrant out for him for contempt of court. I assume he just didn't show up to his prior court hearings in Texas. so they put a warrant out for him. Regardless, he's technically considered a fugitive in another state. So in Vegas, he has to stay in jail for a while. Now, here, in jail, is where things get really crazy for him.

As I've said before, Chad believes he has supernatural powers. He believes he has the ability to see spirits inside people, which allow him to know if they are bad people. He calls these bad people predators. Now, during this time, he's in jail, locked up with some people, who have probably done some really bad things. So you can imagine his so-called super ability is going off like crazy. But for some reason, Chad really zeroes in on this guy.

His name's Christopher. And Christopher, he's in here serving a six-month sentence for violating probation on a theft case. He also has a history of property-related offenses. So it seems like the guy's got some issues, but he doesn't appear to be a violent offender. Regardless, that's not what Chad is seeing. Chad definitely sees evil spirits in Christopher. He thinks he's a predator, and he becomes convinced that Christopher is the kind of person who is guilty of being inappropriate with kids, if you know what I mean. Even though Christopher has no history of having any child-related offenses whatsoever.

And what's weird is that these guys have gotten along so far. Like they've never had any issues. They've never gotten into any fights with one another or anything like that. But it doesn't matter to Chad. He's convinced that this guy is a predator. And when he gets these kind of bad vibes about someone, he believes that it is his personal responsibility to act on his supernatural power and take care of the problem. So he feels like he needs to do something about Christopher.

And so as the weeks pass in there, this feeling in him gets strong. and stronger, and he has nothing but free time to think about all this stuff and to think about how he's going to take out his cellmate. Then Chad realizes that he's scheduled to be released from jail soon. So if he wants to take his cellmate out, he needs to do it within the next couple of weeks, or he's going to lose the opportunity. So one day, Chad and Christopher, they're in their cell, and they get into some kind of argument over something, who knows what, and this argument gets pretty heated. And after, Christopher lays down in his top bunk facing the wall with his back to Chad.

And Chad, he sees this as his opportunity. And suddenly, boom, Chad grabs him from behind and he puts him in a chokehole. And Christopher, he fights and he tries to scream for help. But Chad won't let him go. And other inmates around, they can hear the struggle. But they're all locked up in their cells. So they can't really do anything. And so Chad holds Christopher there.

until he stops breathing, and he's no longer alive. Then he places him on the bottom bunk, and he covers him with a blanket, like he's asleep. Now, this particular detention center is already overcrowded and apparently understaffed, so the guards there, they're not really able to pay close attention to everything that's going on. And so eight hours go by, and none of the staff notices Christopher's body.

But then some of the guards are doing a routine check, and they finally find him there on the bunk. And so police come in and they investigate and they interview Chad, and he confesses to everything. He says he killed Christopher because he saw evil spirits in him and he felt that he was a predator, and he says that he doesn't care if he spends the rest of his life in prison because of it. And so, bam, they arrest Chad. Well, I guess they don't actually arrest him because he's already in jail. so I guess they just leave him locked up. But he has since been declared legally incompetent to stand trial,

so his trial over this hasn't actually happened yet, but he will very likely spend the rest of his life. This episode is brought to you by Nespresso. Introducing Virtual Up, the latest in a long line of innovation from Nisproso. It's innovation you can touch, sense, and taste in every single cup. With a three-second start, easy open lever, and dedicated brew over ice button,

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Terms apply. In prison.