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Chance Comanche #12 of the Stockton Kings shoots a free throw against Grand Rapids Gold on February 9, 2023 at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
CNN
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Chance Comanche, a former NBA player for the Stockton Kings, admitted to kidnapping and killing a Washington state woman with his ex-girlfriend in Las Vegas earlier this month, according to police.
Comanci (27 years old) and Sakari Harnden (19 years old) were involved. He was arrested last week Police began pursuing murder charges against Comanche and Harnden after the discovery of Rodgers’ remains, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said in a news release on Sunday, and were charged with the kidnapping of Harnden’s girlfriend, Marina Rodgers.
A police arrest warrant shows that Comanche and Harnden are charged with murder in Rodgers’ death. Kings, an affiliate of the Sacramento Kings, It was announced on December 15 That Comanche has been released from the team.
Rachel Aston/Las Vegas Review-Journal/AP
Sakari Harnden, who faces murder charges in connection with the disappearance of a woman whose remains were found in Henderson, appears in court for a probation check at the Las Vegas Regional Justice Center on Wednesday.
In the arrest warrant, which was filed in Clark County Circuit Court, police say the couple lured the victim to a secluded location under the guise of a prostitution deal. The pair then strangled Rodgers in Harnden’s car before dumping her body in a ditch and covering her body with rocks, according to a court docket reviewed by CNN.
After his confession, Comanche showed investigators where Rodgers’ body was buried, police said.
Michael Goldstein, Comanche’s attorney, said he “cannot comment on the substance or context of any statements made to law enforcement.”
“We will address these issues as soon as we appear in court and will be provided with a full transcript or recording, if available,” Goldstein told CNN on Thursday.
CNN has requested comment from attorneys representing Harnden.
“Sakari and Chance began putting a plan together to lure Marina away from her friends so they could kill her,” police said in the arrest warrant. “Chance and Sakari couldn’t get someone to help with the murder, so they decided to carry out the murder themselves.”
Rodgers was reported missing on Dec. 7, two days after she was last seen with friends and arranged to meet Harnden and Comanche, according to police.
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Chance Comanche is charged with murder in the death of Marina Rodgers, according to a court docket reviewed by CNN.
After the arrests, investigators obtained information that led them to find Rodgers’ remains in a desert area in Henderson, about 20 miles southeast of Las Vegas, according to police.
According to the warrant, Comanche told his ex-girlfriend in a text message, “I could slit her throat or just strangle the bitch.” “If I got a nice little piece of thick or strong rope, I could do it from the backseat. Like killers do in the movies,” he wrote in another message.
Comanche was arrested by FBI personnel on Friday in Sacramento, California while practicing at the Stockton Kings’ training facility and waived extradition at his Sacramento court appearance on Tuesday. Las Vegas officials have 30 days to return him to Nevada to face charges.
Harnden appeared in court on Wednesday and is scheduled to return to court in February. She appeared in court on Sunday, where her bail was set at $500,000, court records show.
CNN’s Melissa Alonso and Jessica Flynn contributed to this report.
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