CHP captain hired a hitman to kill her husband; now saga is near an end

A Kentucky jury has found a Napa, Calif., man guilty of killing a California Highway Patrol captain's husband in a murder-for-hire plot.

The conviction Friday of Thomas O'Donnell, 64, brings to a near-end a multiyear, multistate saga that left two people dead and one facing life in prison.

CHP Capt. Julie Harding and her husband, Michael Harding, 53, had become estranged after they bought property in Tennessee together, with Julie Harding remaining in Sacramento, according to court records. Julie Harding filed for divorce and, in May 2022, withdrew more than $220,000 from three bank accounts without Michael Harding's consent. She then conspired with O'Donnell to kill her husband, prosecutors said in court filings.

On Sept. 19, 2022, O'Donnell lured Michael Harding to a vacant house in Burkesville, Ky., claiming to need to some HVAC work done on the house. O'Donnell shot Michael Harding multiple times and left his body there, according to court records. The body was discovered a week later when a real estate agent came to show the house to potential clients.

Investigators connected O'Donnell to the crime and O'Donnell to Julie Harding using cellphone data. The data indicated O'Donnell was near Julie Harding's home in Sacramento two days before the murder.

O'Donnell was arrested Dec. 8 at Sacramento International Airport. That same day, Julie Harding was arrested in Kentucky on suspicion of criminal trespassing after allegedly harassing her husband's girlfriend.

Two days later, Julie Harding was found dead in what appeared to be a suicide.

Julie Harding had worked for the CHP for 22 years and, since 2018, had headed the department's Yuba-Sutter office. She was on leave at the time of her death.

O'Donnell's sentencing is scheduled for Monday.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

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This story was originally published May 4, 2026 at 10:34 AM.