Former NBA G League player confessed to kidnapping and killing missing woman in Las Vegas, police say
By Cheri Mossburg and Cindy Von Quednow, CNN
(CNN) — Chance Comanche, a former player with the NBA G League’s Stockton Kings, confessed to kidnapping and killing a Washington state woman with his ex-girlfriend in Las Vegas earlier this month, according to police.
Comanche, 27, and Sakari Harnden, 19, were arrested last week and charged with kidnapping Harnden’s friend, Marayna Rodgers, but police began pursuing murder charges against Comanche and Harnden after Rodgers’ remains were discovered, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said in a news release Sunday.
A police arrest warrant shows Comanche and Harnden are charged with murder in the death of Rodgers. The Kings, an affiliate of the Sacramento Kings, announced December 15 that Comanche has been released from the team.
In the warrant, which was filed in Clark County District Court, police say the pair lured the victim to a secluded location under the guise of a prostitution deal. The pair then strangled Rodgers in Harnden’s vehicle before dumping her body in a ditch and covering her body with rocks, according to a court docket reviewed by CNN.
Following his confession, Comanche showed detectives where Rodgers’ body was buried, police said.
An attorney for Comanche, Michael Goldstein, said he “cannot comment on the substance or context of any statements made to law enforcement.”
“We will deal with these issues once we appear in court and are provided with a complete transcript or recording, if any,” Goldstein told CNN on Thursday.
CNN sought comment from attorneys representing Harnden.
“Sakari and Chance began putting a plan together to lure Marayna away from her friends so they could kill her,” police said in the arrest warrant. “Chance and Sakari were unable to get someone to help with the murder, so they decided to carry out the murder themselves.”
Rodgers was reported missing on December 7, two days after she was last seen with friends and had arranged to meet with Harnden and Comanche, according to police.
After the arrests, investigators obtained information leading them to find Rodgers’ remains in a desert area of Henderson, about 20 miles southeast of Las Vegas, according to police.
According to the warrant, Comanche told his ex-girlfriend in a text, “I can snap her neck or just strangle the bitch.” In another message, he wrote, “If you get a nice little thick piece of rope or sum sturdy I can do it from the back seat. Like how killers do it in the movies.”
Comanche was arrested by FBI personnel on Friday in Sacramento, California during practice at the Stockton Kings practice facility and waived extradition in a Sacramento court appearance on Tuesday. Las Vegas officials have 30 days to take him back to Nevada to face charges.
Harnden made an appearance in court on Wednesday and is set to return for arraignment in February. She appeared in court Sunday, when her bond was set at $500,000, court records show.
CNN’s Melissa Alonso and Jessica Flynn contributed to this report.
The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2023 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
