Man's Fate In Napa Murder Plot Trial Decided: Report

NAPA VALLEY, CA — A jury took just two hours to decide what weeks of investigation and testimony tried to untangle—who killed Michael Harding, and why.

A jury convicted Thomas O’Donnell of murder Friday in the 2022 killing of the estranged husband of former California Highway Patrol commander Julie Harding, closing a case that stretched from Napa to rural Kentucky.

After hearing from dozens of witnesses, jurors returned a guilty verdict in two hours.

Prosecutors argued O’Donnell, a Napa resident, carried out a paid killing fueled by a contentious divorce. They said Julie Harding hired him as she and her husband, Michael, battled over money and property, according to reports.

Michael Harding, a heating and air business owner known in his Sacramento neighborhood, was found dead from gunshot wounds inside a Burkesville, Kentucky home days after he was lured there.

Investigators testified that O’Donnell used a prepaid phone to lure Michael Harding to the Kentucky home under the guise of an HVAC repair call, then shot him four times.

According to reports, prosecutors built their case on phone records, travel data, and forensic evidence.

Investigators connected O’Donnell to the crime and O’Donnell to Julie Harding using cellphone data, the Los Angeles Times reported. The data indicated O’Donnell was near Julie Harding’s Sacramento home two days before the murder.

They pointed to distinctive ammunition—its reddish-orange sealant found in the victim’s wound path, matched to a shell casing at the scene and a box recovered from O’Donnell’s truck, according to reports. Authorities also testified they found one of Michael Harding’s guns in that vehicle, according to report by KCRA.

The defense countered with a narrower claim: O’Donnell played a role but did not pull the trigger. Attorney Sara Zeurcher told jurors that Julie Harding orchestrated the plan and that a third, unidentified man carried out the plan, according to reports.

A Kentucky State Police detective conceded under cross-examination that investigators never recovered the murder weapon, the prepaid phone, or a key fob tied to the case, according to reports from the trial. Still, jurors sided with prosecutors after closing arguments.

Jurors could have opted for lesser findings, including complicity or facilitation of murder. Instead, they chose the most severe charge.

The verdict carried the weight of a missing voice — O’Donnell did not testify. Neither did a central figure beyond the defendant—Julie Harding. Authorities say she died by suicide months after the killing.

She had worked for the CHP for 22 years and, since 2018, had headed the department’s Yuba-Sutter office. Prosecutors argued she set the plot in motion.

O’Donnell, 64, now faces 20 years to life in prison. The trial moves into the penalty phase, where jurors will decide how long he will serve.