Former Kings G League player confessed to killing woman, police say

New court records reveal that a former member of the Sacramento Kings’ minor-league affiliate team was making a “murder plan” with a co-conspirator less than 30 minutes before one of his games began, among other gruesome details.

Comanche’s lawyer, Michael Goldstein, declined to comment about his client’s confession, telling KCRA, “We’re going to let the courts deal with it.”

The warrant includes dozens of text messages sent from Nov. 30 to Dec. 6 between Comanche, a player for the Stockton Kings of the NBA G League, and Harnden, a woman whom Comanche told police he’d met online a year and a half ago and dated briefly. The messages appear to show the pair planning to find someone to kill Rodgers, one of Harnden’s associates in Las Vegas. Both women were involved in sex work, and a dispute had arisen between Harnden and Rodgers that made Harnden seek out someone to kill Rodgers, per the document.

The document shows Harnden texted Comanche at 4:37 p.m. on Dec. 2 for an update, with Comanche instantly replying, “Starting my game. I’ll check half time.” The Stockton Kings had a game at 5 p.m. that night.

Comanche’s team flew to Las Vegas on Dec. 4 ahead of a scheduled game the next day against the G League Ignite team in Henderson, Nevada. Text messages from Dec. 4 show Comanche describing the exact method he would allegedly use later to kill Rodgers. Comanche played for his team on Dec. 5 in Henderson, scoring 16 points in 22 minutes. He returned to the team’s hotel just after 10 p.m, per the warrant, and went to the parking garage at 11:40 p.m. to meet Harnden, who pulled up at just after midnight on Dec. 6.

According to the document, Harnden told police that both she and Rodgers had worked as escorts and arranged for this meet-up, with Harnden telling Rodgers it was with a potential client who would pay $1,000 for one hour. Rodgers was dropped off by a friend and got into Harnden’s car in the passenger seat, with Comanche seated behind her and Harnden driving.

The group stopped at a liquor store before parking in a cul-de-sac in Henderson. Once parked, Rodgers allowed Harnden to straddle her and zip-tie her hands together because Harnden had told her Comanche wanted to have “kinky sex,” according to the document. Comanche then wrapped what he described to police as an HDMI cord around Rodgers’ neck from behind, with Harnden using her hands to strangle Rodgers from the front.

Harnden and Comanche then hid Rodgers’ body in a ditch and covered it with rocks, Comanche told police, according to the document, with Comanche admitting that he used a towel to try and avoid leaving any DNA at the scene. Comanche and Harnden drove back to Comanche’s hotel, arriving around 6 a.m. on Dec. 6. According to security footage cited in the warrant, Comanche left with the team around 8:50 a.m. to head to Portland for the Kings’ next game on Dec. 7, while Harnden left the hotel “visibly upset” around 10:30 a.m.

Later that day, Harnden reported Rodgers as missing, saying she had last seen Rodgers leaving in an Uber around 3 a.m. on Dec. 6 to go to an “appointment.” The next day, two other friends of Rodgers reported her as missing. Las Vegas police interviews of Rodgers’ friends and boyfriend led them to seek out Harnden for another interview and to eventually execute a search warrant on her car. Text messages included in the arrest warrant from late Dec. 6 show Comanche apparently coaching Harnden on what to say to police.

Las Vegas police arrested Harnden on Dec. 13 on suspicion of kidnapping Rodgers. Comanche had played in three games for the Stockton Kings since leaving Las Vegas, on Dec. 7 and Dec. 9 in Portland and on Dec. 12 in Stockton. He was at a practice on Dec. 14 when Sacramento County authorities arrested him, also on suspicion of kidnapping, with Las Vegas police detectives flying up to interview him. It was in that interview that Comanche confessed, according to the arrest warrant. Once authorities located Rodgers’ remains based on Comanche’s confession, the charges against him and Harnden were upgraded to murder.

Comanche, a Southern California native who played collegiately at the University of Arizona before entering the G League, was released by the Stockton Kings on Dec. 15.