A former professional basketball player and an alleged sex worker are accused of setting up a plan to kidnap and kill a Washington woman, strangling her to death and burying her body in a ditch in Nevada, according to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD).
On Dec. 15, the body of 23-year-old Marayna Rodgers, of Washington, was found in the Nevada desert after she had not been heard from or seen the week before. Two of Rodgers’ friends reported her missing on Dec. 7.
According to the arrest warrant, Rodgers traveled to Las Vegas with her boyfriend to allegedly engage in sex work, Rodgers’ boyfriend told police. Rodgers left their Airbnb around 10:30 p.m. on Dec. 5 to meet up with her friend and alleged sex worker, Sakari Harnden, for a sex work date and did not return.
The boyfriend told police Harnden and Rodgers got into an altercation on Dec. 4 because Harnden reportedly implicated her boyfriend in a double murder in California, the arrest warrant states. Harnden was reportedly upset because Rodgers was telling people how Harnden provided information to police, leading to her boyfriend’s arrest, the LVMPD warrant states.
A longtime friend of Rodgers, who was on the trip to Las Vegas with her, told police he dropped her off with Harnden around 1 a.m. Dec. 6. Rodgers got into a Mercedes vehicle Harnden was driving with a man — identified as former professional basketball player Chance Comanche — in the backseat, who was reportedly the person receiving and paying for the sex work, the warrant states.
Comanche and Harnden dated for a few months previously, but had broken up and continued seeing each other, documents state.
Harnden told police Rodgers left in an Uber after they performed sex acts on another man, but texts recovered by police told a different story.
On Dec. 1, Harnden and Comanche began texting and creating a plan to have a third person pretend to be a customer, request services from Rodgers, then kill her, documents show. When the third person did not want to participate, Harnden and Comanche decided to kill Rodgers themselves, the warrant states.
One of the texts from a third person on Dec. 4 said, “I’m not saying do it yourself but if it’s that easy why not knock it out.” Another text said to give Rodgers an alcoholic drink with poison in it, the warrant shows.
Comanche allegedly texted the group, saying he can strangle Rodgers from the backseat using a rope or similar item “Like how killers do it in the movies.”
Cellphone data showed Comanche, Harnden and Rodgers’ cellphones in the same location on Dec. 6 until Rodgers’ phone was deactivated.
According to Comanche’s interview with police on Dec. 15, he said Harnden picked up Rodgers and drove to a liquor store, then drove and parked in a cul-de-sac in the early morning hours of Dec. 6. Harnden reportedly told Rodgers that Comanche wanted to tie the women up and have sex with them, the warrant states.
Harnden got on top of Rodgers, who was sitting in the front seat, and Comanche handed her two zip ties to bind her wrists, the warrant states.
Comanche, who was sitting behind Rodgers, allegedly strangled Rodgers using a cord for about 10 seconds, telling police he “stopped when he heard Marayna struggling to breathe.”
Harnden allegedly choked Rodgers with her hands, even after Comanche stopped strangling her. Once Rodgers was unresponsive, they drove around and found a ditch, where they placed her body and covered her with rocks, the warrant states. Later during his interview with police, Comanche showed police on a map where they had left Rodgers and detectives located her body at that location.
According to jail records, Comanche appeared in Sacramento County court on Tuesday. A preliminary hearing for Harnden is scheduled for Dec. 28, court records show.
Tell us your thoughts...