Man's murder, wife's death feed into local legend of "cursed" mansion
When Mike Harding, a California transplant, spotted a majestic mansion in Celina, Tennessee, he thought he'd found the dream retirement home for himself and his wife, Julie. But those dreams ended abruptly when Mike suddenly went missing in 2022.
Key points
- Mike Harding was found shot four times in a vacant Kentucky property in September 2022.
- Detective BJ Burton said Harding was lured to the house by texts from a fake realtor named James Fraser.
- Harding's wife Julie, a California Highway Patrol captain, was told of his death but later declined to speak with investigators.
Mike Harding, a California transplant who had moved to the Kentucky-Tennessee lake country to start an HVAC business, was found dead in September 2022 inside a vacant three-building property in Burkesville, Kentucky. David Hammersley, who was house hunting with his family, discovered the body in a cottage and described an overpowering odor and a man on the floor with his arm outstretched, dead from gunshot wounds.
Prosecutor Ann Marie Gordon Anderson said Harding appeared to have been there for about a week, from September 19 to 26. Detective BJ Burton, who led the investigation for Kentucky State Police, said Harding had been shot four times, twice in the torso and twice in the head.
A fake realtor and a burner phone
Burton said Harding's phone showed he was lured to the house by texts from a realtor named James Fraser, who asked him to check out the property. Harding, who owned an HVAC business, believed he was going there for a heating and air service call. The final texts arranged a meeting around 4 p.m., with Harding writing that he was 35 minutes out.
Investigators could not find a realtor named James Fraser and concluded the name was probably made up. The phone company later revealed that the number used to text Harding came from a prepaid burner phone used only to arrange the murder. Burton said the killer removed the murder weapon and three shell casings but left behind one distinctive Hornady Critical Defense casing.
It kind of looks like somebody that wants to be a professional hit man — but is not quite there.
— Detective BJ Burton
Julie Harding declines to talk
Harding's wife Julie, a captain with the California Highway Patrol, made urgent calls to Kentucky State Police from Sacramento and later traveled to Tennessee. Sheriff Brandon Boone of Clay County said she grew frustrated when his office would not disclose certain information. In body camera footage, she apologized for her tone, saying her emotions had killed her reasonableness.
Burton waited at the Cumberland County Sheriff's Office to tell her about her husband's death, but she never showed up. A few days later he found her at a neighbor's house in Celina, where she referred all questions to her lawyer. Burton said that was unusual for someone in law enforcement and the spouse of a murder victim.
