Former CHP captain’s coworkers described her ‘erratic’ behavior before murder
By Lysée Mitri
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YUBA-SUTTER, California (KCRA) — On the third day of the murder-for-hire trial involving former California Highway Patrol Capt. Julie Harding, jurors heard from some of her colleagues at the agency.
They described her behavior around the time that her estranged husband, Michael Harding, was killed in 2022.
Julie is accused of hiring a man from Napa, Thomas O’Donnell, to murder Michael.
A few months after the murder, Julie committed suicide.
Now, O’Donnell’s trial is underway at the Cumberland County courthouse in Kentucky.
On Wednesday, jurors heard testimony from Brian Wittmer, a retired CHP sergeant who worked in the Yuba-Sutter area with Julie. He said she was his Commander for about 3.5 years.
However, toward the end of that time, Wittmer said he noticed a shift in her behavior.
He said she got skinnier, acted erratically and started sharing more about her personal life.
Wittmer said Julie told him that she was dating someone from Napa, and she was making accusations about her soon-to-be ex-husband, Michael, during their divorce.
Then in September 2022, he said, Julie called him screaming that Michael was found dead.
He said it felt exaggerated.
“When I hung up the phone, I thought she wanted me to remember this moment in time,” Wittmer said.
After Wittmer, then-Assistant Chief Doug Lyons took the stand. He described getting a similar phone call from Julie.
He said he had just taken a new role at CHP and became Julie’s supervisor.
“It was 35 minutes of rambling, and I didn’t even know Julie. So, that was the strange part. I never met her,” Lyons said.
When asked if he believed she might be a suspect in Michael’s murder based on that phone conversation, Lyons said, “Absolutely.”
In December, O’Donnell was arrested for the deadly shooting in Sacramento, and two days later, Julie was found dead in Tennessee.
Jurors also heard from the agent with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation who looked into Julie’s death. The death was ruled a suicide.
No foul play was suspected.
The agent said there were a few suicide notes found at the scene.
One stated, “I lived a good life until a year ago. Mike you win. You got what wanted. Me in a coffin.”
Jurors saw an image of another one that stated in part, “Don’t know how to start this but with the only thing I can. I love you all. I will not put though a trial regardless of the outcome.”
It ended with, “I can take no more. Please love my dogs as I do.”
During cross-examination with an FBI agent, the defense homed in on two key points: FBI Agent Wayne Johnson testified that he never found evidence of a payment between Julie and O’Donnell, and that there was no forensic evidence tying O’Donnell to a murder weapon.
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