What happened to Brad McGarry? Details explored ahead of Dateline: Secrets Uncovered on Oxygen
The upcoming Dateline: Secrets Uncovered episode Dangerous Secret will air on Wednesday, June 18, at 8 pm ET. It will revisit the 2017 murder of Brad McGarry in Bellaire, Ohio. Detectives discovered the 43-year-old coal miner and former hairdresser face down in his basement. He was shot twice in the back of the head, and the rooms were methodically ransacked to imitate a break-in.
High-value collectibles and a 9 mm handgun remained untouched, leading investigators to suspect the scene was staged, as per Oxygen's report dated October 20, 2018. The focus soon shifted to Brad McGarry’s best friend, David “DJ” Kinney. He had called 911 after arriving with his wife and daughter at McGarry's residence to drop off a weed-eater.
Cell-phone data, neighborhood surveillance, and Kinney’s shifting statements placed him at the house before and after the shooting, contradicting his self-defense claim, as per The Intelligencer report dated May 19, 2017.
Prosecutors argued Kinney killed Brad McGarry to conceal their long-term affair. A jury convicted Kinney of aggravated murder in February 2018. Judge Frank Fregiato imposed life without parole plus 3 years for firearm specification, according to a WTOV-9 report dated February 15, 2018.
Brad McGarry’s 2017 Basement Murder and the Hidden Affair That Led to a Life-Without-Parole Verdict
Brad McGarry was found shot twice in the back of the head inside the basement of his Bellaire, Ohio, home on May 7, 2017. The furniture was overturned, but high-value collectibles and his 9 mm pistol were left behind, signaling a staged robbery. Investigators learned Brad McGarry had arranged to meet his best friend, David “DJ” Kinney, that afternoon.
Cell-phone records, neighborhood video, and inconsistencies in Kinney’s timeline soon made him the prime suspect. Two days later, detectives confronted David Carl Kinney about a long-running affair with McGarry, which he had been hiding from his wife.
Facing the evidence, Kinney changed his version of events multiple times before admitting he fired the fatal shots, although he claimed self-defense. He was arrested on May 9 and held on a $1 million bond pending indictment.
Key Investigative Breaks and Conflicting Stories
Investigators initially chased several false leads, including a possible former boyfriend and workplace tensions. The turning point came when cousin Schuyler Strawser revealed Brad McGarry had been seeing “DJ” for years. After analysing his phone data, Kinney was placed at the residence during the critical window.
As detectives pressed him, Kinney offered a series of contradictory narratives, first a robbery, then an unknown gunman, and finally a struggle over a derringer. As per The Intelligencer report dated May 19, 2017, Detective Ryan Allar stated:
"Constantly, the defendant’s narrative changed. As I was talking to him I started to suspect that he was the one that had killed Brad McGarry."
This pattern of shifting stories, matched with forensic findings that the bullets entered from behind, dismantled the self-defense claim. On May 11, prosecutors confirmed that Kinney, the man who dialed 911, was now charged with murder and a firearm specification. A judge later ruled the evidence sufficient for a grand jury review.
Trial, Verdict, and Sentencing Consequences
Kinney’s 8-day trial began in February 2018. Jurors heard how Brad McGarry allegedly pressed Kinney to leave his marriage, suggesting a motive rooted in secrecy. Forensic analysts testified about the execution-style gunshots and the absence of defensive wounds.
The defense highlighted Kinney’s clean record and requested the possibility of parole. However, the state argued that the deliberate nature of the killing warranted the maximum penalty. As per the WTOV-9 report dated Feb 15, 2018, Prosecutor Dan Fry remarked:
“The jury unanimously found him guilty of aggravated murder, a pre-meditated execution-style murder, shooting his supposed friend in the back of the head twice. Only Mr. Kinney knows why,”
Judge Frank Fregiato then imposed life without parole, plus 3 years for the gun specification. The murder weapon remains unrecovered, and investigators continue to seek its location.
Dateline: Secrets Uncovered will re-examine Brad McGarry’s case in the episode Dangerous Secret on Wednesday, June 18 at 8 pm ET. The episode will offer viewers a detailed look at how the hidden relationship and staged crime scene led to a life-without-parole verdict.
Stay tuned for more updates.
