An attorney for this fifth man alleged that his client texted Jordan Willis, the renter of the home, before the bodies of the three men were found, hoping to get information on their whereabouts, as did family members of the men.
The three Kansas City Chiefs fans found dead in the backyard of their friend's rental home in Missouri were still alive and well in the early morning hours of Jan. 8, according to a man who claims he was with them that night.
That man is speaking out after a lawyer for the man renting the home, Jordan Willis, said that when his client went to bed that night after the men spent the evening of Jan. 7 watching football, there were still four men at the house.
“At some point, he got tired and went to sleep while there were these guys in the home, and as I know now there was a couple of other people in the home,” Willis' lawyer, John Picerno, previously told Inside Edition Digital.
This fifth man is disputing this account however, and claiming in an interview with WDAF that he left shortly after midnight while Willis and the three men were still awake after a day of watching football.
It was 48 hours later that police found the bodies of the three men, who were later identified by a Kansas City Police Department (KCPD) spokesperson as 38-year-old Ricky Johnson, 37-year-old David Harrington and 36-year-old Clayton McGeeney.
When pressed further on the details of the evening however, the man directed the outlet to speak with his lawyer, Andrew Talge, who, like Picerno, is a noted criminal defense attorney.
The Kansas City Police Department has said that there was no evidence of any criminal activity or foul play at the scene and classified the matter as a death investigation and not a homicide as they await the medical examiner's autopsy findings.
Inside Edition Digital reached out to Talge but he did not respond to a request for comment.
Talge did tell WDAF however that his client allegedly texted Willis before the bodies of the three men were found, hoping to get information on their whereabouts, as did family members of the men, said Talge.
This contradicts Picerno's claim that his client received no calls or text messages prior to the night of Jan. 9, when police arrived at his home.
Willis is no longer at that home and moved out over the weekend, according to two friends of McGeeney and Harington, who spoke with Inside Edition Digital.
Picerno did not respond to requests for comment on the claims being made by the fifth man and his client moving out of the rental home.
Family members are still at a loss, as Johnson's mother, Norma Chester, tells Inside Edition.
When asked to respond to speculation that drugs could be involved, she says: "I can't say that they're not, but all three [men] dead?"
She then adds of Willis, a noted HIV researcher: "This guy brags on being a scientist. All I can think is, what did he concoct?"
As Inside Edition Digital previously reported, police were called to the scene after the fiancée of McGeeney broke into the home on the night of Jan. 9.
Two women who knew the men say McGeeney's fiancée made the decision to break in after seeing the men's cars parked outside. Those friends also said that Willis and most of the men had been friends since high school, which Picerno confirmed to Inside Edition Digital.
McGeeney's fiancée called police after finding a body on the back porch, the KCPD spokesperson said. Police then discovered the two bodies in the backyard, and classified the case as a "death investigation," said the KCPD spokesperson.
McGeeney's fiancée was shocked to learn that Willis was home when police arrived, according to the two women who knew the deceased. She is among the loved ones in search of answers, which many hope will come after the medical examiner's report is released.
So is Willis, according to his lawyer.
"Jordan is unaware of how his friends died," said Picerno in his statement to Inside Edition Digital. "Like the rest of us, Jordan is anxiously awaiting the results of the autopsy and toxicology report."
