Kentucky Man Accused of Killing His Partner and Writing a To-Do List to Cover It Up By Charlotte Phillipp

A Kentucky man has been charged with the murder of his partner — and investigators said he wrote a to-do list in an attempt to cover it up.

According to court documents obtained by WKYT and FOX 56, 39-year-old Daniel Kearney was arrested on Friday, Sept. 12, after Kentucky State Police (KSP) troopers arrived at the home he shared with his partner, 36-year-old Damian Poole, in the town of Stearns near the Tennessee border.

The documents stated that Poole’s mother first reported him missing to the McCreary County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) on Tuesday, Sept. 9.

On Sept. 12, state troopers went to search the pair’s home — a camper, where they lived together after moving to Kentucky from Colorado — and found what they believed to be Poole’s body.

According to FOX 56, investigators wrote that Poole’s body was covered up with several blankets in a back room of the camper, and it appeared that he had sustained two gunshot wounds to the head and been dead for several days.

Troopers said that Poole’s ankles were bound with a nylon rope, and they believe the body had been moved, per FOX 56. The bodies of two dogs were also found at the scene, and investigators believe they had both been shot and were lying in the spot where they died.

Several bullet holes, a pile of sheets, clothing and cardboard covered in blood were all found at the scene, along with an AR-style rifle, other guns and several pools of blood, according to the outlet.

Also among the evidence found at the scene, per FOX 56, was also a to-do list, allegedly written by Kearney, that included reminders to clean up, get rid of evidence, paint things in the home with an odor sealant and dispose of Poole’s body.

The list also included information about needing to burn things and spread ashes in other states.

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According to FOX 56, neighbors who spoke with police said that Kearney and Poole often fought, and gunshots were sometimes heard coming from their home. They also claimed that they asked Kearney about Poole’s whereabouts after he hadn’t been seen in a while, and Kearney allegedly said that Poole moved to another state in the middle of the night.

Witnesses also described Kearney as “aggressive,” “violent” and a “powder keg,” per the outlet.

Kearney is facing charges of murder, abuse of a corpse, tampering with physical evidence and second-degree cruelty to animals. He was taken to the Knox County Detention Center and a judge set his bond at $1 million.

He is set to be arraigned on Thursday, Sept. 18.

If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go to thehotline.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.