Brandon Lee Kenny: Man kills suspects involved in Washington woman's kidnapping, creates false narrative

WASHINGTON, UNITED STATE: A 25-year-old man, Brandon Lee Kenny, from Washington State was taken into custody over the weekend on suspicion of killing two individuals in the middle of the street.

The victims were both thought to be suspects in the disappearance of a woman who vanished last month and is thought to be dead.

What are the charges against Brandon Lee Kenny?

Following his arrest on Saturday, Brandon Lee Kenny was charged with two counts of first-degree premeditated murder in connection with the deaths of Kiara Morgan-Weiland, 23, and Colton Russell, 37, according to court records obtained by Law&Crime.

Authorities said that Russell and Morgan-Weiland were both under suspicion in the November disappearance of 49-year-old Jannell Martensen, Russell's ex-girlfriend.

A probable cause affidavit states that on December 8, at approximately 11:16 p.m., Spokane Police Department officers responded to several 911 calls regarding gunfire at the Cleveland Avenue and Cuba Street intersection in east Spokane, Washington.

All of the callers said they heard several gunshots, and some of them mentioned that a woman was lying in the street.

First responders discovered an adult male, later identified as Russell, in the driver's seat of a silver minivan when they arrived at the scene. He was declared dead at the scene, bleeding from what appeared to be multiple gunshot wounds.

Just in front of the van, a female victim later identified as Morgan-Weiland was discovered lying in the street with what appeared to be multiple stab wounds. At the scene, she was also pronounced deceased.

Morgan-Weiland had approximately 51 separate stab

According to the affidavit, an autopsy revealed that Morgan-Weiland had approximately 51 separate stab wounds, "11 – 12 of those penetrating the body cavity to include both lungs, heart, and liver," while Russell had six gunshot wounds, County Local News reported.

McDonald's bags that looked "fairly fresh inside the relatively clean van" and blue pills that were probably fentanyl were discovered inside the van, according to the authorities.

At approximately 9:15 p.m. that evening, surveillance from a nearby McDonald's revealed Russell at the wheel of the drive-through vehicle, with another male seated in the passenger seat and a woman who appeared to be Morgan-Weiland in the rear.

At around nine o'clock that evening, Kenny was seen entering the van with Russell and Morgan-Weiland on surveillance from the Park Lane Motel, where Russell had been lodging.

Before the shooting, at approximately 11:01 p.m., a man who was identified by the police as Kenny approached the van, opened the door and started shooting toward the driver's side of the vehicle, according to security camera footage from a nearby home.

Morgan-Weiland can be seen trying to flee from Kenny about two minutes later before collapsing to the ground. About a week later, investigators were able to identify and locate Kenny, and they took him into custody.

In a follow-up interview with detectives, Kenny allegedly admitted to killing Morgan-Weiland as well as Russell. He explained that he was "intimidated by Russell’s size and by the situation with Martensen," and that Russell had killed his ex-girlfriend.

As per the rumors that had not been released at the time of the interview, Kenny claimed to have killed Morgan-Weiland by "stabbing her multiple times" and to have shot Russell with a 9 mm handgun "until the gun was empty."

What does the affidavit state?

The affidavit states, “The defendant said he had gone to Russell’s house the previous month and found Russell crying on the couch. Morgan-Weiland was also in the house at that time."

It further read, "Russell told the defendant he had accidentally killed Martensen. The defendant said Russell then put a pistol in the defendant’s mouth and told him he had to help move Martensen’s body or he would be killed as well. The defendant helped carry Martensen’s body and put it in the back of Russell’s pickup truck.”

According to rumors, Kenny claimed that Russell, Morgan-Weiland, and a fourth man had parked near Cleveland Avenue and Cuba Street the night of the shootings so that Kenny could meet with his drug dealer.

Russell "told him that he was worried (Kenny) was going to go to the police and talk to them about (Martensen)," according to Kenny, while they were parked, according to police reports.

The affidavit stated, "The defendant said that was when he decided that he was going to kill Russell."

Kenny claimed that after being picked up by his drug dealer to buy drugs, he went back to the van, unlocked the door, shot Russell with his handgun, and then stabbed Morgan-Weiland with his pocket knife.

The documents read, “He said he needed to kill Morgan-Weiland because she was the only other person who knew anything about the situation (with Martensen) and she had made it clear that she would back Russell. The defendant said Morgan-Weiland then got out of the van and ran before falling. After she fell, the defendant said he ‘made sure she was dead.'”

According to records, Kenny is presently being held in the Spokane County Jail on a $1 million bond. On Tuesday, he is expected to appear in court for the first time.