Mariana Rogers, 23, went missing in Nevada on Dec. 5, but her remains were found 10 days later hidden under a pile of rocks in a roadside ditch in Henderson, a desert area.
Comanche had traveled to Las Vegas for an NBA G League game against the local Ignite team in nearby Henderson. After the match, Comanches met his ex-girlfriend, 19-year-old Sakari Harnden. The two met more than a year ago on a dating site and had a sexual relationship for a longer time. Despite the fact that the two had been separated for some time, they still kept in touch and even began to plan together to kill Mariana Rogers.
Rogers, who the Sacramento Bee says worked in the sex industry in Nevada, had a falling out with Harnden, who was then the mastermind behind the murder. The deceased allegedly tried to extort a “Rolex” watch from Harnden. The Telegram correspondence between Harnden and Comanche also allegedly mentioned plans to buy an untraceable firearm or to overhear Rogers and spike her drink. Also, Comanche is said to have offered his acquaintance 3,000 US dollars for committing the murder, but he did not receive consent. Then the former lovers were forced to resort to another plan.
Comanche wrote to Rogers after the game and offered $1,000 for perverted sexual relations. A friend brought the young woman to the meeting, as she had done several times before. After a few hours, she started to worry because Marajna didn’t make any announcements about herself, as she always did after such dates.
Harnden also came to the meeting with Rogers, but Comanche said he wanted “perverted sex” with both women in a car parked on a remote cul-de-sac for $1,000. Marajna agreed to it and the basketball player tied her hands with a tourniquet.
As Comanche told police, he strangled Rogers with an HDMI cable while Harnden strangled her with her hands until she became unresponsive. Then the two killers got rid of the body.
Harnden was arrested on suspicion of kidnapping a woman in Las Vegas on December 13, and Comanche was taken away from a team practice on December 15 by FBI agents. On the same day, the “Kings” organization stopped cooperation with the basketball player. It was only after information provided by the Comanche that Rogers’ remains were found. Currently, the two perpetrators of the murder are in custody without the right to be released on bail.
After committing the murder, Comanche managed to play three more games in what would likely be the last matches of his professional career. The 208-centimeter-tall forward spent most of his career in the NBA G League, but last season he also played one game for the NBA’s Portland Trail Blazers, where he scored seven points. The basketball player also managed to spend one season in Europe, when in 2021/22. represented Turkey’s second strongest league club Ankara “Mamakspor”.
