Reality TV Star Claims ‘Supernatural Ability’ Led to Cellmate’s Killing: Report

So, tonight is season premiere of season. 4, Mystery of Blind Frog Ranch. >> That is Chad Oolinger, a star of. Discovery's Mystery of Blind Frog Ranch. But right now, he's not on a ranch. He's. in a Las Vegas jail facing an open. murder charge after his cellmate was. found dead the day after Christmas. Now, authorities say the death resulted from. a violent jail fight weeks before he was. set to be released. And right now, new. details from an arrest report are. shedding light on what police say Oler. [music]. told them after the killing, including a.

claim that may raise serious questions. about his mental state. [music] We are. going to be discussing key questions in. this case with a Las Vegas criminal. defense attorney. Welcome [music] to. Sidebar, presented by Law and Crime. I'm. Jesse Weber. By the way, there's something that we. use here at Law and Crime that could be. very, very useful to you. It's called. Truthfinder. It's the powerful public. record search service that we use to do. research on the people involved in our. stories. You want to talk about a useful. resource, you plug in a name, you get. address information, you get criminal. history, and let me just say that can.

give you some peace of mind. Truthfinder. is one of the largest public record. search services in the United States. And with a paid subscription, you can. get access to unlimited reports about. almost anyone. And that includes looking. up registered sex offenders in your. area, too. So stay informed, stay safe, check public records with Truthfinder. now at truthfinder.com/lcsidebar. So you may have heard of this guy, Chad. Olinger, one of the stars of Discovery. Channels Mystery at Blindfrog Ranch. And. according to Las Vegas Metro PD, he was.

sitting in a Las Vegas jail on a. contempt charge. And then just one day. after Christmas, guards apparently doing. a routine check found his cellmate, 42-year-old Christopher Kelly, lying. motionless on the floor of the cell dead. from what police call apparent blunt. force injuries. So Oler is now charged. with open murder after police claim the. two got into a physical altercation that. escalated into Kelly's violent death. Now, you might be saying, "Well, what's.

open murder?" We're going to get to. that. very important here. But here's. the detail that changes absolutely. everything in this story because. according to jail records, Oler had just. been sentenced on that contempt charge. days earlier. When was he scheduled to. be released? January 12th, 2026. So, he. was almost out. He was weeks from. freedom and now he's accused of throwing. it all away in a violent fight behind. bars. So, we got to take a step back. We. got to make sure everybody's on the same. page here because this story has.

different layers to it. I think it's all. important. It all starts with this man. named Chad Olinger. Okay, you might know. him from TV. He's been on the Discovery. Channel show Mystery at Blind Frog Ranch. for five seasons chasing treasure with. his dad in Utah. It's a real rugged, adventurous type. But then you go to. this past October and Oler gets picked. up in Nevada. Now, it wasn't for. anything violent. It was for a contempt. of court charge. Basically, failing to. show up for something else in another. state. This is according to deadline. Basically, an alleged fugitive. Now, we.

can't confirm exactly what that was all. about and what was he a fugitive for, but what we do know is he gets booked. into the Clark County Detention Center. out in Las Vegas. So, he's just doing. his time, right? A judge sentenced him. on December 18th on that contempt. charge. Paperwork shows that he was. scheduled to be released on January. 12th, 2026. He's got less than 3 weeks. left in his sentence. And then on the. night of December 26th, so the day after. Christmas, corrections officers are. doing their normal rounds. In fact, according to Fox 5 Vegas, they reviewed.

an arrest report, which we're going to. talk about more in a minute, and it. apparently indicated that an officer was. making the medication rounds. They look. into the cell, they see a man, later. identified as Kelly, lying on the floor. motionless. So, they apparently rush in, reportedly find these brutal blunt force. injuries. Apparently, there's blood on. his face. They try to save him, but it's. too late. He's pronounced dead right. there in the cell. And the only other. person in that cell, Chad Olinger. So,

Las Vegas police, they get called in. Oliger allegedly said, by the way, that. Kelly was quote, "not feeling well.". According to Fox 5, when investigators. start taking photos of the scene and. they try to take photos of Oler, he. allegedly says, "Good luck cracking the. case." Now, they apparently pieced. together that a physical fight broke out. between Kelly and Oler inside that. locked cell. In fact, Fox 5 also. reporting that nearby inmates said they. heard a fight, heard someone screaming. One inmate allegedly said he heard. someone yell, "They're beating me.

They're killing me. Help me." Now, the. result, Oler, the reality TV star, again, weeks from freedom, is now. rebooked and charged with open murder. So, that's the straight timeline or the. apparent timeline from investigators. A. guy serving a short stint suddenly finds. himself facing a murder charge that. could put him away maybe for life all. over this alleged jailhouse fight that. turned deadly. But according to newly. released police documents, this is new. What happened after this interaction and. what Oler allegedly told investigators.

that now may become a central issue in. how this case is ultimately prosecuted. and defended. And we're going to get to. that in just a moment. But that basic. timeline leaves a lot of questions. Why. did it happen? What set it off? How does. a guy who was literally counting the. days to his release now end up in a. fight that is apparently so vicious it. leaves another man dead? Well, with an. arrest report coming into focus, we are. learning how Oliger himself allegedly. explained what happened and why he says. he did what he allegedly did. All right,

so to help us try and answer some of. these questions, I want to bring on a. special guest, Las Vegas criminal. defense attorney Michael Triano. Michael, thank you so much for taking. the time. Really appreciate it. Um, open. murder, it's not in every state. It's an. interesting charge for our audience. What does that mean practically? What is. the strategy there for a prosecutor to. charge open murder? >> Sure. So, typically when accused of any. sort of homicide in the state of Nevada, the prosecution will charge, as you just. stated, open murder. And essentially,

that gives them the a gambit all the way. through trial and even closing arguments. to argue different degrees of murder. So. we have first-degree murder, uh we have. seconddegree murder here in the state of. Nevada, then we have voluntary. manslaughter, and then we have. involuntary manslaughter. So those are. typically the gambit of which the. arguments will be made and it gives them. that freedom to uh run the case how they. choose. >> Let me just make clear about that. Are. you saying they don't have to uh before.

trial when they're presenting to a jury. say this is a specific degree of murder? They give them options and at the end in. the uh uh the the deliberations the jury. can choose which one they believe. >> Yeah. I mean they can charge each one of. those individually and then it's up to. them to make that particular argument. So let's say they're saying it's. first-degree murder. It was intentional. with malice of forethought. Uh and the. defense on the other side is saying no, this was voluntary manslaughter. It was. a heat of the passion in the moment sort.

of crime. Um, and that can be hashed out. all the way up until closing arguments. Absolutely. >> Does that make a defense attorney's job. more difficult? I mean, t typically, you. know, in other states when you know what. the degree is, you know what the. argument is, um, defense attorneys can. say prosecutors didn't meet these. elements, but when you have this gamut. of open murder, is it more difficult to. defend? I mean, sure, in a perfect. world, I'd like to just have one. specific uh allegation and hone in on.

that, but I don't really look at it as a. negative. I look at it as we are framing. our argument. And whether that's just. full-on self-defense, not guilty, or he. didn't do it, you know, you got the. wrong guy. Obviously, those are. completely different types of defenses. other than arguing what the lack of. elements are. And yes, I've been in. cases where the state has argued. first-degree murder and we've argued. self-defense that it wasn't a who done. it. It was obviously my client, but they. were fully justified under the law. And. you really have to just have a good.

conversation with your client about the. realistic elements of the facts, the. evidence, and showing credibility to the. jury in order to present that. Because. you might have a client who says it's. full-on self-defense, and none of the. evidence lines up. And you got to tell. them like, "Hey, we can go that route, but if we lose credibility with the. jury, we know the state is arguing. first-degree murder based upon the. evidence. We might have a better shot at. quote unquote splitting the baby, if you. will, and arguing voluntary manslaughter. that yeah, you weren't fully justified.

in the homicide under these facts, but. this wasn't uh premeditated. There was. some sort of uh heat of the passion and. which at that point you have much less. exposure as far as prison time is. concerned. Now, before we go any further. into this, there is new information from. an arrest report that was just reported. by uh Fox 5 in Las Vegas that we got to. talk about. So, KVU uh because it adds a. major new potential layer to this case. So, according to that document, police. say Oler told them that he has what he.

described as a quote supernatural. ability to read people. That his ability. told him his cellmate Christopher Kelly. was a predator. So, these are the. allegations. The report claims that Oler. told police, quote, "If I know something. about somebody that's bad, I take care. of it." And that he felt he had a quote. responsibility to identify predators. Even though, according to police, he. admitted he had no actual proof that. Kelly was a pedophile in any way. But he. allegedly told investigators that the.

killing was spontaneous. It wasn't. planned. He said that when he begins to. quote know things, something snaps. Police said he also told them he felt no. emotion afterward. didn't care if he. went to prison for the rest of his life. This is what all he allegedly said. And. according to Fox 5, he also claimed that. he suffered from memory loss from some. sort of past trauma, but he can't. remember certain things. He confirmed he. didn't have a mental disease or mental. illness or take any kind of medication. That he was never provided a diagnosis. of memory loss. That he also claims he. didn't take any drugs or ingest any.

alcohol. So, he seemed to indicate that. he must have done something to Kelly. that was pretty traumatic for him to not. remember exactly what happened. Michael, that's a lot to get through from a from. a defense perspective. Um, what do we. make of that? >> All right, you're right. There's a lot. to get through, but we'll unpack it. together. So, I have to be honest. I've. never heard of this guy. I've never. heard of the show that he was on uh when. you guys reached out to have me come on. So, I mean, just looking at his photos, and you can't always judge a book by its. cover, but he definitely looked a little.

erratic. I don't know, maybe he's cool. as a cucumber on the show. Just the. premise of the show was kind of. interesting, weird, like going into. caves and looking for gold, etc. This. isn't his first run in with the law. either. He had other issues, I believe, in Texas. At some point, his family. reported him missing in New Mexico. And. if you're reporting an adult child. that's, you know, not mentally. challenged, if you will, or has some. other kind of issues going on as. missing, there's probably drugs, alcohol, a combination of both, as well.

as mental health challenges. Now again, I don't know any of this um for a fact, but it seems as if uh he had a lot of. issues going on, and that's just being. what's being reported in the news and. the information you're giving me now, which is certainly new regarding his. supposed confession to the police. So, let's just bake the cake for this moment. for television purposes, the. assumptions. Let's assume they read him. as Miranda Wrights. Let's assume they. followed all the protocol and that this. whole um statement and confession is.

going to get into evidence. And that's a. big assumption because on a defense. standpoint, you need to challenge all. that, especially when it's seems pretty. clear if he's good at reading people, which you know, we all like to claim we. are, but not to the point where you're. going to murder somebody uh with no. provocation if if you will. There's got. to be something there. So, let's assume. that statement gets in and I'm the. defense attorney for the moment based on. these very limited set of facts. absent. some sort of change of story or some. video evidence that the other person. initiated it and this was sort of a.

self-defense thing. I mean, you're. really kind of boxed in. We're talking. either not guilty by reason of insanity, which is still uh an extremely extremely. high burden uh to overcome. It has. occurred in recent years. I'm aware of. at least one case. Clark County PD's. office uh was very successful and and. and got that. But when I've had murder. cases and clients or the families have. engaged me in that conversation, some. people tend to think that not guilty by. reason of insanity is some sort of get. out of jail or get out of prison free.

card. That's not the case. Yeah, congratulations. You're not guilty, but. again, by reason of insanity, so you're. not going straight to a prison or in the. Nevada Department of Corrections here, as we call it. You're going to a mental. health facility. And trust me, if it's. to the point where you can convince a. jury of 12 that you're not guilty by. reason of insanity, you're going to be. staying in that mental health facility. for an extremely long time, possibly a. lifetime. So, there's that aspect of it. And then you also have the ability.

possibly to be found guilty or enter a. plea of guilty, but um mentally. incompetent or or mentally challenged, excuse me, if you if you will, in. regards to that. And what that really. does is you still go to a prison, but. you are provided treatment and other. things that maybe typical inmates that. were getting sent up there uh are not. >> Okay. So, let me unpack that now from. what you said and I think that's a. really good analysis of it. >> Let's first deal with insanity. Okay. What is the test in Nevada for insanity?

Is it the McNaught test, right? Where. somebody doesn't appreciate the. wrongfulness of their actions. Um they. don't understand the nature of what they. did. Is that what you're dealing with? And does any part of that statement or. any part of the fact pattern that you. currently know because obviously you. don't have the case file um sure. >> potentially fit into that? So what's the. test? What's the standard and anything. you think there could be something that. would fit into it? >> Correct. So they they have to you have. to prove from the defense side beyond a.

reasonable doubt essentially or the. state has to counteract that and you. have to bring in experts that are going. to medically evaluate the client on the. defense side. The state is also allowed. to have their counter experts as well. So it's pretty open and broad as far as. the discovery is concerned allowing them. to be able to evaluate that on both. sides. So, you can't just come in and. say, "Hey, my client's insane and bring. up a doctor and they there's, you know, this trial by ambush, if you will.". They're both sides are going to be.

exchanging all of those reports. And you. basically said, you know, is are they. understanding their conduct? Appreciate. their actions. Was the conduct wrong? And just because you have a thought or a. feeling that somebody is bad. Um, and it. sounds like he's kind of screwed that. standard, if you will, because it's, if. we're, if I'm taking your words. correctly, he's saying he knew this. person or could read him well and. therefore felt it was his duty to murder. him. Uh, that's not going to meet the.

insanity standard here in Nevada, nor. anywhere across the nation. I mean, to. give you an example of that case that I. just mentioned that was successful in. Nevada, which is exceedingly rare, and. this is I'm kind of screwing up the. dissertation here because it wasn't my. case. was the Clark County Public. Defenders Office, but essentially um the. client I believe murdered his father and. he was under like the belief that his. father was like a demon from another. galaxy and he could not appreciate the.

nature of his actions, the wrongfulness. of his actions of taking a life. He was. not aware of what he was doing at all. Here it seems like he was like, you know. what, I can read people. This is a bad. dude. It's my job to take care of it. forget the legalities. >> That That's a really good point. I mean, that's a classic law school example. Like, you don't understand that you're. killing a human being in a sense, right? I mean, whereas whatever your reason for. knowingly or intentionally killing. another person, like that doesn't matter. for the insanity offense. Although, I. will ask you, there are issues of that.

don't mount to an insanity defense that. could say the mental state of the. defendant may affect intent, may affect. the elements of like first-degree murder. or seconddegree murder, right? Isn't. there times when mental health, mental. state can affect uh whether someone is. actually charged with the highest crime. or whether or not it could be downgraded. to, let's say, seconddegree murder or. manslaughter. Right. >> Sure. And and like we said, we started. with it's open murder. So, they're going. to be charged with essentially. everything. And then it's going to be up. to the prosecution based upon the.

evidence and the flow of the trial. really what they want to argue for at. the actual closing arguments. And those. sort of mental deficiencies are going to. be brought into play on both sides. But. at the end of the day, uh, absent, you. know, very specific facts that downgrade. that from a first degree to a second. degree or some sort of manslaughter, it's going to be a very difficult. challenge for the defense. >> Well, I also have to say, you know, this. death occurring in a jail cell is very.

confined, very isolated. It's different. than a a case that happens in the. outside where you might suggest that. there are alternative suspects or. alternative theories if he's alone in. the jail cell. It does make me wonder, could there be an argument potentially. for some sort of self-defense if you. hear inmates saying they heard an. altercation? There was a struggle. I I. I'd imagine it also depends upon whether. or not uh Oler sustained any kind of. injuries or I don't know if there would. be cameras possibly, but um that's.

something that we might be talking about. too. the the the jail is heavily camera, but I wouldn't be surprised depending on. where it was specifically like in the. cell or what specific cell it was that. it's not on film. I feel like at this. point and although it's early, we would. probably know if it was on uh some sort. of film or recording, but I think one of. the points you just made earlier makes a. lot of sense. If there are independent. witnesses and typically other guards or. other cellmates that are either in the.

cell that I witnessed it um firsthand or. were down the hallway and heard some. sort of struggle or argument or whatever. it may be that would be beneficial for. the defense to look into that because. it's one of those classic scenarios. Listen, forget what my client said. It. doesn't make any sense. You know, forget. all that. We've got Billy and Tom and. Jim right here at the cell next door. They heard the deceased screaming, "I'm. going to kill you. If you don't get off. my chair, if you don't do this, whatever. it may be," and then the struggle.

ensued. If you can elicit that sort of. testimony and evidence in a case, then. there's a lot better chance at either. voluntary manslaughter or potentially a. not- guilty verdict in self-defense. And. by the way, just one before we move. forward, the idea that this guy was. going to be released so soon and now is. caught up in a murder case, right? I. mean, does that aspect from a defense. point of view say, "Hey, you know, this. says something about his mental state, this says something about would he do.

it, would he not do it?" Because that's. what's so strange. He was about to be. released on a contempt charge and now. like potentially he could be facing the. rest of his life in prison. Does that. factor into it at all? >> Sure. We're not going to escape the. mental health issue here that there's. clearly some sort of mental health issue. and whether there's people that are fans. of the show and actually had the ability. to watch him and got that vibe from him, if you will, or based on what we know. early on, he said to the police and then. add on what you're saying now. It's.

like, listen, nobody wants to be in. jail. Like, you know, I always say that. to my clients, like, hey, this isn't a. fun place to be, but at the same time, if there's light at the end of the. tunnel, and you said he's a few weeks, not even weeks, basically at this point, yeah, I mean, just shy of two weeks as. we're recording here that he was due to. be released on a non-serious, you know, contempt charge and he gets in this kind. of altercation. Now, don't get me wrong, jails are a dangerous place, but there's. a significant difference, at least here. in Nevada, between the dangers in the.

Clark County Detention Center and jail, although dangerous. I wouldn't want to. be there to be clear, and going to High. Desert State Prison. Uh and so to put. himself in that position, you don't hear. about too many murders occurring at the. detention center as compared to a lot. more extreme violence up in uh high. desert and other Nevada Department of. Corrections because up there. everybody's, you know, in there for. decades possibly. >> I want to follow up on something. So I. want your take on this. So Aller, like. we've been talking about, he wasn't just. any other inmate. He was a TV.

personality. And this show, it prevents. a it presents a very specific image. because according to Discovery Channel's. own profile, this isn't just some guy. We're talking about a family enterprise. So, his father, to give everybody a. little backstory here, Dwayne Allinger. is the central figure. The network says. that he made a fortune as a high-risisk. oil contractor in Amarillo, Texas, sold. his company, poured everything into this. wildcat gold mining operation in Utah, the Blind Frog Ranch. And the show's. whole premise is this grand almost.

mythical adventure. Dwayne is seemingly. convinced that there is a famous lost. treasure that's hidden in the caverns. under the property. Chad, the son, is. portrayed as this rugged, fearless. risktaker, the one climbing through. tight caves, diving into underwater. caverns to find all of it. It's a story. of family. It's a story of fortune, frontier spirit. I do wonder if this. case progresses to a trial, does any of. that come in and how does the celebrity.

aspect of it uh factor into it? I mean, maybe even in jury selection. >> Sure. And that's the actually the first. thing I thought of is the jury selection. portion of it because as far as what he. did previously regarding that show at. this moment, I don't see any specific. relevance. But maybe the the prosecution. will find relevance and they will try to. get some of that in or the defense or or. both. But this seems like a very random. crime. They didn't know each other. And. as we've gone over in great detail. earlier, he confessed that essentially.

he got bad vibes from this guy and felt. that he had to take him out. But let's. start with what we know as fact is that. I guess he's, you know, quasi famous. He. was on a reality TV show. So I think. absolutely in order to avoid any appeal. issues both the prosecution and the. defense are going to want to ask during. border the selective the potential panel. of the juries if they know him and. that's actually true for any case. regardless of somebody's fame. I mean, you could have somebody who, you know, lives under a cave for the last 30.

years. They get charged with a crime. They're going to ask, "Hey, you know, do. you know, you know, they'll go off the. list uh of the witness list on both the. defense and the prosecution, read names, officers names, u investigators names, by eyewitnesses names, you name it.". They'll ask even, "Do you know the. defense attorneys? Do you know any of. the prosecution? Do you know the. defendant?" So, regardless of status, that question is going to be asked. Uh, and then I guess we'll find out how. popular the show really was, at least in. Clark County.

>> Yeah. And and also, I mean, you think. about what else could come into. evidence. I have to talk about this. because to understand who Chad Olinger. was before this, you have to look at the. year leading up to it. We got to talk. about 2024 because by all accounts, by. public records, it was a very turbulent. year for him. We want to rewind for a. second because according to an. indictment from Potter County, Texas, and local reporting from KFDA News, Channel 10, Oliger's legal troubles. really started in November of 2024. Police in Amarillo, Texas, say they. tried to pull him over, and according to.

their account, he took off on a. motorcycle, eventually ditched it, and. then was fleeing on foot. Now, he was. later arrested. He was charged with. evading arrest. A grand jury indicted. him on that charge in January of 2025. In February, jail records from Gray. County, Texas, show he was booked again, this time for driving with an invalid. license. And then things took an even. stranger turn in the summer. This is. what we talked about before in July. According to a report like from WFB and. KMR, uh, KCIT News and Police records,

Oler's own family reported him missing. in New Mexico. He was entered into the. national database as a missing and. endangered person. Now, he was located. shortly after in Albuquerque, but the. circumstances of why he was missing, they were never publicly detailed. You. know, Michael, from our perspective, as. we're trying to understand it, it's. pretty alarming. But again, going back. to the legal case, does any of that come. into this? >> Again, we're dealing with a very small. amount of information, so it's hard to. give an expert opinion. I would say. this, let's start with the basis of what.

kind of prior criminal activities can. get into evidence. And so when we're. specifically talking from the defense. standpoint, if the defendant took the. stand in his own defense, then what is. fair game under Nevada law is going to. be any felony conviction within the last. 10 years. So if any of those cases. resulted in a felony conviction, then. yes, the prosecution can ask him about. it, introduce the judgment of. conviction, and the jury would be made. aware he's had prior legal troubles.

regarding that. If those did not result. in felony convictions, then it's very. unlikely that those are going to get. into evidence. The only other way I. could possibly see that getting into. evidence is if the state filed what's. called a motion for prior bad acts. But. typically, when you have a motion for. prior bad acts, there needs to be some. sort of nexus and relevance to the acts. and um accusations in this case as. compared to whatever those prior acts, whether charged criminally and or. convicted or uncharged in some. circumstances. So, I don't see a nexus.

other than his unstable mental health, which is pretty clear. So, based on all. of that, it's really going to depend on. was it a felony or not. >> So, so you make a great point. I mean, in a traditional case, a defendant. wouldn't want any of this coming in. And. I mean, it' be prejuditial to his case, but if you're talking about potential. mental health and erratic behavior and. strange circumstances, would a defense. attorney in any way try to get some of. this introduced to say, "Hey, listen, look, look, look what we're dealing with.

here. This is a guy who's struggling for. quite some time and is there a way that. they would do it?". >> And and that'd be on the flip side, right? The the fence also has the. opportunity to file prior bad acts and. get and get those inh regardless if it's. his own client or not. Now, typically. you're not going to get a whole lot of. push back from the prosecution if you're. bringing in bad acts of your own client. Uh, but there are there is legal. analysis regarding whether or not that. comes in. And to answer your question. more directly, I think that would be in.

a circumstance in which if they were. clearly going for not guilty by reason. of insanity. >> Yeah, this is a weird one. This is a. weird one. Um, >> let's see where it progresses. Uh, Michael Triano, thank you so much for. taking the time. Really appreciate it. >> Absolutely. Happy New Year. >> And that is all we have for you right. now here on Sidebar. Everybody, thank. you so much for joining us. And as. always, please subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcast, Spotify, wherever you. should get your podcast. You can [music]. follow me on X or Instagram. I'm Jesse.

Weber. I'll speak to you next time.