"My theory is they got poisoned," Rickie Johnson Sr. tells Inside Edition. "And they were dragged out of the house and out in the backyard."
The father of Ricky Johnson, the Kansas City man who was found dead alongside friends Clayton McGeeney and David Harrington in the backyard of a Kansas City home, is speaking out about his son's mysterious death.
"My theory is they got poisoned," Rickie Johnson Sr. tells Inside Edition. "And they were dragged out of the house and out in the backyard."
There have been few answers for the families in the 18 days since the men died, and it is likely it will be even longer before they know what caused this tragedy. The Kansas City Police Department said from the start that due to the fact that there was no evidence of foul play at the scene, they will not be conducting a homicide investigation at this time.
That could change, however, depending on the results of the autopsies currently being performed by the medical examiner's office, which will also include a toxicology report for all three men.
New information has come in about one of the last times the men were seen alive.
The three Kansas City Chiefs fans 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 spoke 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 disputed this account, claiming 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 Johnson, 37-year-old Harrington and 36-year-old McGeeney.
When pressed further on the details of the evening, the man directed all questions to his lawyer, Andrew Talge, who, like Picerno, is a noted criminal defense attorney.
Inside Edition Digital reached out to Talge but he did not respond to a request for comment.
Talge did tell WDAF 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.
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 last 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 or about his client moving out of the rental home.
Johnson's mother, Norma Chester, is also at a loss, as she told Inside Edition earlier this week.
When asked to respond to speculation that drugs could be involved, she said: "I can't say that they're not, but all three [men] dead?"
She then added 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, Harrington and McGeeney 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."
