By Noble Brigham
Las Vegas Review-Journal
LAS VEGAS — A reality TV star accused of killing his jail cellmate in Las Vegas will undergo a competency evaluation.
Chad Ollinger, 41, appeared briefly in Justice Court on Tuesday morning after the discovery on Friday of 42-year-old Christopher Kelly’s death in the Clark County Detention Center.
“Your attorney has some concerns about your mental health,” Justice of the Peace Eric Goodman told Ollinger. “They want you to go up and talk to the doctors.”
Ollinger is scheduled to appear in District Court, which handles competency cases, on Jan. 21 .
Previously, Ollinger and his father, Duane Ollinger, appeared on the Discovery series “Mystery at Blind Frog Ranch,” which premiered in 2021 and ended in August. The show followed the Ollingers’ hunt for gold and Aztec artifacts on their northeastern Utah property.
The Metropolitan Police Department, which operates the detention center, said in a news release that at about 11:20 p.m. Friday, correctional officers found an inmate “lying motionless inside of a cell” with “apparent blunt force injuries.” He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Police said Ollinger and Kelly were both injured, Kelly with lacerations, abrasions and contusions and Ollinger with an abrasion and apparent scratches.
Police said in the report that Ollinger killed Kelly by strangling him and smashing his head into a bed frame.
“Good luck cracking the case,” police said Ollinger told detectives who photographed him.
Just before the discovery of Kelly, Ollinger said, “He said he’s not feeling good” to officers, according to the report.
Metro said Ollinger told detectives that he could recall “almost no recent memories of his life” and claimed he had a supernatural power to read people.
“Chad eventually confessed to murdering Christopher,” police wrote in the report. “Chad said the killing was righteous.”
Kelly was in custody after stipulating to a probation violation in a theft case this September, which resulted in him receiving a six-month jail sentence.
State court records for Clark County do not show any sexual misconduct cases for Kelly.
Records show Ollinger has been in custody since Oct. 27 and faces charges of arrest of a fugitive from another state and contempt of court.
—
©2025 Las Vegas Review-Journal. Visit reviewjournal.com.. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
