Left to right: Dustin Adlai Yates and Brad Michael McKinney (Smith County Sheriff’s Office).
Two Texas men are behind bars after meticulously planning the kidnapping, rape, and murder of a woman, Lone Star State police say.
In the end, whatever plan might have existed was not seen to fruition.
Dustin Adlai Yates and Brad Michael McKinney stand accused of stalking and murder, according to Smith County Jail records.
The alleged plot was slowly uncovered by law enforcement after Yates was initially arrested on the stalking charge alone in December 2024, according to court documents obtained by Jacksonville, Texas-based NBC affiliate KETK, which serves the state’s eastern reaches.
The ordeal began in the fall of 2022, when the victim, referred to in court documents as Myra, ended her relationship with Yates and blocked his attempts to contact her through phone and email.
Undeterred, Yates allegedly went on to use various phone numbers — with several different area codes — to continue to contact the woman, authorities say. By 2023, the alleged harassment escalated to the point where Myra filed a family violence case with the Houston Police Department. A detective intervened, warning Yates to cease all communication with his ex-girlfriend. He allegedly did not listen.
Myra complained to the Smith County Sheriff’s Office about nine separate threads she received beginning Oct. 31, 2024. In one of those emails, Yates allegedly mentioned the woman’s former address.
Contact allegedly kept up.
During the early morning hours on Dec. 1, 2024, Yates allegedly messaged the woman using a phone again. In those messages, Yates allegedly said “her expiration date was soon” and that “she had a predictable schedule and daily driving routes,” according to court records cited by KETK.
Later that day, Myra received a photograph of a friend’s house where she had previously stayed, an affidavit alleges. That friend confirmed receiving the same picture from the same phone number.
Detectives would eventually be provided with a slew of chilling messages the alleged victim received.
“I’d be vigilant if I were you,” one message reads.
The affidavit offers a laundry list of that alleged outreach:
“You were a busy girl in 22”
“I wonder what your expiration date is”
“I think it’s soon”
“You have a very predictable schedule and daily driving routes”
In interviews with various members of law enforcement after being arrested late last year on the stalking charge, a broader, more disturbing picture was revealed, authorities allege.
During questioning, Yates allegedly admitted to conducting multiple background checks on Myra through different websites and uncovering her workplace in Tyler. He also allegedly confessed to using different texting applications to disguise his communications.
“I wanted Myra to be scared and looking over her shoulder,” the affidavit reportedly reads. “Dustin stated, without being asked or the topic being brought up, that he had no intention to kill Myra, and if he wanted to, he would have killed her months ago.”
A search warrant for Yates’ cellular phone allegedly turned up evidence of the second man implicated in the plot, authorities claim.
“[McKinney] agreed to help Yates stalk and gather information on [the woman] for Yates for a monetary return,” the affidavit reportedly reads. “Yates got a large information dump about the woman from a private investigator. Yates forwarded Myra’s vehicle and address information to McKinney so he could help him locate the woman.”
Yates allegedly offered McKinney $650 for “wisdom and guidance.” In response, he allegedly replied: “help in any way I can.”
In sum, detectives say the two men exchanged 741 text messages discussing a complex scheme to kidnap, rape and kill Myra.
The pair allegedly discussed McKinney’s experience as a sniper, debated which types of bullets would inflict the most pain, and deliberated about how the inciting moment of subterfuge could begin — including posing as a UPS employee or pizza delivery man.
McKinney was allegedly paid $1,300 for information he provided Yates. The co-defendant also stood to gain some $15,000 for a concomitant plan to film the violence, authorities say.
On Jan. 9, Smith County Sheriff’s deputies took McKinney on various warrants — related to the case and otherwise. During questioning, the second defendant allegedly admitted to accepting money from Yates but attempted to minimize his role, claiming he did not take Yates’ threats seriously and only gathered the information for financial gain.
Yates, for his part, allegedly did not intend to long survive what happened to his ex-girlfriend, according to law enforcement.
In one message, he allegedly told McKinney of a plan to take his own life. In response, McKinney allegedly replied: “take out some filthy people in our country and go down swinging buddy.”
