BONUS: Nadya Swartz and Justin Hooker (Snapped: Killer Couples)

Summary

Podcast Summary: BONUS: Nadya Swartz and Justin Hooker (Snapped: Killer Couples) Release Date: August 13, 2025
Host: Stephanie Gomolka
Produced by: Oxygen

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Introduction

In this compelling bonus episode of Snapped: Women Who Murder, host Stephanie Gomolka delves into the tragic case of Kenny Bunn, whose life was brutally cut short, unraveling a complex web of relationships and dark motives. This detailed examination highlights how a seemingly idyllic community in northern Georgia was shaken by violence, ultimately exposing the sinister actions of an unlikely murderer couple.

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Discovery of the Body

The episode opens on a serene morning in Murray County, Georgia, shattered by a disturbing 911 call about a dead body near the Conasauga River.

• Detective Adam Jones recounts the grim discovery:

  "I think we've run up on a dead body." (02:07)

Upon arrival, the victim is identified as a white male, yet no identification is found, leaving investigators puzzled about his identity and the motive behind his death.

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Identifying the Victim: Kenny Bunn

The investigation takes a pivotal turn when a lead surfaces connecting the unidentified body to Kenny Bunn, a 27-year-old from Dalton, Georgia.

• Stephanie Gomolka narrates the emotional confirmation:

  "I could tell it was him by the look on the detective's face." (08:23)

Kenny is portrayed as a beloved figure who had overcome past struggles with depression and substance abuse, striving to rebuild his life with a promising career and personal aspirations.

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Investigating the Scene

Despite initial theories suggesting a random act of violence or robbery, evidence points toward an execution-style murder with no signs of struggle or motive linked to robbery.

• Adam Jones provides insight into the autopsy findings:

  "He died from multiple gunshot wounds. It was four shots, three in the head, one in the chest... I think it was an execution, just an ambush." (12:55)

This revelation steers the investigation toward a more calculated and personal motive behind Kenny's murder.

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Connecting Nadia Swartz and Justin Hooker

Further probing leads detectives to Nadia Swartz, Kenny's ex-girlfriend, and her new boyfriend, Justin Hooker, both of whom emerge as key suspects.

• Stephanie Gomolka details Nadia's involvement:

  "Nadia was searching for Kenny, but her interactions raised suspicions." (15:59)

Surveillance footage captures Nadia and Justin together with Kenny shortly before his disappearance, establishing a critical connection.

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Arrest and Interrogation

As investigators piece together the timeline, suspicions intensify against Justin Hooker, especially after evidence links him to the firearm used in Kenny's murder.

• Adam Jones confronts Justin:

  "Do you have any idea why we're here?" (37:04)
  "I want an attorney." (38:13)

Under mounting pressure, Justin's evasive behavior and Nadia's contradictory statements lead to their eventual arrest.

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Trial and Plea Deals

Facing overwhelming evidence, both Nadia and Justin opt for plea deals, acknowledging their roles in the premeditated murder of Kenny Bunn.

• Stephanie Gomolka reflects on the outcome:

  "Nadia and Justin agree to the terms... Authorities believe Kenny's murder was premeditated." (42:58)

Their sentences include life in prison with the possibility of parole, marking a somber closure to the case.

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Concluding Insights

The episode underscores the tragic loss of Kenny Bunn, a man striving for love and stability, ultimately falling victim to the manipulative and destructive desires of Nadia Swartz and Justin Hooker.

• Stephanie Gomolka offers a heartfelt conclusion:

  "I wish Kenny hadn't went off with him that night. I lost my everything. I want him to be remembered by his good heart and his helpless. He was more than a murderer. He was a person." (46:13)

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Key Takeaways

• Premeditation and Manipulation: Nadia orchestrated the circumstances leading to Kenny's murder, manipulating Justin into committing the crime.
• Impact of Appearance and Judgment: The case highlights how societal judgments based on appearance can obscure the true nature of individuals.
• Emotional Trauma: The narrative delves into the emotional devastation experienced by Kenny's family, emphasizing the human cost of such tragedies.

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Notable Quotes

• Detective Adam Jones:

  "They're romanticizing what they've done and that they're outlaws together." (03:04)

• Stephanie Gomolka:

  "She didn't care which one of them died. She just wanted someone to kill for her. That's pure evil, I think." (03:11)

• Detective Adam Jones:

  "This was an execution, just an ambush. Kenny didn't know that it was coming." (31:00)

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Conclusion

This bonus episode of Snapped: Women Who Murder provides a meticulous exploration of Kenny Bunn's murder, revealing the dark dynamics of Nadia Swartz and Justin Hooker's relationship. Through detailed investigation and emotional storytelling, Stephanie Gomolka paints a vivid picture of how love, jealousy, and manipulation can culminate in irrevocable tragedy.

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Time Stamps Reference

• 02:07 Discovery of the body
• 08:23 Identification of Kenny Bunn
• 12:55 Autopsy findings
• 15:59 Nadia's connection
• 37:04 Confrontation with Justin
• 38:13 Justin's response
• 42:58 Plea deals
• 46:13 Gomolka's conclusion

Transcript

[Stephanie Gomolka]

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[Adam Jones]

I think we've run up on a dead body.

[Stephanie Gomolka]

There's like, he's like really care.

[Adam Jones]

It was four shots. Three in the head, one in the body. This was an execution, just an ambush.

[Stephanie Gomolka]

With no clear leads, investigators must examine the lives of several individuals on the fringe of soc. A lot of people just like thought, oh well, this guy's just a drug addict. But it wasn't like that he didn't like people to judge him. He couldn't stand it. He was an outsider. Nobody really gave him a chance. The search for the truth will unravel a twisted romance and expose the lengths two desperate people would go to fulfill their darkest desires. She wanted to find somebody that would do anything for her. Basically, what he had to do to make sure I didn't die.

[Adam Jones]

They're romanticizing what they've done and that they're outlaws together.

[Stephanie Gomolka]

She didn't care which one of them died. She just wanted someone to kill for her. That's pure evil, I think. In the shadows of the Appalachian mountains, Murray county, Georgia, is an idyllic place to get away from it all.

[Adam Jones]

There's just a lot of places that you can just get by yourself and enjoy nature.

[Stephanie Gomolka]

But on March 16, 2020, a disturbing 911 call sends ripples across the county. Murray? No one. Yeah, I think we've run up on a dead body. You think you've run up on a de. Yeah, he's on the show, and it's just the body laying here.

[Adam Jones]

He's not responding.

[Stephanie Gomolka]

I mean, what.

[Adam Jones]

What should I do?

[Stephanie Gomolka]

You see his chest moving at all?

[Adam Jones]

No, there's blood.

[Stephanie Gomolka]

There's no post. He's like, really pad.

[Adam Jones]

All right, so just stay right there.

[Stephanie Gomolka]

Okay.

[Adam Jones]

I got ems, fire department, and law enforcement on the way.

[Stephanie Gomolka]

Investigators with both Murray county and the Georgia bureau of investigation raced to the sc.

[Adam Jones]

Some of our investigators had already arrived, and there is a walkway down the shoulder of the road to just a common fishing area near the bridge. And that's where we'd seen the dead body. I received a phone call from the Murray county sheriff's office, said, adam, we need you. We've got a white male, unidentified, deceased. He was found by fishermen. I made my way down the trail. I come across this male laying on the ground, all black. Black boots, black pants, black shirt, black hair, fingernail polish. Not to be stereotypical, but maybe like a goth type person, which in Murray county is not normal. Murray county is more, you know, country boys. It's gonna be a lot of denim, outdoor wear, that type of things, especially if you're at the river. He did have some distinguishing tattoos, I believe on the right arm, it was a skull tattoo with an em in the skull. We noticed that there's blood pooling around the head. It was apparent that there was some type of injury to the head and there was a wound on the torso. It was apparent that the body hadn't been thrown off the bridge. It was too Far away. There were no drag marks, anything like that around the body. So it's kind of like, how did you get here? There's no wallet, there's no identification, there's no cell ph. There's nothing else around him that would suggest who this person is. So I'm at a disadvantage at this point.

[Stephanie Gomolka]

Investigators immediately shift their focus to the men who discovered the victim.

[Adam Jones]

We don't know who done it, and whoever was on scene was a suspect. You know, it's not uncommon for people who have killed people to call the police and say, oh, look what I found. My mind is thinking, who are they? What are they? Why are they here? They were in their late teens, early 20s. Three of them had went down this trail beside the bridge. One had separated to go to a better fishing area. And this is where he finds this body. And his friends hear him scream for help and they run to him and call 911. Their story was adding up for where they were at, what they were doing and why they were there. So they were pretty quickly removed from suspicion for having anything to do with this death. So that question of who is my victim? That's just ringing in our heads at this point. Like, we got to figure out who you are to see what happened to you. We're checking local counties for missing person, even Tennessee, like, hey, do you have anybody meeting this description that's been missing for a couple of days? We're just striking out every turn. We trying to identify who this individual. We've just ran everything that we can. We all go home. About five to six hours later, I'm trying to rest, get settled in for the evening, and I get an interesting phone call. It was forwarded from Whitfield County 911. Pat Culvert's calling, advising that her 27 year old grandson, Kenny Bunn, hasn't been seen. And she had heard that their body had been found on Carlton Petty Road, which is not far from where Kenny's mother, Trina Wilson, lives. So we immediately follow this lead down we go to Miss Pat'.

[Stephanie Gomolka]

They sent detectives up there to talk to us. They just introduced herself and everything. And I mean, I was in shock.

[Adam Jones]

That was kind of a huge aha when we got to talk to Pat, because she describes Kenny to pretty much a T. He had a pair of.

[Stephanie Gomolka]

Black pants on, he had a black shirt on, he had black rimmed glasses on, he had a little tattoo on his shoulder. I showed a picture of him, his most recent picture that he had taken of himself. I could tell it was Him. By the look on the detective's face.

[Adam Jones]

We were able to establish that Kenny lived with Pat. And you could tell a great deal of concern was there. And love, after speaking with Pat and Trina, I'm very confident that our John Doe at the bridge is going to be Kenny Bunn.

[Stephanie Gomolka]

It was like a nightmare. It just didn't seem right. It still don't seem right, you know. Born in 1992 in Dalton, Georgia, Kenneth Bunn was a shining light to his large. And.

[Adam Jones]

He was a handful when he was little. I mean, he was always curious, and.

[Stephanie Gomolka]

He'D do anything I'd done.

[Adam Jones]

I mean, just he right on my heel all the time, following me everywhere I went.

[Stephanie Gomolka]

You couldn't ever get him to settle down. He would always want to do something, and he was just like a little ray of light. He was always there to protect me, no matter what. You didn't talk about his mama and I always stood up for him, no matter what. Kenny spent a lot of time at.

[Adam Jones]

My mom's when he was working.

[Stephanie Gomolka]

I felt like he was my son, you know. Cause he stayed there so much. We always called him little Kenny. He was a sweetheart. As close as Kenny was with his family, he didn't always feel like he fit in with his peers. He started doing the Pearsons and stuff and everything. I think about seventh and eighth grade, they say they a lot of gothic. That's how they feel. Like they're loners or isolators or whatever. They're just different. I think he was trying just to express how he's feeling in the inside to people around here. Somebody who looks like Kenny looked would be very scary, but they would have no that on the inside. He is the sweetest person that you could ever meet. After struggling to find himself, Kenny had gotten his life on track. By his mid-20s, he's doing so well. He has a car, you know, he's got his blue Mustang that he was obsessed with. He loved his Mustang. He got a really good job in construction. He was making a ton of money. He really liked his job. But something was missing. Kenny was obsessed with love. He wanted to find somebody that could love him as much as he could love them. He was struggling with broken heart because his two girlfriends cheated on him. He was looking for a soulmate, and he wanted a little family and stuff. He had a life ahead of him that he wanted, and he was out to seek it. But Kenny's life is tragically cut short when investigators find his body near the banks of the Conesauga River. I didn't want to believe it, you know, I couldn't believe anybody do that. You're numb. You don't know what to. If you're sitting there thinking it's not him. Detectives request an autopsy immediately. The medical examiner confirms that Kenny has been dead for nearly 12 hours and died from multiple gunshot wounds.

[Adam Jones]

It was four shots, three in the head, one the chest up. The tore some areas they were able to confirm that it was a small caliber. He didn't have any defensive marks on him. You can just kind of tell he just crumpled up and failed. I don't think he ever really knew what was happening. I'm not a medical examiner, but I would say execution.

[Stephanie Gomolka]

Since Kenny's personal belongings were missing from the crime scene, investigators couldn't rule out if he had been ambushed for robbery or it was something more. Coming up, a witness exposes skeletons in Kenny's closet. There's a bunch of people that wanted to beat him up and then wind him dead. He was going to go buy weed from a drug dealer. It caused a fight between them and a suspicious couple elicits concern from investigators.

[Adam Jones]

We know you all were camping out around the bridge and you know something happened down there.

[Stephanie Gomolka]

Investigators in Murray County, Georgia have identified the body found on the banks of the conasaga river as 27 year old Kenny Bunn. Now authorities need to determine how Kenny ended up there.

[Adam Jones]

As an investigator, my next thing is who did this person hang out with who was an integral part of their life, spend a lot of time with? Was there anyone that didn't like them?

[Stephanie Gomolka]

Kenny's family had no idea who would want to hurt him. Kenny's grandmother had last seen Kenny leaving her house about 7:45 the previous evening.

[Adam Jones]

Pat gives us information that apparently Kenny had left to walk to a store that's not far from Pat's house.

[Stephanie Gomolka]

He said, mama, he said, I'll be back. He didn. Kenny's family informs detectives that shortly after he left, Kenny's ex girlfriend, 20 year old Nadia Swartz had shown up at the house looking for Kenny. Kenny and Nadia got together around in October of 2019. He met her on social media browsing after he had split up from his last girlfriend. According to Kenny's family, the couple got serious fast. He felt strongly about Nadia. I think Kenny just really, really wanted to be in a loving, committed relationship. They lived with me three to four months and she broke up with him. They were split up three or four months and she kept coming up, I reckon giving him hope.

[Adam Jones]

He'd tell me Anything, I'd say I love her. So asking Pat where she believed Kenny had went when he had left the house. Kenny liked to go to Harry's convenience store. It's about three quarters of a mile away from Pat's house. Harry's has surveillance cameras. And we go and the clerk allows us to review the video. And sure enough, we see Kenny wearing the clothes that he had on at the bridge, on foot, by himself. Walk into the store and a couple of minutes later you see a blue Honda CRV pull up and you see Nadia Swartz. She parked at the gas pump and she walked in and there's no audio recording, but you can see that they're talking. And at the end of the transaction, Kenny goes and gets in Nadia's car and you see them drive out of the parking lot. Nadia being the last person with Kenny, I know that I need to find Nadia Swartz. We need to have. So I re approached Trina, Kenny's mom. She gives us a brief description of where Nadia's mother lives in Murray County.

[Stephanie Gomolka]

When investigators arrive at Nadia's mother's house, they learn Nadia lives nearby with her new boyfriend, 20 year old Justin Hooker.

[Adam Jones]

We're able to establish that Nadia and Justin have their own apartment. We just tell Nadia's mother, hey, you know, we really need to talk to them about something serious. The murder of Kenny Bunn.

[Stephanie Gomolka]

Nadia's mother called Nadia and she and Justin came over to speak to investigators.

[Adam Jones]

They appeared to be almost like a gothic type, just black clothing, hair in the eyes, kind of maybe, maybe one eye showing, so to speak. So we just go in and interview Nadia and Justin. How long have y' all two been together?

[Stephanie Gomolka]

We've been together two months, but we've known each other for about five years or more. Did y' all go to school together?

[Adam Jones]

Yeah, I kind of ease into the whole relationship with Kenny and eventually what I end up asking Nadia is if she had had contact with Kenny. Nadia does say that she went and she met up with Kenny. Well, when I asked that, you see Justin like that tension, you can see the veins in his arm. So at this point I'm thinking, okay, is he upset that Nadia has went and visited an ex boyfriend and he's just now finding out about it?

[Stephanie Gomolka]

But Nadia explains that her visit with Kenny was anything but romantic. She tells investigators that he had asked her for a ride to a friend's place on the night of March 15. She met up with Kenny because she still considered him a friend. And when he told her he was going to go buy weed from a drug dealer. It caused a fight between them. I didn't take him there. He got mad at me. He's like, well stop here and I'm going to get out. I'm like, no, you're not going go there either. He's like, I don't care what you say. Just drop me off here and just leave me. So that's what I did. I pulled over, he got out of the car and started walking. He would be like so mad at me if I don't get his next fix. So I just drove off. Nadia claims she has no idea where Kenny went because she returned to the home she shared with Justin. According to Justin, he had stayed home most of the day and went to visit his brother and his girlfriend around 7 or 8 that evening. Justin claimed he stayed at his brother's house most of the evening and then returned home around midnight.

[Adam Jones]

Justin and Nadia, they maintained that they were together just hanging out at their apartment that night. Do you know anybody that you talking about him hanging out with drug dealers? You know anybody that would want to.

[Stephanie Gomolka]

Can you tell me? There's a bunch of people that wanted to beat him up and then want him dead.

[Adam Jones]

So.

[Stephanie Gomolka]

And he would never give me names. It's just a lot of people. Did you know any of them or.

[Adam Jones]

Have you ever seen any of them?

[Stephanie Gomolka]

I really don't know. Still, Nadia insists that Kenny's death could be connected to a drug deal gone bad.

[Adam Jones]

I appreciate y' all's time. Y' all have any questions?

[Stephanie Gomolka]

Don't think so. So, okay.

[Adam Jones]

Very good.

[Stephanie Gomolka]

Without evidence to connect Nadia or Justin to Kenny's death, investigators reach out to Kenny's closest friends. They confirm that Kenny had dealt with conflict in the small community because of his lifestyle. When me and Kenny met, it was kind of like we were just going into middle school. So what people thought of us is that we were just really weird. We dressed different, we acted different. I think Kenny acted like he didn't care. But I'm sure deep down a lot of the bullying and stuff got to him. He didn't like people in judging. He couldn't stand it. I think he tried to show people that you don't judge people by their looks. You need to get to know them first. Kenny gets out of hand and immediately gets in a long term relationship with the girl he was dating before Nadia. And they are like not good for each other. They were doing drugs together. Kenny was like really big into weed. I think a lot of people just like thought, oh well this Guy's just a drug addict, but it wasn't like that. Kenny's friends explained that he struggled with depression. So in 2019, he decided to make a change. Kenny finally gets out of this relationship, finally gets off of these drugs, and he's doing so well. He was finally, like, a little less depressed. He was sending me videos and, you know, pictures of him smiling and dancing and having a good time. Kenny's friends and family tell police there's no way Kenny had relapsed, ostensibly ruling out the theory that Kenny may have been involved in a drug deal gone wrong. I don't believe that because my son, he was sober. He was getting his life back together. So why would Nadia make that allegation? She knew that he had a problem with drugs in the past. Given Kenny's prior history, investigators couldn't rule out the theory. But there wasn't any drug dealer, and there wasn't any connection to the drug world investigators could find at that time. With few leads to go on, investigators head back to the crime scene. The next day.

[Adam Jones]

We did just a quick neighborhood canvass, stopping cars that were traveling the road. Hey, did you. Have you seen anything between this time and that time? Trying to get anything and everything. We actually talked to the farmer who owned the property, and he was like, hey, at one point, there was a guy with a shopping buggy with an orange chainsaw in it. There was a white female with him. I'd been seeing them in the bridge area a lot.

[Stephanie Gomolka]

This guy had been acting erratic, and he carried what could be considered an extremely dangerous weapon. This area of Georgia is just off US411, which is a highway that runs from Tennessee through Georgia and into Alabama. More than 300 miles of often rural highway for vagrants and drifters can almost go undetected by law enforcement. Sometimes these drifters turn out to be. Be dangerous fugitives and seek these rural mountain communities to escape capture.

[Adam Jones]

I'm thinking maybe we got a witness or maybe the person who killed Kenny.

[Stephanie Gomolka]

Investigators immediately begin the task of searching for the man. The following day, they make a crucial discovery. When they drive past a small gas station.

[Adam Jones]

We see a shopping cart with an orange chainsaw in it. We go inside and. And ask the clerk, who does that cart belong to? The clerk directs us to an individual that's outside attempting to wash a vehicle for money. What are the odds of finding this guy in this rural area at this gas station where we just happen to be driving by? We approach this individual, and right off the bat, he's nervous. Was very Elusive in his answering our questions. What's your name, sir? What's your name?

[Stephanie Gomolka]

Jesse.

[Adam Jones]

Jesse, what's your last name?

[Stephanie Gomolka]

I don't get up. My name, sir.

[Adam Jones]

As an officer, it's automatically like this guy's hiding something from him. There was dead bodies found down there. We're just trying to see if somebody saw it.

[Stephanie Gomolka]

Was it a man or a woman?

[Adam Jones]

It was a man.

[Stephanie Gomolka]

I mean, I was definitely told y' all because I'd been like, oh, God.

[Adam Jones]

They'Re gonna think I killed this son of.

[Stephanie Gomolka]

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[Adam Jones]

I am the archangel Michael.

[Stephanie Gomolka]

The whole town has been thrown into.

[Adam Jones]

Chaos as the mayor is unable to.

[Stephanie Gomolka]

Carry out his duties. I would like to address you. All legal proceedings have been initiated. Join me, Anna Richardson and journalist Leo Chic for the mystic and the Mayor as we investigate a story of power, corruption and magic. Binge all episodes of the mystic and the Mayor exclusively and ad free right now on Wonder plus. Start your free trial in Apple podcasts, Spotify or the Wondery app. Bravo is going from rodeo to rodeo. The McBee dynasty is coming. We've got to keep this family farm alive and these cowboys mean business.

[Adam Jones]

Starting to question if left's parting ways.

[Stephanie Gomolka]

May be the right decision. Stakes are higher than they've ever been. We're at this different place in our lives. You think you're the big boy now? You guys gotta work together. Ain't nothing good could come out of this mess. We've been under FBI investigation and there may be prison time involved.

[Adam Jones]

The McBee dynasty.

[Stephanie Gomolka]

New episodes Tuesdays watch Bravo on peacock. Less than 48 hours after 27 year old Kenny Bunn was found shot to death, investigators are speaking with a suspicious person who was seen near the crime scene in the days leading to up. Up to the murder.

[Adam Jones]

You live around here? How do you get down here?

[Stephanie Gomolka]

Wall.

[Adam Jones]

Did you say that we could look through your buggy?

[Stephanie Gomolka]

Go ahead.

[Adam Jones]

Jesse was in fact wanted out of Tennessee and that's why he did not want to give us his full name, date of birth, things of that nature.

[Stephanie Gomolka]

As investigators continue questioning Jesse, his girlfriend arrives.

[Adam Jones]

What's your name?

[Stephanie Gomolka]

My name?

[Adam Jones]

I'm Adam Jones with the GBI state police. This is my Partner. Agent Wilson. Did he do something? We know y' all were camping out around the bridge, and, you know, something happened down there, did that, and we were just wondering if you'd seen anything, anybody down there.

[Stephanie Gomolka]

The woman is quick to offer an alibi for the Sunday night Kenny was killed.

[Adam Jones]

His girlfriend explained to us that they had been staying under the bridge, but on this Saturday and Sunday, they had been in Tennessee conducting some illegal activities. They were stealing copper from an abandoned house, which did give them a good alibi. No, we don't think he did. That allowed us to eliminate who he was, why he would have been out there at the bridge. We did let local law enforcement for Tennessee know who we were dealing with, and they were glad to have Jesse come stay at their facility in Tennessee. We're probably three days into it at this point. We had already done, like, the best you could do in neighborhood canvas on a stretch of highway with, you know, with a handful of houses and just talking to people. I remember going back to the office. We're trying to figure out what to do at this point, what direction. I remember Adam was on a whiteboard. You know, we kind of. We jot down everything. And I remember receiving a phone call from one of our local attorneys. And the local attorney said, hey, I have a client that I've just been talking to, and he knows something about the case that you're working on. That's when things really started moving. We hightail it straight to this law office and speak to this client. He wanted to provide information on a possible murder weapon for Kenny's death. So you sold a gun? It may have been used in the commission of a crime we're looking at. Yeah, it was a.22 LR image. I got into the academy, like, five, six months ago.

[Stephanie Gomolka]

What's the guy's name?

[Adam Jones]

Justin. Justin Hooker. She's on the actual. When did you sell it to him? I saw it to him Saturday, man. This last Saturday?

[Stephanie Gomolka]

Yeah, the day before it happened.

[Adam Jones]

We know that Kenny was shot with a small caliber weapon, which is what the.22 was. And so this was huge. This was paramount to our investigation. This person tells us Justin said it was for home defense, where him and Nadia were staying at their apartment. They've been having some issues, and he just wanted to have this for self protection.

[Stephanie Gomolka]

But as news spread about Kenny Bunn's murder, the informant tells investigators that he became suspicious about Justin's motives.

[Adam Jones]

So I had to call Justin. I asked him, I said, so did you do it? Was it with my gun? Dude, and he said, don't worry. And I said, was it with my goddamn gun?

[Stephanie Gomolka]

And he said, yeah.

[Adam Jones]

And I said, why the would you do that? He didn't know that's what he was going to do. But he is terrified that he's going to get drugged into this. He thought he was going to be in trouble for providing a murder weapon to Justin. I mean, I can't be all, I don't want any trouble. You know what I'm saying?

[Stephanie Gomolka]

Investigators theorize that Justin may have acted out of jealousy due to the fact that Nadia and Kenny kept in touch.

[Adam Jones]

It appeared to maybe a lover's triangle, so to speak.

[Stephanie Gomolka]

Detectives are beginning to believe that Nadia may have initially lied to them, so they pressed the informant for more details.

[Adam Jones]

Did he say that his girlfriend was with him when he did?

[Stephanie Gomolka]

Yeah.

[Adam Jones]

What we want to know is the elements around who killed who.

[Stephanie Gomolka]

Why?

[Adam Jones]

I have no idea. What'd he do with the gun, after him? I have no freaking clue, man. After the interview was over, I said, hey, it's the son. Ain't gonna say it today before we catch them. It really took off at that point.

[Stephanie Gomolka]

Coming up, the hunt for Justin Hooker and Nadia Swartz intensifies, leading investigators to face conflicting stories.

[Adam Jones]

Y' all got the wrong people.

[Stephanie Gomolka]

We didn't do anything. I can't lie anymore because of Gil. Just eating me up. Three days into the murder investigation of Kenny Bunn, authorities have zeroed in on Justin Hooker as their primary suspect.

[Adam Jones]

We're able to determine that Justin works for Witco Produce in Dalton, Georgia, and this company is actually owned by Justin'. We went there to try to find him. He went there. We start accelerating at this point. I've got all these agents and detectives and investigators from Dalton Police Department, Murray County Sheriff's Office, special agents with the gbi. We're all out working units went to where Justin lives and then kind of set up surveillance on the house. We had other units looking for Ms. Nadia.

[Stephanie Gomolka]

When investigators reach out to Justin's friends and family, they say they haven't seen him. But authorities do learn more about the troubled young man like Kenny Bunn. Justin had always been an outsider. Justin, when he was in high school, he would get picked on a lot just because of how he was dressed, just because of how he talked. Justin loved wearing black and growing his hair out long, you know, and he enjoyed chains and stuff. Justin really wanted to shock people with how he was dressed. He wanted people to look at him, but not look at him.

[Adam Jones]

At one point, Justin was homeless in his Late teens, he was living out of a vehicle. He'd gotten a few running with law enforcement for theft, and he was just kind of generally having a hard time making good decisions.

[Stephanie Gomolka]

Despite the hardships, Justin never had a problem with romance. I found Justin to be just like very empathetic. You know, he was very sweet with it. I had very, very deep emotions for Justin. And when we broke up and I found out he was dating Nadia within a month and a half of us breaking up, it hurt. Friends tell detectives that Justin's infatuation with Nadia had developed quickly and intensely.

[Adam Jones]

At this point, you're getting leads about this relationship with Nadia and Justin and Kenny, and we're able to learn there was an altercation between Justin and Kenny.

[Stephanie Gomolka]

The altercation had a few months earlier, not long after Kenny and Nadia had broken up. Words were exchanged, and allegedly, Justin had threatened to blow Kenny's head off if he didn't leave Nadia alone. I really don't know exactly why Kenny and Justin didn't get along other than Nadia. So that was the common factor they two had together is in between Nadia. Despite the threats, Kenny wasn't willing to give up on Nadia. I remember him telling me about her, and I think that Kenny knew that she's a toxic person and that it was a toxic environment and relationship. But he was also just in love with the idea of being in love. So, you know, he would do anything to try to keep that connection and that relationship together. As investigators widen their search for Justin, they uncover one more. Investigators spoke to Justin's brother and his brother's live in girlfriend. They told authorities that Justin did not come by their home the night of the murder. In fact, they hadn't seen Justin in weeks, which totally undermined his alibi. On March 19, three days after Kenny's murder, the GBI surveillance pays off when agents finally apprehend Justin Hooker as he tries to sneak back into his apartment.

[Adam Jones]

Law enforcement goes and takes Justin in custody, transports him to Murray County Sheriff's office for us.

[Stephanie Gomolka]

When Nadia learns that Justin has been arrested, she turns herself in.

[Adam Jones]

I wanted to interview them apart from each other because you could kind of tell that together they were stronger. So I wanted to divide and conquer. It is Thursday, March 19, 2020. Time is 5:05pm Special Agent Adam Jones conducting interview with Joe Justin Hooker at the Murray County Sheriff's Office interview room. Justin, he looked apprehensive, scared, thinking, I wonder what he's going to say. I'll be able to see my girlfriend. Why do you want to see her.

[Stephanie Gomolka]

Just. Because if they picked me up, I'm.

[Adam Jones]

Sure they picked her up.

[Stephanie Gomolka]

And I'm sure she's scared. She's got anxiety. All right.

[Adam Jones]

Do you have any idea why we're here?

[Stephanie Gomolka]

I'm guessing this is what.

[Adam Jones]

Or about what y' all talked to.

[Stephanie Gomolka]

Me and heard about the other day.

[Adam Jones]

Y' all got the wrong people, though. Why is that? Why do you say that?

[Stephanie Gomolka]

Because we didn't do anything.

[Adam Jones]

Okay. You didn't buy a pistol, or you did buy one a while back, right?

[Stephanie Gomolka]

Yeah.

[Adam Jones]

What kind of pistol was.

[Stephanie Gomolka]

Was a 20 or 20? Smaller.

[Adam Jones]

He starts to say 22, but catches himself and says 20 and stops. Listen, what you gotta realize is we're not here just by chance. We just did pick you up by random. Right? We know. And the best thing to do is just come clean with it. I confront him with that, and I kind of see Justin's posture. His shoulders sink in, and it's kind of like a defeat posture. And I'm kind of at the edge of my chair waiting for him to say the next thing, and he. He's like, I want an attorney. It's just like I'm deflated.

[Stephanie Gomolka]

In another interrogation room, investigators hope Nadia Swartz is more willing to speak.

[Adam Jones]

All right, so tell me about what happened on Sunday.

[Stephanie Gomolka]

Okay. Well, I can't lie anymore because of Gil just eating me up. I was talking to Justin about what Kenny was basically did to me in the past, how much he put me into depression because he was threatening to kill me. Ever since I got with him, like, constantly threatening to kill me. I've been telling him how Kenny basically had a knife to my leg right here. And he's like, if you try to leave, I'm gonna cut your leg off.

[Adam Jones]

I like to just let people tell their version of facts. But then, while we're interviewing Nadia, some of the things we're not adding.

[Stephanie Gomolka]

That Kenny wasn't an abuser. That's not who he was. Nadia claims that on the night of Kenny's murder, she and Justin decided to confront Kenny together that night. I just want to know why he did that. I just want to know what I did so wrong for me to go through. Through all that with him for four months. Nadia claimed that when she picked Kenny up from the gas station, Justin was in the car. Justin was in the backseat. He's like, remember, I'm here with you. So when you guys go to this.

[Adam Jones]

To the river, did Justin stay in the back seat?

[Stephanie Gomolka]

Justin stayed in the car. Okay. Shanda. Me and Kenny got Out. And Kenny said he wanted me back. He was begging and pleading for me back, saying if you don't come back with me, I'm going to kill you. And that's when he ran up to me and scared me. So I punched him in the stomach. And Kenny was like, you're gonna regret that. And he had that death stare in his eyes like everything was blank. He came at me like that, like he was gonna strangle me. Justin freaked out and basically defended me.

[Adam Jones]

How did he defend you?

[Stephanie Gomolka]

That's when I noticed he had the gun. And Justin basically did what he had to do to make sure I didn't die.

[Adam Jones]

What did Justin do?

[Stephanie Gomolka]

Shot him. It was self defense. But investigators aren't buying Nadia's claims.

[Adam Jones]

We were able to disprove that Kenny got physically violent with Nadia by doing a search warrant to photograph Nadia's body. She had no injuries on her that would suggest that she was being strangled or had been gripped violently anyway, so I knew Nadia was lying to me.

[Stephanie Gomolka]

Nadia Schwartz and Justin Hooker have been arrested for the shooting of Nadia's ex boyfriend, 27 year old Kenny Bunn. While Nadia has implicated her new boyfriend Justin as the killer, she claims that the murder was committed in self defense.

[Adam Jones]

Well, there's a lot of force that comes with strangulation. There should be some marks on her body. She didn't have any.

[Stephanie Gomolka]

Kenny's friends and family are also adamant that Nadia's allegations of abuse are fabricated. I think it's important for everybody to know who Kenny really was. Kenny was not violent to her or anyone. She is a manipulator. She was. I think she controlled the relationships. I think she actually was the abuse in the relationships. Justin Hooker had very strong feelings for Nadia and seemed devoted to her. If he believed her accusations, he would have had a very strong motive to commit this crime. Investigators charged Nadia Swartz and Justin Hooker with murder. Facing a mountain of evidence, they both decide to take plea deals.

[Adam Jones]

If they were going to accept this plea, they were going to have to provide the court with information that the investigators needed. Mainly where was this firearm. And they also have to tell what they did that caused Kenny to be murdered.

[Stephanie Gomolka]

Nadia and Justin agree to the terms. Based on their subsequent statements. Authorities believe Kenny's murder was premeditated.

[Adam Jones]

My opinion with Nadia is that she weighs on the jealousy of Justin to hype him up to say, hey, if we're gonna have a good relationship and love each other forever, Kenny can't be in the picture. And I think she came up with this plan to Ambush and execute Kenny.

[Stephanie Gomolka]

I think Nadia had a very weird, dark romantic fantasy about murder. And it seemed to me like she was just playing a game of who would kill for me.

[Adam Jones]

What we believed is Nadia took Justin to the bridge with his gun and left him there. Nadia then goes and picks Kenny up. She was able to lure Kenny back to the bridge with the understanding that they were going to try and get back together. Using this roof gets Kenny down the path to the bridge and then that's where Justin comes out.

[Stephanie Gomolka]

Due to the lack of defensive wounds, investigators do not believe there was any sort of confrontation between Kenny and his killers.

[Adam Jones]

This was an execution, just an ambush. Kenny didn't know that it was coming. We're able to learn later that Justin sold the gun, but we were never able to establish where that firearm went.

[Stephanie Gomolka]

In March 2021, Nadia Swartz and Justin Hooker receive their fates. The 21 year olds are each sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole. I hope to God they don't ever get out. In less than a year. The Justin that I knew went from being a loving and sweet guy to a killer within six months. It's shocking. I believe we all have the potential to kill somebody, but I believe that Nadia is one that brought it out of him, gave him that whole, I can do this, you know, I can go and shoot a guy. And so he did. Nadia was very insecure and so she wanted to find somebody that would do anything for her, including killing someone. She didn't care which one of them died. She just wanted someone to kill for her.

[Adam Jones]

She was a puppet master with the strings, so to speak. I don't think Nadia was remorseful for Kenny's death at all. I just. I think she's evil.

[Stephanie Gomolka]

They left him in that like he was garbage. My son wasn't garbage.

[Adam Jones]

Lord, mercy.

[Stephanie Gomolka]

I wish Kenny hadn't went off with him that night. I lost my everything. I want him to be remembered by his good heart and his helpless. The way he made people smile. He was more than a murderer. He was a person. Justin Hooker and Nadia Swartz will be eligible for parole consideration. Consideration? In 2050.

[Adam Jones]

How hard is it to kill a planet?

[Stephanie Gomolka]

Maybe all it takes is a little drilling, some mining, and a whole lot.

[Adam Jones]

Of carbon pumped into the atmosphere.

[Stephanie Gomolka]

When you see what's left, it starts to look like a crime scene. Are we really safe? Is our water safe? You destroyed our tap.

[Adam Jones]

And crimes like that, they don't just happen.

[Stephanie Gomolka]

We call things accidents. There is no accident. This was 100% preventable. They're the result of choices by people.

[Adam Jones]

Ruthless oil tycoons, corrupt politicians, even organized crime.

[Stephanie Gomolka]

These are the stories we need to be telling about our changing planet. Stories of scams, murders, and coverups that.

[Adam Jones]

Are about us and the things we're doing to either protect the Earth or destroy it. Follow Lawless Planet on the Wondry app.

[Stephanie Gomolka]

Or wherever you get your your podcasts. You can listen to new episodes of.

[Adam Jones]

Lawless Planet early and ad free right now by joining Wondry plus in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.