Suspect Just ‘Wanted to Kill Someone,’ Police Say

Micheal McKinney wanted to kill someone and Casey Garber was the perfect victim, according to Clearwater Police detectives.

After attending a wedding reception earlier in the day, the two went back to the golf course near the old Dogwater Cafe on Countryside Boulevard on June 25, said Elizabeth Watts, police spokeswoman.

At some point, McKinney, 37, shot Garber, 40, multiple times in the upper body that evening, according to police. McKinney, of Palm Harbor, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder.

“The only motive the detectives were able to get was that he wanted to kill someone,” Watts said, “for whatever reason that was. It was just the fact that he wanted to commit a murder and he felt the victim was a good target.”

The suspect and victim knew each other through the prescription drug trade, according to police.

Garber’s in a remote part of the golf course by a woman walking her dog about 7:35 p.m. June 27 at the Countryside Executive Golf Course, 2506 Countryside Blvd.

McKinney has previous arrests for prescription pills and in May for driving without a license, according to Pinellas County Sheriff’s records. He was released on $250 bail.