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Oxygen's Buried in the Backyard, is returning with an old episode from its collection on April 19, featuring the murder of Donal O'Sullivan at the hands of young Daniel Tennity. The case dates back to 1998, when a 42-year-old man was murdered after he got involved with a ragtag group of Skaters in Melbourne, Florida. It remains among the most tragic cases in the town.
The original episode in this case, titled Deep Freeze, dates back to December 23, 2021. The synopsis for the same reads:
"An entrepreneur forges an unlikely friendship with a ragtag group of skateboarders; but when he vanishes and signs point to foul play, police wonder whether he was really a friend or a target."
After a twisted case that seemed to follow no particular pattern of a typical killer, the police managed to reach Daniel Tennity, one of O'Sullivan's skater friends. They eventually arrested Tennity and charged him with the murder.
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Facing a mountain of evidence against him, Tennity confessed to strangling O'Sullivan and received a 40-year prison sentence. Currently, he is at the Desoto Annex Correctional Institute in Arcadia, Florida.
Who was Daniel Tennity and what did he do?
Donal O'Sullivan, a successful entrepreneur in the tech world, relocated to Florida after he retired early. Though significantly older, he became friends with an unusual group of skaters in Melbourne, Florida. In September 1998, his friends realized that they had not seen him for a long time.
This eventually led to a police case and the discovery of a possible homicide after authorities found an unusual amount of blood in O'Sullivan's home and the information that a young man claiming to be O'Sullivan's son was trying to withdraw money from his account. The police also found the receipt of a freezer but could not locate any such thing inside the house.
The receipt was made out to a certain Eric Marshall. This led the police to hypothesize that it could be the same young man trying to cash O'Sullivan's checks.
Though police found no Eric Marshall, a witness at the bank recognized one of O'Sullivan's skater friends as the one trying to cash the checks. This man was 26-year-old Daniel Tennity.
Tennity reportedly joined the group after he recently moved from New York to Florida for a fresh start. He knew fellow skater Durke Schmidt and had reportedly showed up at Schmidt's house looking for work.
As things unraveled, authorities discovered that the rented house Tennity and a friend lived in was paid for by O'Sullivan. On reaching the rented house, authorities learned from Tennity's roommate that he was a convicted criminal who just got out of prison before moving to Melbourne.
Because he was also violating his parole by moving to Florida, authorities arrested him. He tried to mislead the investigation by claiming that O'Sullivan paid him for running errands and he was trying to cash those checks.
However, a call from Durke Schmidt changed everything. Schmidt revealed that while trying to send Daniel Tennity's bible to his mother, as instructed by Tennity, Schmidt found Donal’s credit cards, Donal’s license, some money, and bank checks in the bible. This changed the complexion of the case completely.
Schmidt and Tennity's roommate further searched the house to discover a land deal forged in Tennity’s name north of Melbourne. It was allegedly purchased with money stolen from O'Sullivan.
Authorities managed to track down the Canaveral Groves address, where they managed to finally unearth the deep freezer containing Donal O'Sullivan's body.
This freezer also matched the serial number of the freezer purchased by "Eric Marshall." This was enough evidence to convict Daniel Tennity, who, facing the consequences and the mountain of evidence, confessed to strangling Donal O'Sullivan to death. He also unknowingly helped his conviction when he bragged to a cellmate about the murder.
Daniel Tennity was sentenced to 40 years in prison. He continues to serve his sentence at the Desoto Annex Correctional Institute in Arcadia, Florida, as of today.
The upcoming episode of Buried in the Backyard will cover this case in further detail when it airs on April 19, 2024, at 8.00 PM EST on Oxygen.
