(PatriotWise.com) — The former mayor of the small town of Centerville, South Dakota, was arrested Monday night in connection to the fatal shooting deaths of three people.
Jay Ostrem, who was the mayor of Centerville sometime in the early 2000s, was charged with three counts of first-degree murder and is being held on a $1 million cash bond, according to a May 28 news release from South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley.
According to the probable cause affidavit, the three male victims were 35, 26, and 21 years of age. The two younger men were identified as brothers, however, the affidavit did not say what connection they had to the older victim.
The 64-year-old Ostrem served in law enforcement, both in South Dakota and Wyoming, for more than twenty years. It was unclear when exactly he served as mayor of Centerville, a small town with a population below 1,000, roughly 40 miles south of Sioux Falls.
According to the probable cause affidavit, one of the men contacted the police at 9:44 p.m. on Monday, May 27, to report that the “guy from across the street” had just shot his brother and then returned to his house.
While the caller was on the phone, he informed the dispatcher that he too had been shot. At this point, the caller stopped talking, and there was no further contact.
Police arrested Ostrem not long after receiving the emergency call. Ostrem was carrying a handgun in his pocket and was found with a semi-automatic rifle on the ground beside him, the affidavit said.
When officers arrived at the home where the call was placed, they found the three male victims dead from apparent gunshot wounds.
Ostrem’s wife told the police that one of the three men, whom she identified as “Paul,” had assaulted her on Thursday, May 23.
According to Mrs. Ostrem, she had just told her husband about the alleged assault that night. She told police that after she informed her husband, he “got up and went raging out of the house,” the affidavit said.
The victims were later identified as Timothy Richmond, 35, Zach Frankus, 21, and Paul Frankus, 26.
It was Zach Frankus who called the police.
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