The identities and possible motives of three shooting victims allegedly killed by a former South Dakota mayor on Memorial Day have been determined.
Court documents obtained by Fox News Digital identified the deceased as 21-year-old Zach Frankus, 26-year-old Paul Frankus and 35-year-old Timothy Richmond. The altercation between the three and former Centerville Mayor Jay Ostrem, 64, allegedly stemmed from the sexual assault of Ostrem’s wife.
The victim, Zach Frankus, reported the shooting at 9:44 p.m. He told Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office dispatchers at a Centerville residence on Monday that his brother was shot and killed by a man with a shotgun who had returned home. Sometime later, Zach told the dispatcher he had also been shot before stopping talking.
“You could hear pops,” witness Mark Weets told local TV station KELO. “I think I heard about five rounds going off, so I started looking out the window, looking around and recording. There were people running – running down Main Street here, and one of them surrendered a block away and gave up there, and they arrested them.
Ex-South Dakota mayor charged with triple murder
Jay Ostrem, 64, has been charged with a triple murder that occurred on Memorial Day. (Turner County Sheriff’s Office)
Court documents say a responding Game, Fish and Parks officer saw Ostrem leaving the Main Street home, where he initially ignored orders to stop and eventually fell to the ground. He was allegedly found bleeding from his left hand, smelling of alcohol and in possession of a .380 handgun and an AR-type rifle with spent shotgun shells and a spent rifle shell.
Three victims were found dead inside the home.
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Jay Ostrem, 64, was being held in the Minnehaha County Jail on Memorial Day on a triple murder charge. (Google Maps)
Police then went to Ostrem’s home, where his wife told investigators she told her husband on the day of the shooting that she and Paul Franks had been drinking together on May 23 when he forcibly kissed her and Exposed his genitals to her. The news allegedly caused Ostrem to “walk out of the house in anger,” without revealing where he was going.
Local reports said Ostrem previously served as a city councilman and mayor of Centerville in Turner County. He is also a deputy with the Turner County Sheriff’s Office, KELO reports.
Centerville, South Dakota, related to Sioux Falls. (Google Maps)
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The South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation is leading the triple homicide investigation, with assistance from numerous other local agencies.
Ostrem is being held in the Minnehaha County Jail. Online court records show he is being held without bail and is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday at 4 p.m.
