The three shooting victims allegedly murdered by a former South Dakota mayor on Memorial Day have been identified, as well as a possible motive.
Court documents obtained by Fox News Digital identified the deceased as Zach Frankus, 21, Paul Frankus, 26, and Timothy Richmond, 35. The dispute between the three and former Centerville Mayor Jay Ostrem, 64, was allegedly the result of a sexual assault against Ostrem's wife.
Victim Zach Frankus reported the shooting at 9:44 p.m. Monday from a residence in Centerville, telling Lincoln County Sheriff's Office dispatchers that his brother had been shot and killed by a man with a shotgun, and that the shooter had returned to his home. Some time later, Zach told the operator that he had also been shot before stopping talking.
“You could just hear pop,” witness Mark Weets told local television station KELO. “I think I heard like five gunshots and then I started looking out the window and looking around and recording. There were people running, running down Main Street here, and one of them gave up there about a block down. There and he ran away. “They gave up, they arrested them.”
FORMER SOUTH DAKOTA MAYOR CHARGED WITH TRIPLE MURDER
Jay Ostrem, 64, is accused of a triple murder that took place on Memorial Day. (Turner County Sheriff's Office)
Court documents say Ostrem was seen leaving the home on Main Street by a responding Game, Fish and Parks officer, and that he initially ignored commands to stop before eventually lying on the ground. He was allegedly found bleeding from his left hand, smelling of alcohol and with a .380 pistol and an AR-style rifle with spent shotgun shells and a spent rifle shell in his possession.
The three victims were found dead inside the home.
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The Minnehaha County Jail, where Jay Ostrem, 64, is being held for a triple murder on Memorial Day. (Google Maps)
Officers then went to Ostrem's home, and his wife told investigators that she had informed her husband on the day of the shooting that she and Paul Frankus had been drinking together on May 23 when he forcibly kissed her and He exposed his genitals to her, according to court documents. say. The news allegedly caused Ostrem to “storm out of the house,” without saying where he was going.
Local reports say Ostrem previously served as councilman and mayor of Centerville, which is in Turner County. He was also a deputy with the Turner County Sheriff's Office, KELO reported.
Centerville, South Dakota, in relation to Sioux Falls. (Google Maps)
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The South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation is leading the investigation into the triple homicide, with assistance from numerous other local agencies.
Ostrem is being held at the Minnehaha County Jail. Online court records say he is being held without bail and that he will appear in court at 4 pm Wednesday.
