Three people were shot to death in a small South Dakota town, and a former police officer who briefly served as mayor has been charged with the murders.
In a news release on Tuesday, South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley announced the arrest of Jay Ostrem, 64, on a $1 million cash-only bond on three counts of first-degree murder.
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“Law enforcement has secured the scene,” Jackley stated. “There is no further threat to the public.”
A probable cause affidavit listed the victims as two brothers, ages 26 and 21, and a 35-year-old male. We did not immediately identify them by name because we were still notifying their family members. The document made no mention of any relationship between the third victim and the brothers.
According to media accounts, Ostrem served in law enforcement for more than 20 years in Wyoming and South Dakota. He was mayor of Centerville around a decade and a half ago, but specific dates were not immediately available.
The probable cause affidavit stated that a man in Centerville called police at 9:44 p.m. Monday to tell them that his brother had been shot by “a guy from across the street” and that the gunman had returned home. The caller, still in conversation with a dispatcher, disclosed that he had also sustained a gunshot wound. He suddenly stopped talking, according to the affidavit.
Ostrem was captured shortly afterwards. The paper stated that he had a handgun in his pocket and an AR-style rifle on the ground nearby. The officers then proceeded to the home where the report originated and discovered all three victims.
Ostrem’s wife informed police that a neighbor called Paul sexually attacked her on Thursday, and she told Ostrem about it Monday night, according to the document. Ostrem “got up and went raging out of the house,” according to the affidavit.
It was not immediately known whether Ostrem had an attorney. Calls to Ostrem’s phone number were left unanswered.
Centerville is approximately forty miles south of Sioux Falls.
