A 64-year-old man has been charged with three counts of murder in a town where he was formerly the mayor, according to South Dakota officials and news reports.
The shooting deaths of the three people, who have not been identified, were reported at 10 p.m. Monday, May 27, at a home in Centerville, according to the South Dakota Attorney General’s Office.
Jay Ostrem, who is reportedly the former mayor of Centerville, now faces three charges of first-degree murder, Attorney General Marty Jackley said in a May 28 news release.
Authorities went to a home after a man called 911 saying his brother had been shot and killed, according to court documents obtained by the Argus Leader. The 911 caller was also shot, he said, and he eventually stopped speaking to the dispatcher.
Ostrem is accused of using a shotgun in the killings, KELO reported, citing court documents. He was detained on Main Street in Centerville, where he was armed with a .380 handgun, the station reported.
The Argus Leader and KELO reported the shootings stemmed from a May 23 incident in which one of the victims allegedly “forcibly” kissed Ostrem’s wife.
Ostrem “got up and went raging out of the house” when his wife informed him of the alleged assault, she told authorities, according to Sioux Falls Live.
The attorney general said there is no threat to the public. Ostrem is being held in the Minnehaha County Jail on a $1 million bond.
Centerville, with a population of less than 1,000 people, is about a 40-mile drive southwest of Sioux Falls. Ostrem served as mayor there in 2010, according to the Argus Leader and KELO.
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