A former cop-turned-mayor charged with killing three people once beat a suspect so severely that he lost his eye and was responsible for the death of another, two lawsuits allege.
Jay Ostrem, 64, was jailed on $1 million bond on three counts of first-degree murder after a Memorial Day shooting.
Ostrem previously worked in law enforcement in Wyoming and South Dakota for more than 20 years.
While working for the police in Gillette, Wyoming, Ostrem had two lawsuits filed against him for his use of force.
In 2000, Patrick Wayne Dalby, the suspect in the clothing store robbery, filed suit for unnecessary violence.
Dalby claimed Ostrem hit him with the butt of a semi-automatic rifle, causing him to lose his left eye, when he arrested him in April 1999.
Jay Ostrem, 64, was jailed on $1 million bond on three counts of first-degree murder following a Memorial Day shooting
Ostrem, seen here with his wife Lise Victoria, previously worked in law enforcement for more than 20 years in Wyoming and South Dakota
His original complaint, seen by DailyMail.com, says Ostrem struck him several times in the back, head, face and eye with the gun and fired two shots.
District Judge Clarence Brimmer sided with Ostrem, ruling that Ostrem had acted in an “objectively reasonable manner.”
Dalby was sentenced in April 2000 to 15 to 35 years for theft and two to five years for disarming a peace officer.
Another lawsuit filed in 2001 by TaWaynda Owens alleged that Ostrem used “unreasonable, unnecessary and unjustified” force in the death of her husband Michael.
TaWaynda had left her home in Gillette after an incident with her husband Michael in November 2001.
After showing up at her sister’s house and explaining what had happened, her sister called the local police and explained that she had been assaulted.
While on the phone, Michael Owens, 40, showed up at the house while Ostrem was dispatched to the address.
Ostrem, along with another officer, then approached Owens with guns pointed at him and yelled “in a loud and aggressive manner.”
The suit adds that after Owens began driving erratically, Ostrem opened fire on him, releasing ten shots. Owens died at the scene after being hit ten times.
While working for the police in Gillette, Wyoming, Ostrem had two lawsuits filed against him for his use of force
Jay Ostrem is pictured in 2009 while working as a Turner County Sheriff Investigator
Owens alleged that Ostrem and the other officer violated her husband’s rights to be free from “the unreasonable, unnecessary and unjustified use of excessive force in the execution of an arrest.”
Once again, a judge dismissed the claims and Ostrem did not pay damages in either case.
The Gillette News Record reported that Ostrem fatally shot a suicidal gunman in 1994.
Warren Thomas had apparently wounded himself with his own gun when Ostrem and another officer showed up at his home.
When asked to drop a gun he was holding, Thomas raised a revolver at the other officer, causing Ostrem to shoot him.
Ostrem had been to Thomas’ home earlier in the day after a request was made to come and check on him. He left after Thomas promised him he would go to a hospital for help.
On Thursday, Ostrem appeared in court in Clay County in connection with Monday’s shooting incident.
The murder charges against the former mayor of Centerville are all three Class A felonies, which carry a minimum penalty of death or life in prison.
On Thursday, Ostrem appeared in court in Clay County in connection with Monday’s shooting
Paul Frankus, 26, left, and his 21-year-old brother Zach, right, were both shot and killed Monday
Officers attended the home where the call came from, above, and found all three victims
An affidavit of probable cause identified the victims as two brothers Paul Frankus, 26, and his 21-year-old brother Zach and Timothy Richmond, 35.
Zach Frankus called police Monday night to report that his brother had been shot by “a man from across the street” and that the shooter had returned home.
Frankus was still on the phone with a dispatcher when he said he had also been shot.
He was described as ‘Frankish’. Frankus then stopped talking and loaded the documents.
Authorities rushed to the scene, where a Game Fish and Parks officer saw Ostrem leaving the home identified as the scene of the shooting.
Ostrem initially ignored orders to stop before lying on the ground. He was arrested a short time later.
An AR-style rifle lay on the ground next to him and he had a pistol in his pocket. Police noticed Ostrem bleeding from his left hand and smelling of alcohol.
Authorities rushed to the scene of the accident, where a Game Fish and Parks officer saw Ostrem leaving the home identified as the scene of the shooting.
Officers then went to the home where the call came from and found all three victims there.
Ostrem’s wife, who is British, told police that a neighbor, Paul Frankus, sexually assaulted her on Thursday, and she told Ostrem about the attack on Monday evening.
The pair had been drinking together when he forcibly kissed her, exposed his genitals and pressed himself against her, the Argus Leader reports.
She said Ostrem “got up and left the house in a rage,” the document said.
She explained to officers that her husband had not told her where he was going and that he had not left armed, although there were weapons in the house and he probably had some in his car.
Ostrem will appear in court on June 20.