South Dakota
Former South Dakota mayor arrested over triple murder shooting
A former South Dakota mayor has been arrested and charged with three counts of murder over a triple slaying in the area that he used to represent.
Jay Ostrem, 64, was arrested following the deaths of three victims on Monday night. He was detained by the Turner County Sheriff’s Office, where he had also reportedly once served as a detective.
The incident was reported at around 10pm on 27 May at a residence in the city of Centerville.
“Jay Ostrem has been arrested and charged with three counts of First Degree Murder, and law enforcement has secured the scene,” said Attorney General Marty Jackley. “There is no further threat to the public.”
Mr Ostrem worked in law enforcement for more than two decades in Wyoming and South Dakota, media reports said. He served as mayor of Centerville about a decade-and-a-half ago, but the exact dates weren’t immediately available.
The names of the three victims, aged 21, 26 and 35, have not yet been released by police pending notification of next of kin. It is understood that two of the men were brothers.
According to the state attorney general’s office, Mr Ostrem is being held on a $1m cash only bond in the Minnehaha County Jail, following the incident.
Authorities did not list a motive for the crime. However, in a complaint filed on Tuesday, obtained by the South Dakota Searchlight, Mr Ostrem justified his actions by claiming it was in retaliation to a sexual assault on his wife.
One of the three men killed was the alleged perpetrator of the sexual assault, the complaint stated. Another was a relative of that man, who called police to report the shooting before being shot himself.
A man had called 911 to report that his brother had been shot by “a guy from across the street,” and that the gunman had returned home.
Police said the man remained on the phone with a dispatcher when a gunshot rang out and then yelled that he was shot. After that, police said, he went silent.
“After some time on the phone with the dispatcher, the male calling party then reported he had been shot,” the affidavit said, reported by Sioux Falls Live. “Shortly after he reported he had been shot, the male stopped communicating with the dispatcher.”
A third man was also found dead in the home, though his relationship with the brothers was not specified.
The affidavit stated that Mr Ostrem’s wife told police that the fatal events came after her disclosure to him that one of the victims had sexually assaulted her at their home on Thursday evening as he slept.
The man lived across the street from the Ostrems.
Per The Searchlight, upon learning of the incident Mr Ostrem “got up and went raging out of the house.” His wife stayed inside until police arrived, which happened shortly after Mr Ostrem was found walking near his home with an “AR-style rifle” and a .380 pistol.
A South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks conservation officer was the first to encounter Mr Ostrem after the shooting, the affidavit said, who noticed “an odor of consumed alcohol”.
He complied with the officer’s commands to stop walking, and he told the officer he had a pistol in his pocket.
The date for Mr Ostrem’s initial appearance on the Turner County charges has yet to be set.
RAPID CITY, S.D. (KOTA) – Students at South Dakota Mines heard Wednesday from retired four-star general Maryanne Miller about her journey to the highest ranks of the U.S. military.
Miller is a retired four-star U.S. Air Force general. She is the only member of the Air Force Reserve ever to be promoted to this level.
She spoke about finding greatness and living a life of fulfillment. Her stories came from her time in the Air Force and as a volunteer for Saint Teresa of Calcutta’s Missionaries of Charity.
“We so much get focused on what is our next step in life, what’s the next career move, how do we make ourselves better in our career, and we forget about how do we make ourselves better as a human being,” Miller said. “Because they have to go tandem. If it’s not tandem, you’re going to get off track.”
Miller was commissioned in 1981 and rose through the ranks before becoming a four-star general in 2018. She was the only woman serving as a four-star officer in the military at the time. She retired in 2020 after serving for almost 40 years.
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South Dakota
USDA to offer distaster assistance to South Dakota agriculture producers impacted by winter storms
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) – The U.S. Department of Agriculture is offering financial and technical assistance to South Dakota farmers and livestock producers who may have been impacted by the recent winter storms.
“I encourage impacted producers to contact their local USDA Service Center to report losses and learn more about program options available to assist in their recovery from crop, land, infrastructure, and livestock losses and damages.” said Richard Fordyce, Production and Conservation Under Secretary.
FSA’s Emergency Conservation Program and Emergency Forest Restoration Program can assist landowners with financial assistance to restore damaged land and conservation structures or forests.
“Our staff will work one-on-one with landowners to make assessments of the damages and develop methods that focus on effective recovery of the land.” said Jessica Michalski, Acting NRCS State Conservationist in South Dakota.
For more information about the disaster assistance program, click here.
Copyright 2026 Dakota News Now. All rights reserved.
South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden, left, and Lt. Gov. Tony Venhuizen unveil a plaque for retired U.S. Navy Capt. E. Royce Williams in the Hall of Honor at the Capitol in Pierre on March 25, 2026. (Photo by Meghan O’Brien/South Dakota Searchlight)
PIERRE, S.D. (South Dakota Searchlight) — There’s a new name in the South Dakota Hall of Honor at the state Capitol building.
One-hundred-year-old South Dakota native and retired U.S. Navy Capt. E. Royce Williams was celebrated at a Wednesday ceremony where a plaque honoring him was unveiled, although Williams did not attend.
“In spite of being outnumbered and facing incredible danger, Captain Williams engaged the enemy with courage and skill,” said Republican Gov. Larry Rhoden. “Our state has always had a strong tradition of service, and Captain Williams is the very best of that tradition.”
President Donald Trump awarded Williams the Medal of Honor, the country’s highest military honor, at the State of the Union address earlier this year. The medal honors actions by Williams that had been classified for decades.
“His story was secret for over 50 years, he didn’t even want to tell his wife, but the legend grew and grew,” Trump said during the speech in February. “But tonight, at 100 years old, this brave Navy captain is finally getting the recognition he deserves.”
On Nov. 18, 1952, over Korean coastal waters during the Korean War, then-Lt. Williams, from Wilmot, South Dakota, led three F9F Panthers against seven Soviet MiG-15s. He disabled three enemy jets and damaged a fourth.
The Soviet jets, according to the U.S. Naval Institute, were “superior to the F9F in almost every fashion.” The mission was the only direct overwater combat between U.S. Navy fighters and Soviet fighters during the Cold War.
Williams, one of 11 Medal of Honor recipients from South Dakota, now lives in California. The Hall of Honor at the South Dakota Capitol is located in the hallway that visitors enter immediately after going through security.
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