COURTS

Jealousy, incest alleged motives for Brinks' murders

Zeeland resident Ryan Wyngarden tried on two murder charges, faces life in prison if convicted

. Jim.Hayden @hollandsentinel.com (616) 546-4274
Ryan Wyngarden speaks to defense attorney Ken Uildriks during last week's court action. Krystle Wagner/The Grand Haven Tribune

The first four days of Ryan Wyngarden's double murder trial put nearly a dozen witnesses on the stand who accused the Zeeland man of killing his sister and her husband in 1987 out of jealousy.

Wyngarden, 52, is accused of shooting Gail and Rick Brink on Nov. 21, 1987, at their Park Township home. Wyngarden denies any wrongdoing.

Ottawa County Assistant Prosecutor Lee Fisher said in opening remarks Tuesday the killings were planned, motivated by jealousy of the couple and fear that Wyngarden's earlier sexual relationship with his sister, Gail, would be discovered. Defense attorneys said Wyngarden has an alibi for the night of the slayings and that he didn't murder the Brinks, nor did he commit incest.

Defense attorneys David Hall and Ken Uildriks have suggested alternate theories of why the Brinks were killed: a motorcycle gang with links to Detroit's drug trade, an investigation into corporate "financial irregularities" or in a case of mistaken identity.

Uildriks also questioned forensic pathologist Steven Cohle as to whether the bullets used to kill the couple could have come from different guns.

The Brinks' bodies were discovered at their Ransom Street home by Rick's parents on the morning of Nov.23, after the younger couple failed to show up for their respective jobs. Police believe the shootings happened sometime late Saturday night or early Sunday morning. The Brinks had attended a wedding on Saturday evening at the Holiday Inn on Holland's 24th Street, said five witnesses — including one from Colorado and another from Texas.

One key witness is Wyngarden's wife, Pam, who claims Wyngarden confessed to her that he killed the couple shortly after the murders — and that he admitted a previous sexual relationship with his sister.

Pam Wyngarden faced a lengthy cross-examination, where the defense tried to call Pam Wyngarden's credibility into question. Hall meticulously reviewed her statements to police in 1987, 2012 and 2013 in court last year. He noted many discrepancies and the 32 times she told detectives in 2012 that she couldn't recall details around the 1987 murders.

At one point, addressing the inconsistencies, Hall said, "Are you making this up as you go along?"

"No," she replied.

Hall suggested Ottawa County Sheriff's detectives pressured Pam Wyngarden into saying her husband killed the Brinks. Pam Wyngarden said the pressure came from within herself and that her Jan. 18 admission to Ottawa County Sheriff's Detectives Venus Repper and Dave Blakely lifted a burden from her.

She testified that she loves her husband and believes he still loves her. Married 24 years, neither has filed for divorce since his arrest last year. He remains in Ottawa County Jail.

She told the court Ryan took her to the murder scene on the evening of Nov. 22, before the bodies had been discovered. Pam said she was holding her 6-month-old son, Nathan, at the time. She saw Rick Brink's body slumped over in his truck. Inside the house, she said, Ryan showed her Gail's body, pulling the pillow off her face.

"After I saw Gail all bloody and the pillow all bloody, I ran out of the house," she said, but did not scream or run to a neighbor's house for help.

She told the court she married Ryan in 1988 to have a family and feared losing her job and children, tearfully adding, "no matter what, I love my kids more than anything."

For years, the Wyngardens stuck by a story that they were at a friend's home of the night of the murders, doing laundry and watching their children. Pam Wyngarden began backing off on that story in fall 2012, according to court testimony, telling Repper and Blakely she couldn't recall what she was doing that night.

A detail in witness James "Jimbo" Meacham's testimony could have larger implications. Meacham, 50, is a childhood friend of Ryan Wyngarden and later his boss at a Holland tree-cutting service. Though Meacham fired Wyngarden at one point, the two remained friends and he often stopped by for coffee between 5:30 and 7:30 a.m. before work. Ryan told him of the Brinks' deaths during such a visit he said, telling the court it was a Tuesday morning. The Brinks' bodies were discovered by Rick's parents on the previous morning.

Pam Wyngarden and Ryan's former girlfriend, Crystal Nykamp Beelen, each testified that he had confessed to an earlier sexual relationship with Gail. Beelen, who said she dated and lived with Ryan "off and on" for about four years before he married Pam in 1988, told the court he'd tearfully admitted approaching Gail for sex and when she refused him, "he pretty much forced her to do it," Beelen said.

The confession, she said, happened days after the Brinks murders, and he said he had been caught by Rick Brink looking lustfully at Gail during a summer boat ride, she said. Beelen said she told her husband and a sister about the incident.

Beelen said she ended her romance with Wyngarden as he was beginning to date Pam. Beelen and her husband maintained a casual friendship with the Wyngardens, which included babysitting their children, she said.

Beelen was still on the stand Friday afternoon when Judge Jon Hulsing called for a weekend recess.

The trial is expected to last for at least the next two weeks, with Beelen's testimony resuming at 9 a.m. Tuesday.

— Peg McNichol contributed to this story.