BROOKE SLOCUM (pregnant - and BF) - 18 yo (7/14) - / Suspect: Craigslist ad, Brady Oestrike (deceased - suicide) - Wyoming, MI

Teen Strangled, Man Decapitated in Online Sex Case

WYOMING, Mich. — Jul 21, 2014, 4:24 PM ET
Associated Press

A pregnant Michigan teenager was strangled and her boyfriend was decapitated after apparently connecting with a stranger through the online service Craigslist for a sexual encounter, police said Monday.

The police chief in Wyoming, a Grand Rapids suburb, said that 18-year-old Brooke Slocum was held captive before her death. Her body was found Thursday in the trunk of the suspect's car. She was eight months pregnant.

Chief James Carmody says her boyfriend, Charles Oppenneer, 25, was found decapitated in a park a day earlier. His head hasn't been found.

It's likely that Oppenneer died of some kind of head trauma, but that couldn't be determined without his head being found, police said.

Emails indicate that Slocum connected with the suspect, 31-year-old Brady Oestrike, through a Craigslist ad and arranged a sexual encounter where Oppenneer would be present, according to investigators.

Police got a search warrant for Oestrike's home, and he fled. He fatally shot himself after crashing his car, after which police found Slocum's body.

Carmody said it has been a "hellish environment" for officers as they investigated the various crime scenes, including Oestrike's home.

Investigators collected at least 400 items from Oestrike's home, including firearms, ammunition and knives. They also seized a number of electronics items and possessions from both victims.

Police said they plan to keep investigating to see if there were any other people involved in the killings.


http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/teen-strangled-man-decapitated-online-sex-case-24651792

Brooke Slocum strangled and boyfriend Charles Oppenneer decapitated allegedly by Brady Oestrike in Craigslist tragedy

Published 5 HOURS AGO JULY 23, 2014 10:18PM

A PREGNANT teenager offering sex to strangers on Craigslist has been strangled and her boyfriend brutally decapitated allegedly by a man they met in a park.

Brooke Slocum, 18, was held captive for five days at the Michigan home of suspect Brady Oestrike, 31 before she was found strangled in the boot of his car.

She had arranged to meet Oestrike at Wyoming’s Gezon Park after contacting him through Craigslist.

According to WOOD TV8, Slocum offered to have sex with Oestrike if he paid for it. Her boyfriend Charles Oppenneer, 25, was to be present when they met.

The couple’s flatmate, McKenzi Hallo, said Slocum, who was eight months pregnant at the time of her death, would use the site to meet people for sex.

“She said, you know, they would go and meet up and stuff and normally they would do stuff in the car. And Charlie would just either sit in the front seat and wait, or he joined,” Hallo said.

Police found Oppenneer’s decapitated body in a wooded area on Wednesday after receiving a tip off about an abandoned vehicle. The exact cause of his death was unclear.

“We don’t know what trauma was caused because after he was murdered, his head was removed by the suspect,” Wyoming Police Chief James Carmody said.

“We have not been able to locate his head after a very thorough and exhaustive search.”

Investigators said emails indicated that Slocum connected with Oestrike through an ad on the online service Craigslist and arranged a sexual encounter in which Oppenneer would be present.

Police got a warrant to search Oestrike’s home on Thursday night but he fled. Police chased him for a short time until Oestrike crashed his car. He later shot himself in the head.

When officers searched his car they found Slocum’s body in the boot.

Investigators collected at least 400 items from Oestrike’s home, described as a “hellish environment”, including firearms, ammunition and knives. They also seized a number of electronics items and possessions from both victims.

Oestrike has a criminal history, including two domestic assault complaints filed by his ex-girlfriend.

http://www.news.com.au/world/brooke-slocum-strangled-and-boyfriend-charles-oppenneer-decapitated-allegedly-by-brady-oestrike-in-craigslist-tragedy/story-fndir2ev-1226998913293

Police release detailed timeline in Craigslist murders

By Ken Kolker  Published: August 1, 2014, 5:18 pm   Updated: August 1, 2014, 6:29 pm

WYOMING — Police waited nearly four hours outside the home of Brady Oestrike, most of it while waiting to get a search warrant for his home, before he left with 18-year-old Brooke Slocum in his trunk.

Wyoming police Friday released a timeline of the events leading up to the chase that led to Oestrike’s suicide and the discovery of Slocum’s body in the trunk.

They said at 5 p.m. on Thursday, July 17, they developed Oestrike, 31, of Wyoming, as a suspect in Slocum’s disappearance and the death of her boyfriend, 25-year-old Charles Oppenneer. Police had discovered his decapitated body the day before in Gezon Park.


They identified Oestrike as a suspect through Slocum’s computer.

Shortly after 5, Wyoming police began surveillance of Oestrike’s home on Taft Avenue SW, as other officers prepared to get a search warrant. Police said they didn’t have enough evidence for an arrest warrant.

At 8:30 p.m. — three-and-a-half hours after starting the surveillance — they obtained a search warrant from the Kent County Prosecutor’s Office, and then headed to meet with a judge to sign it.

But at 9 p.m., as officers watched, Oestrike left the home, leading to a chase, Oestrike’s suicide and the discovery of Slocum’s body in his trunk.

A death certificate shows Slocum died that day in Oestrike’s home, but it does not list a time of death. Police were not answering any questions.

Oestrike and Slocum met on Craigslist, police say, and along with Oppenneer agreed to meet at Gezon Park in Wyoming on the night of July 12 for sex.

Police said they’ve found an email exchange showing Slocum offered to have sex with Oestrike if he paid her for it. Oppenneer was to be present at the time, the email showed.

Oestrike then killed Oppenneer at the park. Oppenneer’s death certificate shows he died on July 13, but it doesn’t specify a time.

His cause of death remains uncertain. Authorities say he sustained a trauma to the head that killed him — but the nature of that trauma is unknown because he was decapitated after death and his head has not yet been recovered.

The cause of death on his death certificate reads “homicide by unspecified means.”

Police say Oestrike then held Slocum in his home for five days before strangling her on Thursday, July 17.

Police were outside his home that evening when he drove away, leading to a chase. That chase ended when Oestrike crashed on the Burton Street bridge over U.S. 131, where he shot himself in the head. Officers then found Slocum’s body in the trunk of his car.

Her death certificate shows she died of “ligature strangulation” — which means he choked her with a cord-like object. Her unborn child also died.

That led to a three-day search of Oestrike’s home by police, who said they recovered more than 400 pieces of evidence — including firearms, swords and medieval weapons — as well as computers and cameras. Police called it a “hellish environment.”

Brooke Slocum’s father, Greg Slocum, had nothing but praise for the police.

“Wyoming police did an awesome job,” he said. “I believe they did everything they could.”

Oestrike worked as an electrical lineman for The Hydaker-Wheatlake Co., a Consumer Energy contractor based in Reed City.

Several co-workers say he had worked at least some of the days while holding Slocum captive in his home. They say police have seized documents from the company’s local headquarters on Clay Avenue SW in Wyoming.

A source at the company said police also seized his company vehicle and have searched it for evidence.

Relatives said they believe Oestrike must have “snapped” and blamed it on recent break-ups with women. They described him as a good uncle to his nieces and nephews who had helped build churches in Haiti.

But a woman who described herself as a friend said he had a darker side and had fantasized about killing people with his bare hands and killing himself.

She said he used Craigslist to find others interested in bondage and sexual dominance and kept restraints, handcuffs and sex toys all over his home.


http://woodtv.com/2014/08/01/police-release-detailed-timeline-in-craigslist-murders/