OTTAWA COUNTY, Mich. (March 27, 2014) –The prosecution and defense began delivering their closing arguments Thursday in the Wyngarden murder case.
Ryan Wyngarden is accused of killing his sister and brother-in-law, Gail and Rick Brink, in their Ottawa County home back in 1987.
The prosecution’s key witness is Wyngarden’s wife, Pamela Wyngarden,who came forward in 2012 with information that reopened the case.
“The defendant told Pam that he killed Rick and Gail because he was jealous of them,” prosecutor Lee Fisher said. “And because he didn’t want Rick to find out about his sexual intimacy with Gail when they were younger.”
Throughout the trial, several relatives of Wyngarden went on the stand saying he’d admitted to them that he had some sort of sexual relationship with his sister Gail when he was a teenager. Wyngarden admitted on the stand Wednesday that this was true.
But, the defense said it’s not a motive for Wyngarden to kill the Brinks and that the statements given by Pamela Wyngarden can’t be trusted.
“It’s the linchpin of this case,”Dave Hall, Ryan Wyngarden’s attorney said. “Pamela Wyngarrden, she’s lied repeatedly under oath, she’s lied to police, she’s gone back and forth on her stories…I think a decision of this weight and gravity you have to look at that and it’s your duty under the law and the fact to find my client not guilty.”
The prosecution will have a chance for rebuttal Friday morning.
