MI Man Faces Sentencing For 1987 Murder Of Sister, Her Husband; Allegedly Tried To Hide Secret Incest Past
GRAND HAVEN, Mich. (AP/CBS Detroit) — A 51-year-old western Michigan man is expected to be sentenced to life in prison for the slayings of his sister and her husband in 1987 at their Holland-area home.
Ryan Wyngarden is scheduled to be sentenced Monday in Ottawa County Circuit Court. He was convicted in March of two counts of first-degree murder in the shooting deaths of Rick and Gail Brink.
Twenty-eight-year-old Rick Brink and 22-year-old Gail Brink were killed at their Park Township home.
Police have said Wyngarden was jealous of the newlyweds' success and wanted to keep secret sexual encounters he and his sister had as teenagers. Wyngarden told authorities he was doing laundry and babysitting for a friend when the two were shot to death.
Ryan Wyngarden's wife Pam Wyngarden was the prosecution's key witness during the trial. They were dating in 1987.
MLive reported a jury deliberated only four hours before delivering the verdict.
Wyngarden testified in his own defense during the trial, and was grilled on the stand about the alleged sex episodes with his sister when they were young teens, 12-15 years old.
"I wouldn't have killed my sister over this," an emotional Wyngarden said, according to Mlive.
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