Case 175

Gail & Rick Brink

*** Content Warning: sexual assault, incest ***

When newlyweds Gail and Rick Brink failed to show up to their respective jobs on the morning of November 23 1987, the alarm was immediately raised. The couple’s bodies were discovered at the ranch house they had only just purchased. Both had been shot multiple times in the head, execution-style. The slayings shocked the quiet community of Holland, Michigan, and everyone had a theory as to what might have happened.

Did it have something to do with the home they’d bought for an unexpectedly low price? Was it a case of mistaken identity? Or was there a serial killer on the prowl? It would take more than two decades for the shocking truth to emerge.

CREDITS

 

Casefile Presents

 

EPISODE:

Research & writing – Erin Munro

Creative direction – Milly Raso

Narration – Anonymous Host

 

MUSIC:

‘Flatline intro’ and ‘Come play with me’ intro and outro – www.dl-sounds.com

Audio production – Mike Migas 

Music – Mike Migas and Andrew Joslyn

 

OTHER:

Logo and website design – Paulina Szymanska

 

PREMIUM

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RESOURCES

 

DOCUMENTS

Wyngarden v. Chapman

People of the State of Michigan v. Ryan Mark Wyngarden

 

NEWSPAPER ARCHIVES

Clues sought in double slaying – Lansing State Journal

Few clues in slaying of Holland pair – The Herald-Palladium

Police have no suspects in Holland-area slaying – Grand Rapids Press

Holland-area double murder gets new look after 24 years – The Herald-Palladium

Brother charged with couple’s murder in 1987 – The Herald-Palladium

 

ARTICLES

Detroit motorcycle gang behind murder of Gail and Rick Brink? – MLive

Justice for newlywed couple shot to death in ’87 – Fox 17

Ryan Wyngarden’s trial begins in cold case killing of his sister, brother-in-law – MLive

Ryan Wyngarden grilled by prosecutor over sex episodes with sister – MLive

Man murders sister, her husband, to cover up incestuous relationship – Oxygen

Witnesses describe Gail and Rick Brink’s last day alive – The Holland Sentinel

File from victim’s workplace focus of testimony – The Holland Sentinel

Sister: Ryan Wyngarden said, ‘I wonder if I could have done this’ about murders – The Holland Sentinel

Defense highlights discrepancies in Pam Wyngarden’s accounts to police – The Holland Sentinel

Defendant take stand, has trouble directly answering questions – The Holland Sentinel 

Wyngarden murder trial: Defense tries to discredit key witness – The Holland Sentinel

Wyngarden defense open with talk of motorcycle gangs, drugs, violence – The Holland Sentinel

Ryan Wyngarden talked about having sex with his sister – MLive

Defendant’s wife called back to stand as defense questions her testimony – The Holland Sentinel

Ryan Wyngarden tears up on stand as he denies killing sister, brother-in-law in 1987 – MLive

Michigan man on trial for murder of sister and her husband – New York Daily News

‘Finally there’s justice’: Wyngarden convicted of 1987 killings – The Holland Sentinel

The confession that brought down a killer – The Holland Sentinel

Man, 52… weeps as he is dealt two life sentences – The Daily Mail

‘A brutal execution’: Ryan Wyngarden sentenced in 1987 killings of sister, brother-in-law – MLive

Jealousy, incest alleged motives for Brinks’ murders – The Holland Sentinel

 

DOCUMENTARIES

A Wedding and a Murder, Season 1 Episode 3

 

WEBSITES

Delayed Justice

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