Former South Dakota mayor charged with triple murder

A former mayor of a South Dakota town has been charged with murder after a triple killing Monday night in the community he once oversaw, according to the state’s attorney general.

Jay Ostrem, 64, is charged with three counts of first-degree murder and is being held in the Minnehaha County Jail on $1 million bail, South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley said Tuesday in a statement.

“There is no longer a threat to the public,” Jackley said after announcing his arrest in the fatal shooting.

The names of the victims have not been released because their next of kin have not been notified, authorities said.

Ostrem is representing himself in this legal matter, according to court documents.

He became mayor of Centerville in May 2009, and the council accepted his resignation in November 2011, according to city documents.

This document does not specify why Ostrem resigned.

In July 2010, the city’s former police chief filed a federal lawsuit against Centerville and Ostrem.

The ongoing lawsuit accuses Ostrem of sexual harassment.

“Ostrem also made sexist comments … that were unwelcome and demeaning,” the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit alleged he made remarks about menstruation, a “man’s job” and the inability of women to be as successful as men, according to the lawsuit.

The former chief had no disciplinary action or reports against her until she reported discrimination to the state Division of Human Rights in October 2009, according to the lawsuit.

Centerville is about 250 miles southeast of Pierre, the state capital, and has a population of fewer than 1,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.