Ryan Mark Wyngarden
Rick and Gail Brink
HOLLAND, Mich. (WZZM) - A Zeeland man is going to trial for a double murder dating back to 1987. Prosecutors are describing it as a case of incest and jealousy.
Ryan Wyndgarden watched his wife, Pamela, testify against him from a separate area behind the courtroom on Thursday, after an emotional outburst on Wednesday. She described being afraid of him for 25 years and only marrying him because of her children.
"I was afraid," says Pamela Wyndgarden. She then explained to the defense attorney that she only got married because she needed to feel loved and have her children feel secure.
Wyndgarden was allowed back in the courtroom as his former girlfriend, Crystal Beelen, took the stand. She testified that Wyndgarden admitted to having sex with his sister, even forcefully.
"On one occasion, he tried to have sex with her and she didn't want to have it, and he forced himself on her," says Beelen. "When he first told me he had something to tell me, I was scared because I thought he was going to tell me he had killed his sister and her husband."
Wyndgarden's sister, Cheryl Murphree, described his strange behavior in the days following the murders. In one conversation she says he even put himself in the murderers shoes.
"He said, 'Sometimes I wonder if I couldn't have done that' and I looked at him and said, where did that come from?" Murphree testified.
According to her testimony, Murphree told Wyndgarden that she believed the murderer knew her sister, Gail, and her husband, Rick. Murphree said that Wyndgarden replied, "You're pretty smart."
The final witness during Thursday's testimony was a fellow inmate who testified that Wyndgarden admitted to the murders because he was angry and jealous. Wyndgarden will remain in jail until trial begins.