Casefile True Crime - Case 175: Gail & Rick Brink

Episode Date: May 15, 2021

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. --- Narration – Anonymous Host Research & writing – Erin Munro Creative direction – Milly Raso Production and music – Mike Migas Music – Andrew D.B. Joslyn For all credits and sources please visit casefilepodcast.com/case-175-gail-rick-brink

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For newlyweds Gail and Rick Brink, finding a dream home where they could settle down and start a family was at the top of their agenda. The couple met at work in 1984 when Gail was 19 years old and Rick was 25. With her long, wavy dark hair and athletic figure, Gail immediately caught Rick's attention. He knew right away that Gail was the one and told his mother later that day, I just met the woman I'm going to marry. Before long the pair were an item and were planning their wedding. On April 25, 1986, the day after Gail's 21st birthday, they were married in a simple church service in front of their closest friends and family.

Gail wore an elegant white dress with a flared skirt and spaghetti straps, while Rick wore a bright blue suit jacket and matching bow tie. The reception took place at a lakefront country club where guests danced all night long. After it was over, the bride and groom departed for their honeymoon, a romantic cruise where they would be able to spend lots of time on the beach soaking up sunshine. After Gail and Rick returned to their hometown of Holland, Michigan, they turned their attention to buying a house. One eventually caught their eye.

Located on the outskirts of town, it was a small weatherboard ranch house that sat on 20 acres of land. There was no doubt the property had seen better days. Inside, cabinets were falling off their hinges, paint was peeling, and the rooms were in desperate need of an upgrade. But it had great potential and Rick was confident he could turn it into their dream home. His job involved training carpenters at a furniture company and he was a talented handyman. With some help from his father, Rick negotiated a deal and was able to buy the house and land for a steal.

After moving into the property in October 1987, the newlyweds set about transforming it. They went through the house room by room, scrubbing them from floor to ceiling, making repairs and repainting the walls. Rick documented their progress with the camcorder. He chatted about the house as he filmed each room and checked in on Gail, who paused her work to smile and wave at him. By November, the couple had been married for a year and a half and were ready to start renovating one room of their house in particular,

a nursery, in preparation for the baby they hoped to have soon. Everything seemed to be going perfectly. Gail Brink had an office job at an auto parts company where she was well regarded as a diligent and hard working employee. So, when she didn't show up for work on the morning of Monday, November 23, her absence was immediately noticed. There was no sign of Rick at his workplace either. Knowing how responsible Rick was, his employer decided to check in with his family.

Garrett and Ida Brink were surprised to receive a call informing them that their son hadn't been seen that day. Rick and Gail had attended a friend's wedding over the weekend, but they'd had no plans that would have kept them from work. Garrett and Ida decided to drive over to their house to check that everything was alright. When they arrived at the sprawling property north of Holland, Garrett and Ida noticed something. Rick's SUV, a Chevrolet Blazer, was parked in the driveway.

That meant he must be at home. They went over to inspect the vehicle and saw something shocking. Rick was inside, slumped across the driver's seat with his head pressed against the passenger door. Blood was visible from at least one head wound. He was dead. When officers from the Ottawa County Sheriff's Department arrived, they secured the scene before walking into the home. Upon entering, they headed down the long hallway that led to the master bedroom.

The room was tidy aside from some clothing that was strewn across the floor. Lying in the couple's water bed was 22-year-old Gail Brink. She looked as though she could be asleep, except for one thing. A blood-stained pillow had been placed over her head. When police lifted it, Gail's lifeless and bloody face was exposed. She had been shot in the head three times. Initially, officers wondered if they were dealing with a murder suicide. Perhaps Rick had killed his wife while she lay sleeping, then gone out into his Chevy Blazer to take his own life.

But when investigators moved Rick's body, there was no gun lying beneath him. Nor was there one anywhere else in the car. Rick couldn't have been the killer. Like Gail, he'd been shot by someone else, execution style, with two bullet wounds in his head. Judging from the position of his body, he'd been sitting in the driver's seat when he was shot from the left side. Then he fell to the right, his head coming to rest on the passenger seat. The driver's side window was wound slightly down. A bullet hole through the passenger window had shattered the glass.

The killer had likely stood by the driver's door and aimed at the gun through the open window. Aside from the two victims and the few items of clothing lying on their bedroom floor, nothing in the house was out of place. There was no sign of forced entry. All of the furniture was upright and drawers were closed. Cash was found throughout the home. Gail's purse had been left on the kitchen counter, as had Rick's wallet. Both had all their contents, including credit cards and the driver's licenses. Gail and Rick were still wearing their wedding rings and other jewellery, and two watches were also found in the home.

Clearly, robbery hadn't been the killer's motive. The entire crime scene was unsettlingly clean, and there was little physical evidence to go on. Gail and Rick had both been shot with a 22 gauge revolver, but there was no sign of the murder weapon anywhere in the house. Nor were there any bullet casings. Detectives didn't recover any suspicious clothing or any strands of hair. Only six usable prints were recovered from the crime scene. Four fingerprints belonged to the two victims. Another print was found on a toilet, and there was also one on the telephone.

But these didn't match anyone in the police database. Faced with this dearth of physical evidence, detectives knew they would need to dig into the victim's lives. The last time anyone had seen Gail and Rick alive was on the night of Saturday, November 21, when they attended the wedding of one of Rick's high school friends. It seemed as though they had a good night. Rick had a few drinks, and Gail became rather tipsy before they left at around 11pm. The following day, Gail's brother, Ryan Winegarden, tried to call her at home, but there was no answer. Ryan had thought nothing of this at the time, but investigators speculated that the couple had been killed in the early hours of Sunday morning, after arriving home from the wedding.

The couple's family and friends were left in shock over the brutal slaying, with Ryan Winegarden telling local newspaper The Holland Sentinel, They were the nicest people in the world. I've never seen a couple get along better than they did. Gail had been one of eight children. Her family was close, but they struggled financially, which led to Gail dreaming of the day when she could finally be self-sufficient. She used to tell her big sister, Cheryl, how she planned to work as hard as she needed to, so she would always have enough money to buy herself whatever she wanted. Her first job was waitressing at a restaurant, where she earned excellent money despite the low wages. Gail was so funny, friendly and charming, that her customers always tipped generously.

And when she met Rick, it seemed as though everything was falling into place. Not only were the young couple head over heels in love, but they were compatible too. Both were ambitious and didn't mind hard work. Their dream was a simple one, they wanted to raise a family and create a home where they could live for the rest of their lives. Rick swept Gail off her feet, spoiling her and giving her whatever she wanted. The young couple loved to travel, and during the summer months they would visit Rick's parents' house on the shores of Lake Michigan. Rick kept a boat out there and introduced Gail to water skiing. His friend Bill Whedon later told the television program a wedding and a murder that Gail was like liquid sunshine to Rick.

She was the kind of person who could light up a room just by entering it. But despite the idyllic life the pair had together, the beginning of their relationship hadn't exactly been smooth sailing. Prior to meeting Rick, Gail had another serious boyfriend named Lars. She'd moved in with him when she was 18 years old and they'd built a house together. They'd been living together for about a year when Gail met Rick at work. She quickly ended her relationship so she could be with Rick, but Lars didn't take the news well. As she was packing her belongings to move out, he slammed a drawer closed on her hand. He also hit Gail, giving her a black eye.

After hearing about the assault, Gail's protective big brother Ryan came to her rescue. He punched Lars, breaking his nose, then warned him, Don't you touch my sister again. When police started looking for a suspect, Ryan suggested they speak with Gail's ex-boyfriend. He believed Lars was still in love with Gail and was furious that she'd married someone else. Investigators quickly tracked Lars down. He admitted to assaulting Gail, but strongly denied having anything to do with the double homicide. When detectives asked if he would be willing to sit a polygraph test, Lars agreed.

He passed the test. He also provided an alibi for the time of the murders. It checked out and Lars was dismissed as a suspect. Investigators went back to the drawing board. Gail and Rick Brink were farewell in a joint funeral and laid to rest in a shared plot. The detectives working the case spoke extensively with the couple's friends and family, but nobody raised any red flags. They even tracked down every person who'd been a guest at the wedding the couple attended on their last night alive. They couldn't find anyone who held a grudge against the young newlyweds.

They had no criminal histories or connections whatsoever. By all accounts, they were well-liked, upstanding citizens who'd had no bad blood with anybody. In fact, there was only one thing in their lives that seemed it could be the source of some tension. They're newly acquired home. The ranch house sat on the eerily named Ransom Street and before the couple had bought it, had belonged to a bikey who went by the nickname Shotgun Sid. Sid was a somewhat notorious figure throughout Michigan's criminal circles. He trafficked illicit drugs from the city of Detroit to the western part of the state for a bikey gang named the Highwaymen. But Sid grew disturbed after he saw dealers selling drugs to teenagers at local high schools.

He began a double life as an informant, providing federal agents with the names of individuals who were selling to children. When word got out that Sid was working with the authorities, his life was threatened. He was shot at on multiple occasions. One time, three people turned up with a shotgun at his Ransom Street address. Sid pulled out a firearm of his own and convinced the intruders to drop their weapon. It later turned out that these individuals had been looking for a car that Sid was holding as collateral for a drug debt. In addition to enduring physical threats, Shotgun Sid was struggling financially and failed to make the repayments on his house. Eventually, the bank foreclosed on his mortgage and Sid was forced to vacate the property.

This was the reason Gail and Rick Brink had been able to buy it for such a bargain. Investigators began to wonder if the couple hadn't been the killer's targets at all. Perhaps the person who murdered them hadn't realized that Shotgun Sid no longer lived there. Maybe it was a case of mistaken identity. Detectives looked into the Detroit bikey gangs that Sid was connected to. Despite all their digging, they couldn't find anything that tied the double homicide to a gang crime. Sid tried to help as well by placing some phone calls asking for information. He couldn't find any evidence that anyone had actually been trying to kill him.

The seemingly promising lead reached a dead end. Early on the morning of December 24, just over a month after Gail and Rick were murdered, a man named Rock Wilson was making his way home. Rock worked at Sintered Metal Products in the Michigan City of Zealand and had gone straight from a shift to his work Christmas party. Before going to the party, he'd called his wife, 30-year-old Deborah Wilson, but she was planning to stay at home. It was around 5am when Rock arrived at their residence, which sat three miles north of Holland.

The house was ablaze with lights. When Rock walked inside, he found every single light switch had been turned on. There was no sign of Deborah. As Rock made his way to the sliding door that led to their enormous backyard, he realized it was open. Rock peered outside. The large field-like space that sat behind the house had a swimming pool, a garage, a trailer, and a vegetable garden. But Rock couldn't see anyone out there. Worried about his wife, Rock called his father and asked him to come over.

His father agreed, and soon the two men were searching together for Deborah. Finally, Rock's father spotted her. She was lying fully clothed outside near the vegetable garden. Her throat had been slashed. Police were summoned, and it didn't take long for comparisons to be made to the Brink case. The couple's houses were approximately half a mile from each other, and could be reached on foot within five minutes if you cut across the fields between them. Like the Brink murders, there was no sign of forced entry.

Nothing had been stolen from the property, and Deborah hadn't been sexually assaulted. The Wilson's were regarded as upstanding, hardworking citizens, just as the Brinks had been. Deborah had attended the same high school as Rick, and the couple's shared mutual acquaintances. It wasn't long before the victim's neighbors began to fear there was a serial killer amongst them. Terrified locals began petitioning the Ottawa County Sheriff's Department for a stronger police presence on their streets. Brutal murders like these weren't common for the peaceful Holland area. They no longer felt safe in their homes in the wake of two violent crimes taking place so close together in such a short space of time. Detectives considered whether the cases could be related.

In addition to these two crimes, which occurred within a month of each other, there was also an older homicide that remained unsolved. Ten years earlier in 1977, 20-year-old Deborah Polinski had been sexually assaulted and stabbed to death. She'd lived less than half a mile north of the Brink residence. Given how quiet and safe Ottawa County tended to be, having three brutal homicides take place within a stone's throw of each other seemed more than a little suspicious. However, investigators found nothing tying the Brink murders to those of Deborah Wilson or Deborah Polinski. The execution style slaying of the newlyweds convinced detectives that they'd been deliberately targeted. Yet without a motive, discovering why they'd been killed was near impossible. The case remained front-page news throughout West Michigan for months.

Tips came in from the public steadily, averaging around four or five a day, but none ever led anywhere. One of Gayle's colleagues reported that although she'd always been a happy-go-lucky person, her demeanor suddenly changed about two weeks before her death. She suddenly seemed reserved, as though she had a lot on her mind. Behavioural experts from the FBI and Michigan State Police were consulted, but no breakthroughs followed. Months turned into years, and eventually the case went cold. Gayle and Rick's loved ones began grappling with the upsetting notion that their case might never be solved. On November 29, 1997, a decade after Gayle and Rick were murdered, local newspaper The Marshall Chronicle published an article reminding readers about the unsolved crime. The county's under-sheriff, who'd been lead investigator on the case, described the double homicide as cold and lacking emotion.

Rick's mother, Ida, also gave an interview, stating, You're thinking all the time. Is that person around here? Does he look us in the face and know that he killed our son? It took more than another decade before there was further development in the case. In 2007, the Ottawa County Sheriff's Department launched a new cold case unit. A team of investigators who would dedicate 100% of their time to solving old crimes. Detectives Dave Blakely and Avenus Ripper would lead the unit. The two detectives first started working on the Deborah Wilson case, which also remained unsolved. They honed in on a prime suspect, but when he died before an arrest could be made, they turned their attention to the brink murders.

When news broke that the case was being reopened, Gayle's mother, Dorothea, told reporters how she kept hoping the person responsible would be found. I would try my best, if they had a trial, to be there. Detectives Blakely and Ripper threw themselves into the case. Some of the paperwork from the previous investigations had deteriorated over time, so they taped them back together and handled each document with care as they examined them. They began conducting hundreds of interviews with individuals connected to the brinks, occasionally travelling interstate to speak with people. They scoured every statement, keeping an eye out for anything that seemed suspicious. At the very beginning of the investigation, detectives had made sure to speak with those closest to the victims, checking for alibis and motives. No one had seemed suspicious at the time.

Two decades later, as detectives Blakely and Ripper examined the old case notes, they started to notice a pattern. Some of Gayle's family members mentioned that after the couple's murder, one individual who was close to Gayle had said some strange things. In one instance, the family had been gathered together just three days after the murders. In the middle of a conversation about the tragedy, one of Gayle's relatives told another how he could picture someone walking down the hallway of the couple's home. The person saw Gayle lying in bed and turning over on her left side, then told her, I'll be right back. He described the chilling scene as though he'd seen it himself, and then he also remarked, you know, sometimes I wonder if I could have done this. The person who made these comments was Ryan Winegarden, Gayle's older brother.

Investigators had no idea why Gayle's own brother would say such things. According to the case notes, Ryan Winegarden said that on the night of the murders, he and his then-girlfriend named Pam had been doing laundry. Ryan had been living in an apartment at the time and typically did his washing at a laundromat, but he and Pam didn't have enough change on that particular day. So they'd gone to a friend's house to use her washing machine and also helped out by babysitting her kids. Pam had confirmed this alibi, but as detectives Blakely and Repa went through their documents, they suddenly noticed the discrepancy. Pam's statement supported Ryan's version of events, but during the course of the investigation, she'd also agreed to sit for a polygraph test. When asked by the polygraph examiner if she had been with Ryan on the night of the murders, Pam had answered, no. The two detectives decided they should pay Ryan and Pam a visit.

Back in November 1987, the couple had only been dating for a few months. At the time, Pam was a single mother to a six-month-old son. Pam and Ryan married in 1989 and later went on to have three children together. By the time detectives Blakely and Repa went to speak with them, they'd been married for 23 years. The detectives pulled up at the trailer where the couple resided. They were met by Ryan, who explained that Pam wasn't home. The three of them chatted for a little while, but Ryan seemed to have difficulty recalling much detail about the time of his sister's murder. Detectives Blakely and Repa explained that they also wished to speak with Pam, so they arranged for her to attend the sheriff's department for an interview.

Ryan escorted her there. He also insisted that he be allowed to sit in on the interview. The detectives refused to permit this, explaining that they needed to speak to Pam alone. Once they were seated in an interrogation room, Pam repeated the same story she'd originally told investigators. She and Ryan had been together on the night of November 21, 1987, doing laundry at a friend's house. But the investigators didn't believe her. Feeling as though they were finally on track to cracking the case, detectives Blakely and Repa began digging into Ryan and Pam Weingarten's backgrounds. They discovered that in November 1987, Ryan's life had been somewhat difficult. He'd been making money by dealing drugs, but was struggling financially.

He'd also been juggling multiple relationships, having started dating Pam while he was still involved with a long-term ex-girlfriend named Crystal. Crystal and Ryan Weingarten had known each other for years and remained friends even after splitting up. For a few months, she and Pam were seeing Ryan at the same time, though Crystal's relationship was waning while Pam's was just beginning. Investigators realized that Crystal might be able to shed some light on Ryan's situation at the time of his sister's murder. They called her in for an interview. Crystal was happy to speak with the police, but didn't provide them with anything of much interest. She said she had remained good friends with Ryan over the years. Nothing new came up.

Detectives Blakely and Repa were disappointed. They'd hoped they were finally making some progress. Now it looked as though they were stalled yet again. The pair of them began wrapping up the interview and prepared to call it a day. As Detective Repa later told the television program a wedding and a murder, they thanked Crystal for her time and were starting to rise from their seats when Crystal blurted out. Well, there is this one other thing. The two detectives exchanged a glance, then sat back down.

What Crystal said next set the investigation on an entirely new trajectory. Investing in technology and innovation. Already cut emissions an average 22% per barrel. Working with governments to create and protect jobs. Developing one of the world's largest carbon capture and storage facilities. Our net zero plan is in motion and we're making progress on multiple pathways. See our plan in action at pathwaysalliance.ca. In the week after Gail and Rick Brink were murdered,

Ryan Weingarten paid a visit to his ex-girlfriend, Crystal. He invited Crystal to get in his car, suggesting that they go for a drive. He explained that he wanted to go by the house where his sister had been killed to take a look at it. This scared Crystal. She didn't want to see the place where two people had been brutally murdered just a few days earlier and refused to go. Ryan offered a compromise, saying they could drive somewhere else instead. They wound up heading to the northern side of Holland and pulled over at a park. Then Ryan spoke.

He said he had something terrible to share. He hesitated to speak further. It took another five minutes before he finally proceeded. Ryan told Crystal that he'd had sex with his sister, Gail. It had started as sexual curiosity when he was 12 years old and Gail was 9. Initially there had just been some touching, but during their adolescence it progressed to intercourse. He was adamant that it had been consensual, though he became tearful when describing the last time he'd been intimate with Gail. She had been sitting on a bench behind the garage at their family home when Ryan walked up behind her.

He tried initiating sexual contact and Gail refused. Ryan wouldn't take no for an answer. In Crystal's words, he pretty much forced her to do it. Ryan had also shown Crystal a photograph of him and Gail that was taken while they were out on a boat with Gail's husband, Rick. Gail was wearing a bikini and Ryan remarked, look how hot she is. Crystal was taken aback by this comment. Ryan continued speaking. While they'd been on the boat, he had been so captivated by Gail's appearance that he openly stared at her in what he described as a lustful way.

At one point, he tore his eyes away from his sister only to realise that his ogling hadn't gone unnoticed. Rick was watching him. This was the breakthrough investigators had been looking for. Finally, they suspected they had a motive for the double homicide. Despite Ryan telling Crystal that his encounters with Gail had been consensual, detectives were certain they hadn't been. If Ryan had raped his sister during their childhood and adolescence, then perhaps he resented her marriage to another man. Moreover, he may have been fearful that as Gail grew increasingly comfortable with her new life and her husband, she would confide in Rick, telling him the truth about the abuse she'd endured.

The fact that Rick had noticed the way Ryan looked at Gail suggested he may have already had some idea. But Crystal's story wasn't enough. Detectives Blakely and Rapper knew that if they were ever going to solve this case, then they needed testimony from someone even closer to Ryan. His wife Pam Further appointments were made to interview Pam and Ryan. The two arrived at the sheriff's department together, though they'd driven in separate cars. While his wife came across as mild-mannered and somewhat meek, Ryan seemed abrasive and controlling.

Convincing him to wait outside while his wife spoke with detectives was a difficult task. Pam seemed reluctant to open up. The minutes dragged on, turning into hours. Finally, she made an admission. The alibi she'd provided for her husband for the night of the murders had been false. They had gone to a laundromat together on Saturday, November 21, leaving between 5 and 6pm, but they were home no later than 8. At that point, Ryan went out by himself for a few hours.

Pam didn't ask where he was headed. He returned later on, and the two smoked cannabis, then had sex. Ryan soon left again, and Pam didn't see him until the following morning of Sunday, November 22. He'd insisted that she provide him with an alibi over the years. Before they'd gone to their interviews that day, he reminded her yet again of where they had supposedly been on the night in question. Though Pam conceded that the alibi had been false, she remained silent on other matters. She said nothing about an incestuous relationship her husband might have had with his sister, nor did she say that she suspected him of committing murder.

Detectives had been questioning Pam for close to three hours. By this stage, Ryan, who thought the interview was only supposed to take 30 minutes, was enraged. He banged on the glass window of the interrogation room, demanding that Pam be let go. It was Ryan's turn to speak with the detectives next. Now that they knew his alibi was false, they were eager to interrogate him. As detailed in the television show A Wedding and a Murder, Detective Blakely was the one who raised the subject of Ryan's feelings towards his sister Gale. When he asked Ryan about the sibling's relationship,

Ryan gazed back at him with a hostile expression on his face. What do you mean, he asked? Blakely stared back at Ryan without saying a word for several long moments. Then he replied, You know exactly what I mean, sexually. A long silence followed. Detective Ripper estimated that 40 seconds went by with no one speaking. Then, finally, Ryan said,

Well, it was just kids play. He claimed that as children, the two of them had merely explored each other's bodies, comparing the encounters to a game of doctors and nurses. Neither Detective Blakely nor Detective Ripper believed Ryan. They were certain he had assaulted his sister and was now attempting to downplay the abuse. The interview concluded and Ryan went home. Over the next few days, he started placing numerous phone calls to Detective Blakely. Most of the time, these calls went to voicemail so Ryan would leave a message.

He spoke of his gratitude that Blakely was working on his sister's case, while also expressing feelings of hatred towards him and his policing partner. On one occasion, he greeted the detective by stating, This is Ryan Wine Garden. I don't know why I'm calling you again. I guess because I hate you and appreciate you at the same time. Ryan described the detectives as sons of bitches, while conceding simultaneously that they were a necessary evil.

Other messages were more direct. In one, he demanded, You go find my sister's killer. You're barking up the wrong tree here. I know nothing about it. He suggested that motorcycle gangs were responsible for the slayings. Another time, he warned, Digging up dirt from our family history, childhood indiscretions,

That's not going to shed any more light on it. Ryan accused both detectives of harassing his wife and called them assholes for what they'd put her through. As the calls and messages continued to stream in, Detectives Blakely and Repa realized that Ryan was unstable and unpredictable. They needed to act soon. Pam Wine Garden had already shown signs of opening up at her prior interview. The detectives knew that if they could convince her to speak again, She might be the one to blow the case wide open.

But now their efforts to reach out to Pam were being blocked by Ryan. To gain a deeper understanding of the dynamic at play, Blakely and Repa consulted a psychologist who was familiar with domestic abuse and coercive control. Finally, in January 2013, they decided to approach Pam while she was at work. As Detective Repa later told the television program a wedding and a murder, They explained to Pam that they were a cold case unit who worked exclusively on old unsolved crimes. That meant that they wouldn't be going away. The only thing they wanted was the truth.

A human resources representative had escorted Pam to the meeting, But she asked that they not sit in on it so she could speak to the detectives in private. Pam was finally ready to speak. When Gail and Rick had died, Pam had only been dating Ryan for a few months. She was a new mother and Ryan was supportive even though he wasn't the baby's father. Pam reiterated how she and Ryan visited the laundromat in the late afternoon or early evening of November 21, 1987. Afterwards, they returned to her place when at about 8 o'clock, Ryan went out alone. He returned briefly before going out again.

Pam maintained that she didn't see him again until 9 the next morning. There was a loud knocking at the door. When Pam answered it, Ryan was standing there crying and holding his head. What's wrong, Pam asked. Ryan replied that he just shot and killed his sister and her husband. Shocked and unable to believe what she was hearing, Pam asked Ryan to repeat what he just said. He did. Pam asked if he'd told the police. Ryan said no. Ryan claimed he'd gone over to the Brinks house to discuss some family matter and it had resulted in a heated argument. Rick had asked him to leave and Ryan initially did so. But then he walked back to the house complaining of car trouble. Rick went out to his own truck so he could get something to help and that's when Ryan shot him.

Then he went inside and killed Gail while she was lying in bed. He told Pam that he'd done it because the couple thought they were too good. Upset and confused by Ryan's statement, Pam asked him to leave. He did but he called her later that day and asked if he could come over. Pam reluctantly agreed. Ryan pulled up at Pam's and said he wanted to take her back to his apartment. She got in the car with her six month old son but Ryan didn't drive to his home. Instead he took them to the street where Gail and Rick lived. Ryan pulled over a short distance from their house then instructed Pam to get out.

Pam walked with Ryan towards the Brink residence. Rick's truck was parked in the driveway. Ryan led Pam over to the vehicle and she looked inside. Rick's dead body was crumpled across the front seats. Then Ryan grabbed Pam's wrist and marched her over to the house. They walked inside and he led her up the hallway to the couple's bedroom. By this stage Pam was crying. She saw Gail lying in bed. Gail looked as though she could be asleep. Then Ryan lifted the blood-stained pillow that covered her head and asked,

Isn't she beautiful? Then he added, If you go to the police or tell anybody what I did here, this could happen to you. Pam ran from the house in fear. She was too terrified to call for help or make a sound but she couldn't stand to be in the Brink home a moment longer. Ryan took her back to his place and she stayed there that night. Pam woke early the following morning at around six. She got up to fix a bottle for her son and noticed that one of Ryan's friends,

a man named Jimbo Meacham, was over. This wasn't unusual. Jimbo often stopped by before work for a coffee. Pam overheard Ryan tell his friend that his sister and her husband had just been killed. The rest of his family wouldn't learn about the slayings until later that day after Rick's employer alerted his parents to his uncharacteristic absence from work. When investigators later queried Jimbo about this encounter, he said he remembered it but couldn't recall if it had happened on Monday morning or Tuesday. After Jimbo left to go to work, Pam asked Ryan if he could take her home.

She needed to get ready for her own job. Ryan agreed but before they departed, he pulled something out to show her. It was a .22 revolver, the gun he'd used to shoot Gale and Rick. Ryan also showed Pam a bag filled with clothing, which he explained was what he'd been wearing when he committed the murders. He stashed the clothes and gun in the back of his car before getting in to drive Pam home. As they headed towards Pam's residence, Ryan again warned Pam not to breathe a word of what he'd told her to anyone else.

If she did, then what happened to Gale would happen to her. Ryan instructed Pam to tell the police that they'd been together on Saturday night at a friend's house doing laundry and babysitting. Terrified, Pam agreed. At one point, she'd asked Ryan why he'd murdered his own sister. He admitted that he'd had a sexual relationship with Gale and didn't want Rick to find out about it. Ryan also said he'd been jealous of the couple. The rest of Ryan's family soon learned of the murders.

As Pam went through the morning process alongside them, she felt as though she had swept everything she knew under the rug. She attended Gale and Rick's funeral with their grieving relatives, keeping Ryan's secret the entire time. In December 1987, investigators questioned Pam regarding her and Ryan's whereabouts on the day of the murders. She repeated the story Ryan had told her to tell and he was ruled out as a possible suspect. Occasionally, Ryan would remind Pam of the alibi they'd agreed on and his threat to harm her if she ever told anyone the truth.

Pam married Ryan in 1989 and he became a stepfather to Pam's young son. The couple went on to have three children together. Pam was the family breadwinner working to support the six of them while Ryan home-schooled their children. Pam wasn't happy with her children being educated at home but Ryan was a controlling husband and she had a little say in the matter. The more time that passed, the less Pam felt able to tell the truth. She did love Ryan despite what he'd done.

She was also terrified that if she revealed what had happened after years and then decades of lying, she could lose her children or wind up in prison. So she stayed married to Ryan for 24 years. Finally though, the pressure became too much to bear. When the cold case unit started looking into the brink homicides Pam started to feel that she couldn't hold everything she knew inside anymore. It was like a heavy burden on her shoulders weighing them down. After her first interview with the cold case detectives in October 2012

when she revealed that the alibi Ryan had given was false, Ryan was angry with her. He called her after his own interview and yelled, I can't believe you threw me under the bus. Then he started ranting that the detectives must have bullied her. Pam didn't agree with this accusation. Her distress was obvious to detectives Blakely and Ripper. She cried constantly while describing how Ryan had taken her to see Gayle and Rick's bodies.

What was also obvious was the fact that Ryan was desperately trying to contact her. Throughout the entire interview, Pam's phone had been pinging with calls and messages from her husband who was frantically attempting to reach her. It was decided that Ryan should be arrested as soon as possible. Detectives didn't want to give him any opportunity to flee or dispose of potential evidence. Officers were dispatched to Ryan's place of employment and took him into custody that same day. Ryan insisted he was innocent. Yet during an interview with police, he finally conceded one thing.

He said there had been an instance of quote, penetration between him and Gayle. He insisted it was entirely consensual. Investigators didn't believe this at all. Without Gayle alive to tell her side of the story, they could never know the full truth. But it seemed clear that she had been a victim of her older brother in more ways than one. The news that someone had been arrested for murdering Gayle and Rick Brink was what their families had long been hoping to hear. For the wine gardens, the relief felt upon hearing that the killer had been apprehended was marred by the fact that he was one of their own. Ryan and Gayle's mother refused to believe that her son could have killed her daughter.

But other members of the family accepted the news. Gayle had been particularly close to her older sister Cheryl. When she was alive, the two were best friends. In their last conversation together, Gayle had complained about the fact that Cheryl lived so far away from her. Cheryl received a call from the police alerting her to Ryan's arrest. They also informed her that Ryan had sexually assaulted Gayle throughout their childhood. On the TV show A Wedding and a Murder, Cheryl described how she felt literally sick to her stomach upon learning this. The thought that Gayle had kept the abuse to herself and suffered in silence for all those years was devastating.

Cheryl believed that Gayle must not have told her because she'd known Cheryl would have confronted Ryan. Strange things that Ryan had said and done in the past slowly began to make sense. In one conversation, he mentioned how he'd gone through Gayle's personal papers after her death. He'd found some letters from men that he didn't want their parents to see, so he destroyed them. Shortly before Gayle and Rick's funeral, Ryan gave his own chilling rendition of the crime to Cheryl, wherein the killer walked down the hallway of the brink home before coming across Gayle in bed. It ended with the remark, You know, sometimes I wonder if I could have done this.

Ryan had said something very similar to his aunt, Nava. At Gayle's funeral, he asked her, Do you think I could have killed them? Nava had received phone calls from both Ryan and Gayle the day before the murders. Gayle had complained that Ryan owed her money. Ryan was angry because Gayle was refusing to let their parents park their camper van in her driveway. They'd recently sold their home and were temporarily living in the camper. They'd initially parked it at Ryan's apartment building, but were soon instructed to move it as they were violating local ordinances.

Ryan wanted them to go to Gayle's house, but she didn't like the idea. Ryan told his aunt that Gayle thought she was too good for their family. A little while later, after Gayle's death, Ryan told Nava that Gayle and Rick would probably still be alive if they'd let her parents stay on the property. On another occasion, he told his other sister, Lynn, that he wished he could apologize to Gayle because he felt as though he'd raped her. He said something almost identical to one of his nieces. He'd even discussed his sexual feelings for Gayle with his stepson. Ryan had described their relationship as touchy-feely, but said it was normal adolescent exploration. Ryan told his stepson that sometimes Gayle would say no, so he would force her.

About 13 years after the murders, Cheryl had been chatting with Ryan on the phone. He mentioned how there had been a rodent in his yard, so, quote, I pulled out my 22 and shot it. Cheryl hadn't been aware that her brother owned a 22-gauge firearm, so she queried the statement. Ryan quickly corrected himself and said he'd used a different kind of gun, not a 22. In 2006, Cheryl and Ryan had a falling out. Their father had passed away and the fight related to veterans' benefits for their mother, Dorothea, who was now an elderly woman. They barely spoke in the years that followed. Then, all of a sudden, in October 2012, Ryan called Cheryl.

He wanted to tell her that he'd forgiven her. What Cheryl didn't know was that Ryan and his wife Pam had just been interviewed by the cold case unit at the Ottawa County Sheriff's Department. Investigators finally had him in their sights. Following Ryan's arrest, detectives searched his home and found a 22 calibre rifle. But they never found the 22 revolver that had been used to kill Gale and Rick Brink. Pam told them she'd seen her husband place the same style of revolver in his car the day after the couple were murdered. Investigators concluded that Ryan had disposed of it somewhere, along with the clothing he'd been wearing that night. Investigators also compared Ryan's fingerprints to the ones recovered from a telephone and a toilet in the Brink home.

Neither were a match. But, despite the lack of physical evidence tying Ryan to the crime, they were certain they finally had their killer. Ryan Weingarten was charged with two counts of first degree murder. His trial began in March 2014 at the Ottawa County Circuit Court in Grand Haven, Michigan. The prosecution was arguing that Ryan had murdered his sister and her husband because he was scared Gale would reveal his incestuous abuse of her. The killings were also motivated by jealousy. He resented Gale and Rick's success. The prosecution had no physical evidence, but they did have 60 witnesses who were willing to testify. Chief among them was Ryan's wife, Pam.

She looked scared as she took the stand, but spoke clearly and firmly about the things Ryan had said and done. Pam denied ever feeling pressured to turn state's witness against her husband. Instead, she said any pressure she experienced was due entirely to her own conscience. It was difficult for her to testify, especially when Ryan began shouting abuse at her from his seat at the defendants table. At one point, he called her a black-hearted evil woman and added, I can't believe you're saying all these lies about me, Pam. The judge had him removed from the courtroom. As well as detailing how Ryan had taken her to look at Gale and Rick's bodies, Pam described what life had been like with him.

Ryan had been controlling and abusive. He hadn't allowed her to have friends of her own. Pam's father had also been emotionally abusive, and she thought that must be why Ryan was able to so successfully manipulate her. After his arrest, he started sending Pam a barrage of letters. Sometimes, he begged her to go back on her statement. Other times, he threatened her with God's wrath for going against him. In total, he sent 29 of these letters while he was on remand. A fellow inmate claimed that while Ryan was in custody awaiting trial, he'd boasted about committing the double homicide. According to this individual, Ryan also ranted about one of his other sisters, Cheryl.

He was furious at her because over the past 20 years, she'd constantly campaigned for law enforcement to solve Gale and Rick's murder. Ryan supposedly said to the other inmate, If I'd known she was going to cause me trouble like this, I would have killed that bitch a long time ago. Then, he mimed choking a person with his hands. The inmate testified at Ryan's trial in exchange for three years being taken off his own sentence. Ryan's defense team argued that the prisoner had a history of turning snitch when it benefited him. Ryan was pleading not guilty. In an attempt to argue for his innocence, the defense pointed at other possible suspects.

They suggested Gale and Rick had been murdered by a biker gang who mistook Rick for shotgun Sid, the drug dealing former owner of their property. They also theorized that Gale had been targeted by a colleague after she started investigating possible financial irregularities at work. They claimed there had been a file from Gale's work at the crime scene, but it was removed before it could be looked into. An official from the company where Gale was employed said he had gone to the house after learning of Gale's murder, but denied taking or asking police for any documents. The prosecution dismissed the suggestion that Gale was executed by a workmate as little green men from Mars stuff. Ryan Weingarten testified in his own defense. His testimony was rambling and often irrelevant as he went off on strange tangents. Several times, the judge had to remind Ryan and his attorney to stay on track.

Under cross-examination, Ryan was grilled about his relationship with Gale. Despite earlier admitting to police that he'd once had sex with his sister, Ryan now claimed he'd only said that under duress. He was adamant that there had only been three incidents with Gale that could be perceived as sexual. These incidents involved comparing their bodies after bathing and touching and groping while clothed. As prosecutors continued to pursue this line of questioning, Ryan became increasingly upset, stating, You guys are making it into a mockery and you need a motive and there is no motive. He began to cry and questioned why his sister Cheryl and wife Pam had both testified against him. He accused investigators of convincing Pam to lie and compared footage of her police interviews to a wolf pack chewing on an innocent lamb.

And then he suddenly said out of nowhere, Do I feel like I deserve to sue the county? Oh, absolutely. Ryan also denied being jealous of Gale and Rick's success. He loved his sister. She helped him out by co-signing a car loan for him and making one of his payments. He also said he had a good relationship with his brother-in-law. Ryan liked Rick's dry sense of humour and found him to be a super nice person. Ryan maintained that on the night of the murders, he and Pam had done laundry and babysat for a friend.

He denied ever going out by himself. In fact, he said that Pam had gone out for drinks with a friend and returned home at about 2am. Ryan said that on the afternoon of Sunday, November 22, he was running low on petrol and cigarettes, so he stopped at a service station. He used the opportunity to try to call Gale from a pay phone. He had been planning to discuss the issue of their parents' camper van with her. Ryan was angry that Gale wouldn't let them park it at her property, but denied wanting to kill her over the matter. Ryan dialed Gale's number. No one answered the phone.

He decided to go over to Pam's house instead. He claimed that he first learned of Gale and Rick's murders at 5pm on Monday, November 23 after he went over to his brother's house. Later that evening, Ryan headed over to Pam's house. She was watching the news and a story came on about the double murder. That was my sister and Rick, Ryan told her. Then he lay down on Pam's bed while sobbing. They killed my sister. On March 28, 2014, the jury delivered their verdict.

They found Ryan Weingarten, now 51 years old, guilty of murdering Gale and Rick Brink. Ryan kept his head down as the verdict was read aloud. As he was escorted from the courtroom, he said, I didn't do this. Most members of the victim's family's welcomed the verdict. Outside court, Gale's sister Cheryl told reporters, We're done. We finally got him. He created this situation and now he has to pay for it.

Cheryl explained that although she still loved her brother, she hated who he had become and what he did. The pain of losing her sister had tormented her for almost 30 years. Rick's brother, Bud Brink, told news outlet M Live, We are extremely pleased to have the justice my brother deserves. At least this gives us some closure as to how it happened and why it happened. Although he said he wished Pam had come forward with the truth decades earlier, he appreciated her strength in finally doing so, adding, It took a lot for her to come forward.

Ryan's sentencing took place almost a month later. When he was given the opportunity to speak, he ranted and raved for an hour. At times, he stared tearfully up at the ceiling and addressed God directly, saying, Lord, why are you doing this to me? I'm a good man. Why? Why is this happening? When it was time for his sentence to be delivered, Ryan constantly interrupted the judge. Finally, the judge lost his patience and asked, Do I need to bind you and gag you, sir? We'll have the deputies go and duct tape you if that's what's necessary, but you're going to listen. He described the murders as a brutal execution and said Ryan was a brutal cold-blooded murderer

before sentencing him to two life sentences with no possibility of parole. Most were pleased with this conclusion, with the exception of Gail and Ryan's mother, Dorothea. She didn't believe her son was guilty. She was overheard telling one investigator, I don't care what you say, you're wrong. Ryan Weingarten subsequently appealed his conviction at three different courts, including Michigan's Supreme Court. He lost all three appeals and remains incarcerated. Pam has divorced him. In December 2016, a former Ottawa County Sheriff declared the murder of Deborah Wilson solved.

Deborah had been murdered in December 1987 and investigators had initially wondered whether her killing could be connected to the Brink case. Prior to reopening the Brink investigation, cold case detectives had been looking at Deborah's case. They honed in on an acquaintance of Deborah's who was connected to the murder via some suspicious photographs. Unfortunately, he died before he could be arrested and charged, but detectives remained certain he was responsible. Deborah's family received a detailed briefing about the suspect and the case is now closed. The 1977 murder of Deborah Polinski, which was also looked at during the original Brink investigation, remains open. Detectives from the cold case unit at the Ottawa County Sheriff's Department continue to investigate the case.

Those who knew Gail and Rick Brink have spoken of their sorrow at losing two wonderful people. In the television program A Wedding and a Murder, a friend of Rick's described the double homicide as a loss to their community and the future. He was saddened that they never got the chance to be parents, saying, I can't imagine anything but Rick being the best dad in the world, and I can't imagine Gail being anyone but the most fun mum in the world. Gail's sister Cheryl says she thinks about Gail just about every day, quote, She'll flicker through my mind. It's not always sad because she was actually a very funny person and we had a great time together. But you don't forget. That's how you keep their memory alive.