Brandon Theesfeld was arrested for the murder of his alleged girlfriend Alexandra “Ally” Kostial in July 2019. According to reports, the couple attended the University of Mississippi when Theesfeld shot Kostial multiple times at Sardis Lake in Oxford. It was also reported that Theesfeld used to carry a gun around in his truck, which he used for the crime. Police found Kostial's body close to the lake.
The case has come back under the spotlight after CBS' 48 Hours covered the case in the latest episode titled “What Ally Kostial Didn’t Know.” The episode provides insight into Theesfeld and Kostial's relationship, the warning signs in relationships, and how to prevent them.
Brandon Theesfeld was also arrested for possession of alcohol in 2015
Brandon Theesfeld was born on April 5, 1997, which makes him close to 25 years old. According to primalinformation.com, he is from Texas and went to Fort Worth Country Day School from 2012-14, before transferring to the San Marcos Academy. After he graduated from the academy in 2016, he enrolled at the University of Mississippi, where he studied business until the 2019 incident led to him getting suspended.
His parents, Daniel Theesfeld and Kery Ann Campbell Clay, have two more children, both girls. One of Brandon's sisters attends the University of Mississippi and is part of Alpha Phi, which used to be Ally Kostial's sorority.
According to a former Alpha Phi resident, Kostial and Theesfeld “had a complicated relationship, an on-and-off one, but at no point did she say he was her boyfriend.”
During the investigation, police discovered that Kostial had exchanged chats with Theesfeld right before the incident. The chat also included a picture of a home pregnancy test, which they decided to discuss in a meetup the night before the murder.
Police apprehended Theesfeld at a gas station after he failed to show up for an interrogation. At the time of arrest, he had in his possession a gun that matched the caliber used in the murder.
During a August 2019 hearing, he was charged with capital murder and faced the death penalty, which was later reduced to first-degree murder. He later pleaded guilty, which resulted in a life sentence. His sentence is eligible for a conditional release at the age of 65. Theesefeld is currently behind bars at the Mississippi State Penitentiary.
A former dormmate accused Brandon Theesfeld of being a "daddy's boy"
According to Ravita, another business student at the university, Brandon Theesfeld had a vanity about his family's wealth and its power. She told a local news outlet:
“I’m not going to sugar coat it, he was pretty much a daddy’s boy type, constantly had to reference his father’s money, how his dad could get him out of anything, just that attitude all the time. Any type of vulgar comment he could say, any type of rude comment to anybody in our dorm, any of the women.”
She believed that he manipulated Kostial emotionally until she couldn't see his negative traits. This statement coincides with a statement given by one of Kostial’s friends, who revealed:
“Ally would talk about how crazy aggressive he was, I don’t know how many times she called me about him. About how he was treating her and about how he acted when they were together. We all told her to end it with him, but she always said she saw the good in him.”
Interested readers can check out the 48 Hours episode of the incident on cbs.com.