Murder of Brooke Wilberger

Brooke Carol Wilberger (February 20, 1985 – May 25, 2004) was an American student from the state of Oregon who was abducted and later murdered. Her disappearance was covered by the national media; her murder investigation was one of the most publicized in Oregon's history.[1][2] Joel Patrick Courtney ultimately pleaded guilty to the aggravated murder of Wilberger; he was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.

Brooke Wilberger
Born
Brooke Carol Wilberger

February 20, 1985
Fresno, California, U.S.
DiedMay 25, 2004(2004-05-25) (aged 19)
Corvallis, Oregon, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Known forMissing person and murder victim
Parent(s)Greg and Cammy Wilberger

Early life

Brooke Wilberger was born in Fresno, California, on February 20, 1985, to Greg and Cammy Wilberger. She had three sisters and two brothers.[3] Described as a devout member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Wilberger was a graduate of Elmira High School near Eugene, Oregon.[4] She had just completed her freshman year at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, at the time of her abduction.[4][5] During that time, her boyfriend, Justin Blake, was serving as a Mormon missionary in Venezuela.[6]

Disappearance

At the time of her disappearance, Wilberger was on summer vacation, visiting and working for one of her sisters in Corvallis, Oregon.[3] On the morning of May 24, 2004, Wilberger was last seen cleaning lamp posts in the parking lot of the Oak Park Apartments, which her sister and brother-in-law managed, on the edge of the Oregon State University campus.[7][8]

Investigation

Initial efforts
A billboard in Salem requesting information on Brooke Wilberger.

When Wilberger disappeared, the police began investigating immediately – against normal procedure. Lt. Ron Noble of the Corvallis Police Department said, "Normally, we would wait. Because adults can come and go as they please, and we would normally wait to see if she showed up maybe the next day." However, in this case, police officials agreed with the family that Wilberger was not the type of girl to disappear on her own.[6] The Wilbergers' LDS ward organized a search by citizens of Corvallis.[6]

The investigation initially centered on Sung Koo Kim, who was named as "person of interest" in the disappearance. Kim was later dropped as a suspect, but received an 11-year prison sentence for multiple counts of burglary and theft of women's personal property in Yamhill County, crimes uncovered while he was being investigated for the Wilberger disappearance.[9] He was released in December 2012 after serving about seven years.

Joel Patrick Courtney

On November 30, 2004, a University of New Mexico foreign exchange student was beaten and raped before escaping and identified Joel Patrick Courtney as her attacker. On September 12, 2007, Courtney pleaded guilty to the attack. Courtney's plea agreement called for a prison sentence of up to 18 years, plus 5 to 20 years on parole.[10]

Police eventually linked Courtney, a native of Beaverton, Oregon, to Wilberger's disappearance. In August 2005, he was charged on 19 counts of aggravated murder, kidnapping, sexual abuse, rape and sodomy.[11] Court documents released in 2008 revealed details showing that Courtney was in Corvallis when Wilberger disappeared and that a green van he was driving was spotted by several people, including an OSU employee who identified him from a photo lineup.[12] Officials said that Wilberger's DNA was found inside the van, along with her hair.[13]

Courtney was extradited to Benton County, Oregon, on April 8, 2008.[14] He was scheduled for his first appearance on April 9, 2008, at the Benton County Courthouse,[15] facing 14 counts including aggravated murder, two counts of kidnapping and single counts of rape, sodomy and sexual abuse in connection with Wilberger's disappearance. Charges were filed despite the absence of the body of the alleged victim at the time; the prosecutor in the case announced that he would seek the death penalty.[16] The FBI had briefly considered Courtney a suspect in two to three disappearances under investigation, but have since eliminated him as a suspect.[17]

It was revealed through court deposition and Courtney's confession that he had abducted Wilberger from the Oak Park Apartments parking lot on the morning of May 24, 2004. He then drove her into the woods outside of town. He returned to town to buy food while he still had Wilberger bound in his van. According to Courtney, he kept her alive throughout the night before raping her the next morning. He then bludgeoned her to death when she tried to fight off the rape.[1]

Conviction

Courtney's trial was set for February 1, 2010.[18] He was expected to be charged in connection with the unrelated kidnapping, attempted sexual assault and attempted murder of two Oregon State University students that occurred the same day Wilberger went missing.[14] But on September 21, 2009, Courtney pleaded guilty to aggravated murder, the only crime subject to capital punishment in Oregon, and he was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.[19] By the terms of the plea deal, Courtney was spared the possibility of the death penalty, prosecutors dropped the remaining counts against him, and Oregon official promised to try to keep Courtney incarcerated in New Mexico, his home state, for the duration of his sentence.[20] In exchange, Courtney was required to provide information allowing Oregon authorities to discover Wilberger's remains.[20][21] In addition, the deal also called for Courtney to be imprisoned in his home state, New Mexico, instead of Oregon where the crime was committed.

The Benton County District Attorney announced the recovery of Wilberger's body (without specifics or its location) in a press conference the day of Courtney's confession.[22] It was later revealed that her remains had been concealed in the woods on an abandoned logging road between Blodgett and Wren,[23] located in the Oregon Coast Range.[2][24]

Media coverage

The Wilberger case was covered several times on the Fox television program America's Most Wanted between 2004 and 2006.[25][26] The Montel Williams Show interviewed three of Wilberger's siblings, Shannon, Spencer and Jessica, which aired November 29, 2004.[27][28] The ABC News program 20/20 examined Wilberger's disappearance along with that of Maura Murray on March 17, 2006.[29][30]

The Investigation Discovery Channel portrayed the Wilberger story on three different series:

  • The first showing was on the crime examination series On the Case with Paula Zahn, Season 1, Episode 14 "Beauty and the Beast" first aired: April 18, 2010.[31][32]
  • The second showing was on the documentary series FBI: Criminal Pursuit, titled "Predator", Season 2, Episode 10, original air date April 29, 2011.[33]
  • The third documentary was the Season 5, Episode 5, titled "An Angel Taken", of the series Motives & Murders: Cracking The Case, premiered March 31, 2016.[34][35]

Dateline NBC aired a two-hour special on the case on February 4, 2011.[36][37] The Oxygen channel documentary series It Takes A Killer also covered the case on January 6, 2017.[38][39][40]

See also

References
  1. Moran, Jack (September 22, 2009). "Killer's guilty plea brings family closure". Eugene Register-Guard. Retrieved September 22, 2009.
  2. "Brooke Wilberger's remains found in coastal range, killer sentenced to life in prison". Statesman Journal. Salem, Oregon. September 21, 2009. Retrieved September 22, 2009.
  3. "Waiting for Brooke". The Register-Guard. Eugene, Oregon: GateHouse Media. May 24, 2005. Retrieved March 18, 2017.
  4. "Authorities Charge Man With Murder". America's Most Wanted. Archived from the original on October 26, 2012. Retrieved April 13, 2007.
  5. Schabner, Dean; Netter, Sarah (September 21, 2009). "Brooke Wilberger found: Killer gives location of remains to avoid death penalty". ABC News. New York City: American Broadcasting Company.
  6. Hunter, Donna (August 14, 2008). "Vanished: Two coeds, two horrifying mysteries". 20/20. New York City: ABC News.
  7. "Suspect Charged With Murder Of Brooke Wilberger". KUTV.com. Archived from the original on September 26, 2007. Retrieved April 13, 2007.
  8. "Crime Alert Archive". fa.oregonstate.edu. Oregon State University. August 3, 2005. Archived from the original on March 19, 2017. Retrieved March 18, 2017.
  9. "Sung Koo Kim gets nearly six years for underwear thefts". KATU.com. Retrieved April 13, 2007.
  10. "DA: 'His intent was that no one ever find her'". KVAL.com. Corvallis, Oregon: Sinclair Interactive Media. September 21, 2009. Archived from the original on May 30, 2015. Retrieved March 18, 2017.
  11. "Joel Patrick Courtney, serial killer & rapist". Crime Library. Atlanta, Georgia: TruTV. Archived from the original on March 3, 2006. Retrieved March 8, 2006.
  12. McCall, William (April 19, 2008). "Suspect's van seen in Corvallis". Deseret News. Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret News Publishing Company. Associated Press. Retrieved June 22, 2015.
  13. McCall, William (September 22, 2009). "Slain BYU student's Ore. mother grateful case over". Boston.com. Associated Press. Retrieved June 22, 2015.
  14. "Joel Courtney arrives in Oregon to face charges in Wilberger murder". KVAL-TV. Corvallis, Oregon. April 8, 2008. Archived from the original on May 30, 2015. Retrieved March 18, 2017.
  15. Jung, Helen (September 21, 2009). "Twists and turns in the Brooke Wilberger case". OregonLive.com. Oregon Live LLC. Retrieved March 18, 2017.
  16. "Effort begins to extradite Wilberger murder suspect". CORVALLIS, Ore.: Sinclair Interactive Media, LLC. Associated Press. December 12, 2007. Archived from the original on June 22, 2015. Retrieved March 18, 2017.
  17. Frazier, Joseph B. (February 23, 2006). "FBI drops Joel Courtney as suspect in two cases". Portland, Ore.: KATU. Associated Press. Archived from the original on May 2, 2014. Retrieved March 18, 2017.
  18. Booth, Michael (September 5, 2009). "Courtney headed for trial". Corvallis Gazette-Times. Retrieved September 22, 2009.
  19. Netter, Sarah. "Brooke Wilberger Found: Killer Gives Location of Remains to Avoid Death Penalty". ABC News. Retrieved September 21, 2009.
  20. Beck, Rachel (September 24, 2009). "Court unseals Courtney plea deal". Corvallis Gazette-Times.
  21. "To Avoid Death Penalty, Joel Courtney Reveals Location of Student Brooke Wilberger's Body - True Crime Report". True Crime Report. September 22, 2009. Retrieved March 18, 2017.
  22. Beck, Rachel (September 22, 2009). "Wilberger's remains recovered; Courtney pleads guilty to murder". Corvallis Gazette-Times.
  23. Beck, Rachel (September 30, 2009). "Authorities finish recovering remains of Brooke Wilberger". Albany Democrat-Herald. Albany, Ore. Retrieved November 11, 2017.
  24. Rosu-Urdes, Sabina (September 22, 2009). "BREAKING NEWS: Press Conference - Brooke Wilberger's Remains Found". KEZI. Archived from the original on September 25, 2009.
  25. "America's Most Wanted | Missing Persons | Brooke Wilberger Case". September 21, 2009. Archived from the original on March 23, 2012. Retrieved June 22, 2015.
  26. "America's Most Wanted | Missing Data File for Brooke Carol Wilberger". Archived from the original on March 27, 2006. Retrieved March 19, 2017.
  27. ""The Montel Williams Show" | Vanished Without a Trace (TV Episode 2004)". Internet Movie Database (IMDb). November 29, 2004. Retrieved March 19, 2017.
  28. "CBS Television Distribution - Best of Montel". www.montelshow.com. November 29, 2004. Archived from the original on December 5, 2004. Retrieved March 19, 2017.
  29. "20/20 | Vanished: Two Coeds, Two Horrifying Mysteries". 20/20. ABC News. March 17, 2006. Retrieved March 19, 2017.
  30. "20/20 | Vanished: Two Coeds, Two Horrifying Mysteries". Internet Movie Database (IMDb). March 17, 2006. Retrieved March 16, 2017.
  31. "On the Case With Paula Zahn | Beauty and the Beast". TVGuide.com. April 18, 2010. Retrieved March 18, 2017.
  32. "One the Case with Paula Zahn | Beauty and the Beast". Investigation Discovery. Archived from the original on March 19, 2017. Retrieved March 18, 2017.
  33. "FBI: Criminal Pursuit | Predator". Investigation Discovery. April 29, 2011. Retrieved March 18, 2017.
  34. "Motives & Murders: Cracking the Case | An Angel Taken". Investigation Discovery. March 31, 2016. Retrieved March 18, 2017.
  35. "Motives & Murders: Cracking The Case | An Angel Taken". mytvee.ga. Retrieved March 18, 2017.
  36. Raskauskas, Nancy (January 31, 2011). "Brooke Wilberger back in TV spotlight". Corvallis Gazette Times. Gazette Times. Retrieved March 18, 2017.
  37. "Full Episode: Bringing Brooke Home". NBC News. Retrieved March 18, 2017.
  38. "In Search of a Kill". Oxygen Official Site. January 6, 2017. Retrieved March 18, 2017.
  39. "Shows A-Z - It Takes A Killer on Oxygen | TheFutonCritic.com". www.thefutoncritic.com. Retrieved March 18, 2017.
  40. "Brooke Wilberger". World News. Retrieved March 19, 2017.
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