Police on Thursday released surveillance video showing murdered University of Mississippi sorority sister Alexandria “Ally” Kostial walking out of a bar just hours before her tragic death.
The footage shows the 21-year-old, who was wearing a white shirt and blue shorts, walking away from the bar Friday night with her head down and apparently texting.
The next morning, Kostial’s bullet-riddled body was found by a sheriff’s deputy during his Saturday morning patrol near Sardis Lake, about 20 minutes away from the school’s Oxford campus.
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Brandon Theesfeld, a 22-year-old fellow business major, was charged with murder Tuesday after allegedly shooting Kostial, an Alpha Phi sorority sister and rising senior at Ole Miss, eight times over the weekend.
Theesfeld, who has since been suspended from the college’s School of Business Administration, is currently in custody at the Lafayette County Detention Center, the Lafayette County Sheriff’s Department said.
According to several University of Mississippi students, Kostial and Theesfeld had been casually dating for a while. The two met through mutual friends and had several business classes together, according to friends.
Throughout their relationship, Theesfeld was allegedly emotionally abusive, and several of Kostial’s friends told The Daily Beast they begged her to end the relationship.
“He harassed her for years, took advantage of her for years, I spent countless nights holding Ally close drying her tears about this monster for years,” one friend tweeted Tuesday. “You deserve hell you disgusting excuse for a human.”
Her friend Rex Ravita said Theesfeld was known around campus as “a misogynist.”
“He led her on A LOT, enough to where it could be considered emotional abuse,” Ravita told The Daily Beast. “But he definitely had a violent streak.”
Kostial had described her intimate experiences with Theesfeld as “crazy aggressive,” several friends said.
“Ally would talk about how crazy aggressive he was,” said one of her friends, who wished to remain anonymous for fear of retribution. “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,” the friend added.
According to her father, Keith Kostial, the 21-year-old was at school for the summer attending marketing classes and teaching fitness groups. She was last seen walking out of the Oxford Square bar on Friday night.
The sorority sister’s roommates said she returned home around midnight, according to WLBT. At some point, Kostial left the house again, unbeknownst to her friends. It was not immediately clear when or why the college senior left her house.
Another surveillance video from a market about eight minutes away from Sardis Lake shows Kostial and Theesfeld together.
Police picked up Theesfeld at a Memphis gas station on Monday morning after tracking his cell phone and credit card, according to FOX13. The 22-year-old allegedly was wearing a blood-stained Ole Miss T-shirt, and a weapon was found inside his truck.
Theesfeld was taken back to Mississippi for questioning and was charged with murder on Tuesday. The arrest affidavit obtained by The Daily Beast does not go into detail about Theesfeld’s alleged motive, but says he “feloniously and willfully” killed Kostial.
According to WBLT, Kostial was only shot in the torso and stomach area.
“I know my son is innocent. And I have reasons to believe that I can’t share anything now,” his father, Daniel Theesfeld, said on Tuesday. “But I would ask everybody to please give him the presumption of innocence until proven otherwise.”
One of Kostial’s friends told The Daily Beast on Wednesday that she was a “real intuitive person with a very positive presence.”
“It’s crazy that a monster like that would do such a thing,” the friend, Taylor Q., added.
Kostial was a member of the school’s Alpha Phi sorority chapter, the Alpha Kappa Psi business fraternity, and the president of the school’s golf club, a school spokesperson confirmed to The Daily Beast.
"The Alpha Phi community is grieving the loss of Ally Kostial, and we send our deepest sympathies to her family during this incredibly difficult time,” the sorority said in a statement to The Daily Beast. “We hope that the Alpha Phi sisters who knew Ally best can find peace and comfort as they reflect on the lasting impact she made on the lives of her family members and friends.”
According to his Facebook page, Theesfeld is originally from Fort Worth, Texas.
An Oxford Police Department spokesperson confirmed he was previously arrested in April 2017 for public intoxication and having a fake ID. He was also involved in another case, but the record was expunged and the details of the case have been sealed, according to the spokesperson.
Theesfeld’s new legal team, Tony and Steve Farse, declined to comment on the allegations against the 22-year-old and his relationship with Kostial.
“It is too early for us to make any comments,” Steve Farse told The Daily Beast on Thursday, though he did confirm there will be no bond hearing in the case this week.
Farse said his client is planning to plead not guilty.
