Murder of Brooke Wilberger

Biography

Wilberger was born in Fresno, California, on February 20, 1985 to Greg and Cammy Wilberger. She had three sisters and two brothers. 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. She had just completed her freshman year at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, at the time of her abduction. During that time, her boyfriend, Justin Blake, was serving as a Mormon missionary in Venezuela.

Abduction

Wilberger was abducted from Corvallis, Oregon, on the morning of May 24, 2004, by Joel Patrick Courtney. He drove her into the woods outside of town. He returned to town to buy food while he still had Brooke bound in his van. He kept her alive throughout the night before raping her the next morning. He bludgeoned her to death when she tried to fight off the rape. At the time of her disappearance she was on summer break, visiting and working for one of her sisters in Corvallis. She 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.

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. The Wilbergers' church organized a search by citizens of Corvallis.

Wilberger's remains were found on September 21, 2009, more than five years after she disappeared. The man accused of her murder, Joel Courtney, revealed the location of her remains as part of a plea agreement to avoid the death penalty. He pleaded guilty to aggravated murder, the only crime subject to capital punishment in Oregon, and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Investigation

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, Oregon, crimes uncovered while he was being investigated for the Wilberger disappearance. He was released in December 2012 after serving about 7 years.

On November 30, 2004, a University of New Mexico student was beaten and raped, before escaping and identifying Joel Patrick Courtney as her attacker. On September 12, 2007, Courtney pleaded guilty to the beating and rape of the 22-year-old University of New Mexico foreign exchange student. Courtney's plea agreement called for a prison sentence of up to 18 years, plus five to 20 years on parole.

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

Courtney was extradited to Benton County, Oregon on April 8, 2008. He was scheduled for his first appearance on April 9, 2008, at the Benton County Courthouse, 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.

The FBI briefly considered Courtney a suspect in two to three disappearances under investigation but have since eliminated him as a suspect.

Conviction

Courtney's attorneys worked towards a trial, as well as towards a speedier resolution. The trial was set for February 1, 2010. He was expected to be charged in connection with the unrelated kidnapping, attempted sexual assault, attempted rape, attempted sodomy and attempted murder of two Oregon State University students, the same day Wilberger went missing.

On September 21, 2009, Joel Patrick Courtney pleaded guilty to aggravated murder and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for Wilberger's death. The deal spared Courtney from the death penalty, in exchange for providing information about the location of Wilberger's body. 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. Wilberger's remains were found on private property in Benton County in the Oregon Coast Range.

Media

The Wilberger case was covered several times on the Fox Channel television program "America's Most Wanted".

The CBS Television talk show series "The Montel Williams Show", episode Vanished..Without a Trace interviewed three of Wilberger's siblings, Shannon, Spencer and Jessica who miss their sister, aired November 29, 2004.

The ABC News series "20/20" episode title: Vanished: Two Coeds, Two Horrifying Mysteries examines the disappearances of two young women: Brooke Wilberger (aged 19) and Maura Murray (aged 22), initial air date March 17, 2006.

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

The national news series “Dateline NBC” aired a two-hour special on the abduction and murder of Wilberger, titled; Bringing Brooke Home, original air date: February 4, 2011.

The Oxygen channel documentary series "It Takes A Killer", Season 1, Episode 131, titled; In Search of a Kill, depicted Wilberger's abduction and murder, first aired January 6, 2017.