November 6, 2007 wwmt Bomar

NOVEMBER 06, 2007: NEWSPAPER ARTICLE
Ex-husband tells of warning in murder-suicide
http://www.wwmt.com/news/police_1344621___article.html/pam_straub.html
November 6, 2007 - 5:23PM
OTSEGO (NEWSCHANNEL 3)

Sunday night Pam Brainard was shot to death in her Otsego home. It appears her husband Kevin, a Plainwell Public Safety officer, shot her and then turned the gun on himself.

Tuesday we have new information about the final days of Pam Brainard's life.

"She called me on her cell phone," said Ed Straub. It was only the second time Straub had heard from his ex-wife since their divorce. "I was a little bit surprised." That surprise quickly turned to fear. In a voicemail Pam said she was leaving her current husband, Kevin Brainard.

"I called her back and stated she shouldn't be calling me, she should fear for her life because he's going to find out about that phone call," said Straub.

Then last Friday Ed was so scared for his safety and Pam's, he decided to tell police in Plainwell.

He met with the chief before Kevin arrived for his night shift. "The Chief of Police stated he wouldn't want anyone on his force that could act like this and he was going to check into it with what he could," said Straub. But Ed didn't have formal evidence of a threat or a police report. He knew the police didn't have much to go on.

Then Sunday night the 911 calls started coming in. It was already too late.

Those deaths stunned Kevin Brainard's boss. The Police Chief told us he had no idea this was possible.

"We're all in that, wondering what happened, what we missed, where could we help," said Chief Bill Bomar.

Tuesday we asked him about that meeting with Pam's ex-husband. He told us off-camera it was a private conversation, not a police report.

Even Ed Straub seemed to know he'd have trouble getting anyone to believe him. "You got an ex-husband coming and blaming a police officer for these type of things and accusing him and saying he's going to do this kind of thing, me coming in off the street, that's a tough thing to believe," said Straub.

Otsego Police should know more about the exact sequence of events inside the home in the next few days. That's when they'll get autopsy results for Kevin and Pam.