Brandon Theesfeld is currently sitting in the Lafayette County Detention and facing a murder charge in the death of Ole Miss classmate Ally Kostial.

However, a week before Kostial was murdered, Theesfeld was sitting in a Texas bar, giving no signs of what would occur on early on the morning of July 20.

A friend of Theesfeld’s, who was out with friends of his own, bumped into him the night of July 13 in San Marcos, Texas. Barrett Wright had not seen Theesefeld since he transferred from Ole Miss following his freshman year. Goertz transferred back home to Texas State University.

Wright and Theesfeld went through fraternity recruitment together during the fall of 2016. The two did not end up in the same fraternity – Wright joined Sigma Pi and Theesfeld joined another organization before being released.

“I wouldn’t say we were best friends, but I knew who the guy was,” Wright said of Theesfeld. “(He) was a guy that I would consider a cool friend. Nothing struck me as he’s off or anything. I would’ve hung out with him anytime. Every time I’d see him I’d say ‘What’s up, dude’ and we’d hang out completely casual.”

Since Theesfeld’s arrest, there have been photos circulating from this father, Daniel Theesfeld’s, Facebook page of Brandon shooting guns. Wright said he knew Theesfeld had guns and “everybody from Texas has guns,” so that didn’t seem odd to Wright. In the reports of Theesfeld’s apprehension, it was noted a gun was found in his pickup truck at the South Memphis gas station where he was arrested. Wright said he never rode in Theesfeld’s truck and could not speak on whether or not Theesfeld kept a gun in his vehicle at all times.

On the night of July 13, Wright was at a bar and saw Theesfeld. It was the first time in nearly two years the two made contact of any kind. Seven days before Theesfeld allegedly murdered Ally Kostial, he came across to Wright as a regular 22-year-old enjoying his night at a college bar.

“We hung out at the bar that night and went to another together with my friends and he was super normal and nothing out of the ordinary,” Wright said. “He was a normal guy.”

Theesfeld attended the private school Forth Worth Country Day, but did not graduate from the school. In 2014, he transferred to San Marcos Academy, a private Christian School. Wright did not know until recently Theesfeld went to a school in San Marcos, and on the night he ran into him, Theesfeld told him he was in town meeting a friend who was also attending Texas State University.

Throughout the night, conversation never led to Theesfeld mentioning Kostial or if he was dating or seeing anyone, according to Wright.

The Twitter account of Theesfeld’s has garnered attention, including several tweets he made the days leading up to and even after Kostial was murdered. Wright did not follow Theesfeld’s Twitter account but was friends with him on Instagram, stating there were photos of him at formals or out with friends at bars.

A bail hearing was not held on Thursday and according to attorney Tony Farese, one of the newest members of Theesfeld’s defense team, they will enter a plea of not guilty to the circuit court.

 

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story stated that Theesfeld was a current member of a fraternity on the University of  Mississippi campus. Theesfeld is not involved in Greek life at the University.