The Daily Mail has interviewed sources who addressed a widely circulating rumor that murdered University of Mississippi student Ally Kostial was pregnant at the time of her death, and that her suspected killer Brandon Theesfeld was the father of the unborn child.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, an off-duty Lafayette County Sheriff’s deputy discovered Kostial’s body, riddled with multiple gunshot wounds, on the morning of July 20, near a lake in a remote area about 30 miles from the Ole Miss campus in Oxford. Kostial, 21, had last been seen by her roommates only hours before, around midnight. Two days later, Theesfeld, 22, was arrested at a gas station in Memphis, and booked on suspicion of murder. His case is set to go to a grand jury in August.
According to the Daily Mail report, two friends of Kostial’s said that she was 17 weeks pregnant when she was killed, and that she and Theesfeld had been in an on-and-off, “unstable” relationship. Both of the unidentified sources told the Daily Mail that Theesfeld, who was dating someone else, wanted Kostial to get an abortion and that she refused.
CrimeOnline had previously received credible information that Kostial was pregnant at the time of her murder. We declined to immediately publish a story on the possible pregnancy, pending confirmation from law enforcement or specific sources we had reached out to for corroboration.
However, our reporting conflicts with additional claims made by the sources who spoke to the Daily Mail. One of those sources reportedly claimed that Kostial “had been trying to [get rid of her child] through unhealthy ways, like going out, drinking a lot and doing drugs.” A source also claimed that Theesfeld learned of the pregnancy on the same day Kostial was killed.
None of the sources who spoke to CrimeOnline, all who insisted on anonymity, said anything about Kostial’s alleged attempts to put her pregnancy in jeopardy by drinking or using drugs — only that she refused to have an abortion, though Theesfeld allegedly pressured her to terminate the pregnancy.
Multiple sources provided CrimeOnline with screenshots of text messages that would appear to be relevant to the investigation. According to our sources, Kostial took screenshots of text messages she had sent to Theesfeld and sent those to the friend, who subsequently sent them to an unknown person. The messages purportedly written by Kostial reference a pregnancy, and also suggest that Kostial was attempting to reach Theesfeld to discuss the situation, but that he was unresponsive.
The messages also reference a family graduation event that Kostial would soon be attending in her hometown of St. Louis, Missouri. CrimeOnline confirmed with the school that the graduation ceremony took place on May 28, nearly two months before Kostial was murdered. If Kostial did in fact send those messages to Theesfeld, the suspect would have known about the pregnancy by late May. CrimeOnline has been unable to independently verify that Kostial herself wrote or sent the text messages shared with us.
The Lafayette County Sheriff’s Office did not respond to CrimeOnline’s attempts to reach them about our reporting. The sheriff’s office confirmed to the Daily Mail that law enforcement was aware of the pregnancy rumor, and provided the following statement:
“The initial examination of the autopsy of Alexandria Kostial was performed. The additional ballistic, trace and comparative testing is not complete. The final complete autopsy report will not be issued by the State Medical Examiner until all evidence is processed and analyzed.”
CrimeOnline will continue to provide updates on this developing story as more information becomes available.
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