OBVIOUS ANIMAL LOVER OFFERED SOMEONE CASH AND A CAR TO FEED PIGS AND CROCS

Jailed ex-professor allegedly offered to pay for victims to be killed and fed to ‘pigs and alligators’

By Larry D. Croom

Ocala News
December 5. 3019

An inmate at the Marion County Jail who wanted victims’ remains fed to “pigs and alligators” was charged Wednesday with five counts of solicitation of murder.

On Oct. 20, a detention deputy at the jail was approached by an inmate who indicated that a fellow inmate, 76-year-old Gary Bangstad, of Citra, had approached him and offered him $4,000 and a car in exchange for killing four people. The inmate said he had the request in writing, signed by Bangstad, a Marion County Sheriff’s Office report states.

The request indicated who was to be murdered, how it was to be done and a drawing showing where the victims would be sleeping inside a mobile home. It also stated how Bangstad wanted the victim’s remains disposed of, the report says.

The inmate told deputies that Bangstad said he had hired someone previously but that person “had committed suicide before carrying out the murders.”

Bangstad, who has a Ph.D. and is a former college professor, at first claimed he had agreed upon a price of $2,000 for his vehicle and had listed the people who would be at the mobile home so the inmate would know who to speak with. He then said he had written “kids” instead of “kill” but eventually admitted that the intent was to have the other inmate “kill everyone listed on the note,” the report says.

Bangstad told deputies that he had put $44,000 down on the mobile home and felt like his lady friend had him put in jail “for no reason at all.” He said he was living with the woman and her children as a “family unit” and the children were “very disrespectful,” the report says.

Bangstad also admitted to drawing a map of the residence and showing the other inmate where everyone sleeps. He said he was “of a clear mind” during the interview and when he wrote the note, the report says.

Bangstad has been housed in the jail five times since October 2017. On Oct. 18, he was arrested for simple domestic assault with intent to do violence and two probation violations on simple domestic battery charges. In November 2018, he was arrested for aggravated battery on a pregnant victim after a battle between roommates over household chores and a slice of pizza turned violent. He is being held on no bond and is due in court Dec. 10, Dec. 12 and Jan. 7 to answer to the multitude of charges.