Talina Galloway left home in April 2020, terrified that COVID-19 symptoms she was experiencing meant she would be hospitalized and eventually placed on a respirator, her roommate told Oklahoma authorities last spring.
Wagoner County Sheriff Chris Elliot announced Friday that everything Kore Bommeli told investigators was false. The dismembered remains of Galloway, 53, were found in a freezer stashed in the Arkansas woods earlier this month.
Bommeli, who had relocated to Dane County, Wisconsin, has been charged with first-degree murder and desecration of a human corpse. She remained in the Dane County Jail on Tuesday, awaiting extradition to Oklahoma to face the charges
Wagoner County District Attorney Jack Thorp said during a news conference Friday that the crime was one of the worst he’s experienced.
“Talina Galloway died a brutal death, where her killer had no regard for her life in any way,” Thorp said. “While all murders are abhorrent and detestable, the grisly manner in which Galloway was dismembered and disposed of makes this case one of the worst I have seen in my career.”
Elliot praised the investigators in the case, who he said worked to ensure that Galloway “did not die in vain.”
“Virtually every member of our investigative division worked around the clock, traveling to multiple jurisdictions across multiple states, during a global pandemic, navigating difficult investigative barriers, to solve this terrible crime,” Elliot said.
The sheriff said investigators’ hearts go out to Galloway’s family. “They are certainly in our prayers,” he said.
