Man pleads not-guilty in Sioux Falls’ first triple homicide in a half-century

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — A 30-year-old man pleaded not guilty to murder on Monday after a shooting at a house party left three people dead and two wounded in Sioux Falls’ first triple-fatal in more than 50 years.

Justin Cody Rackley is charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of Daniel Carl Kemnitz, 43; Kellie Elizabeth Reaves, 43; and Michael Andrew Thompson 34. All are from Sioux Falls.

Rackley is being held at the Minnehaha County Jail pending a preliminary hearing on June 25. His attorney did not immediately respond to a phone message.

Lt. Aaron Nyberg said it’s too early to speak to a motive or any relationships involved, although he said it doesn’t appear to be a crime of passion or robbery.

Police were called around 3 a.m. Saturday to the home in a residential neighborhood and found a chaotic scene where perhaps a dozen people had been gathering around a bonfire. Officers found a handgun on the scene. Two people with non-life-threatening injuries were taken to a hospital.

Sioux Falls’ last homicide case with three or more victims was an apparent murder-suicide in 1973, Nyberg said.