Brooke Nicole Koch, a 40-year-old woman from rural Blue Springs, Nebraska, was found dead inside her home on April 6, 2021, the victim of a fatal shooting. Deputies responding to a 911 call also found 49-year-old Jason Arnold dead of what authorities believe was a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The Nebraska State Patrol’s preliminary investigation concluded Arnold shot Koch before turning the shotgun on himself, making the incident a murder-suicide.

Arnold had been scheduled to appear in Gage County Court that same day on a violation of a protection order Koch had obtained. Court documents from an August 2020 restraining order petition described a pattern of abusive and threatening behavior by Arnold, including stalking, property damage, past domestic arrests, and direct threats toward Koch. A tort claim filed in April 2022 alleged the Gage County Attorney was grossly negligent for not refiling charges after Arnold left a diversion program; that claim is separate from the deaths.

Did anyone in the area have contact with Brooke or Jason in the days before April 6, 2021, or observe signs of escalating threats?