March 22, 2021 at 9:55 a.m.
Complaint details police investigation of 2019 drug death
Complaint details police investigation of 2019 drug death
By by River NEws staff-
A criminal complaint filed March 11 outlines the police investigation that led to the filing of a first-degree reckless homicide charge against Dalton U. Kampf.
Kampf, 24, of Stevens Point, is also charged with possession of heroin (<=3G) with intent to deliver.
According to the police report attached to the criminal complaint, Oneida County detectives spent more than a year obtaining various search warrants and using the data gleaned to reconstruct the final days of the deceased's life. Key information was also obtained from witnesses as well, the complaint indicates.
Located in the search of the deceased's home was a "small Ziploc baggie containing a small amount of a white substance," the complaint states. "This baggie was placed into evidence and later submitted to the Wisconsin State Crime Laboratory to analyze it for the potential presence of controlled substances and DNA."
Also secured during the search was the deceased cellphone which was turned over to an officer from another department for the extraction of data, the police report notes.
In the fall of 2019, investigators received the autopsy report which listed the deceased's cause of death as "heroin toxicity."
The report also quoted Fond du Lac County medical examiner Dr. Adam Covach, who conducted the autopsy, as stating that "in his expert medical opinion, not only was heroin ingestion a substantial factor in causing (victim's) death, but it was the only factor."
Among the witnesses interviewed was an individual who showed police a screenshot of a picture message they reportedly received from Kampf in which Kampf was offering to sell heroin. The date and time of the screenshot was the evening before the deceased died, according to the complaint.
Later in the investigation, officers were also able to access records of social media conversations that allegedly took place between the deceased and Kampf regarding heroin.
In February 2020, investigators received notification that a DNA profile generated from a swabbing of the baggie found in the home of the deceased matched Kampf's DNA profile.
This led police to apply for and obtain a search warrant to take a buccal swab from Kampf.
"The purpose of the buccal swab is to generate a DNA profile from a known individual to compare to DNA derived from a piece of evidence," the complaint states.
Further testing showed the plastic baggie contained a "three-person mixture of DNA," the complaint continues.
"The results indicated that the Defendant was responsible for approximately 65% of the DNA in the mixture, (the deceased) was responsible for approximately 33% of the mixture, and an unknown person was responsible for 1-2%," the complaint alleges.
Later, police confronted Kampf with the DNA results. When investigators told Kampt they wanted him to "take responsibility for the delivery to (the deceased) and provide more information about his source, with the ultimate goal of moving up the supply chain to identify other individuals responsible for delivering the heroin..." Kampf allegedly made a statement about the ramifications of "being a rat".
The interview ended with Kampf requesting an attorney, the complaint states.
Later, a second witness reported seeing Kampf the day the deceased was found dead. According to the witness, Kampf stated "that he thought it was his 'dope' that had killed (the deceased),"
The witness also reported that the defendant had advised that he had disposed of the rest of the heroin.
Kampf made his initial appearance on the charges March 13 at which time Judge Mike Bloom set a $75,000 cash bond and scheduled an adjourned initial appearance for March 25.
If convicted of the homicide charge, a Class C felony, Kampf could be sentenced to up to 40 years in prison.
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