Bond set in Oneida County overdose death case

A combination signature and surety bond in the amount of $10,000 has been set for a 42-year-old La Crosse County woman charged with one count of first-degree reckless homicide-drug delivery in connection with the death of a 45-year-old Rhinelander man in late January.

Andrea Jean Walker of Bangor made a voluntary appearance in Oneida County Circuit Court Wednesday afternoon. A warrant for her arrest, issued on July 7, was quashed as a result of the voluntary appearance.

According to her attorney, Walker is on supervised electronic monitoring for the next three months while she completes a sentence handed down in La Crosse County. Given that, the attorney requested a signature bond in the Oneida County case.

Citing the gravity of the alleged offense, Oneida County district attorney Jillian Pfeifer requested some cash be posted.

As is required by Wisconsin law, the court inquired as to whether any family members of the decedent wished to address the issue of bail. The decedent’s parents declined the opportunity to speak.

Oneida County circuit court judge Mike Bloom ultimately choose to set a $9,000 signature bond to be combined with a $1,000 surety bond to be cosigned by Walker’s family.

He also warned Walker that she’s in a “one strike and you’re out” situation with respect to bail. 

Walker is accused of being “the middleman” in a drug transaction wherein the Rhinelander man purchased heroin and methamphetamine. According to the criminal complaint, the man was found dead in his Rhinelander home days after the alleged transaction took place in western Wisconsin.

The state crime lab later determined his cause of death was mixed drug toxicity/overdose (fentanyl and methamphetamine).

The criminal complaint details the police investigation that took place after a family member found the man deceased.

 “A large pile of white crystalline substance” was located on a dresser and a bed in the room where he was found, and other drug paraphernalia was located elsewhere in the residence, the complaint states.

A family member who had been living with the deceased told police the man had been “acting weird” and “bumping into things” the night before his death. The family member also told police the man had recently traveled to the Tomah area and was acting “very hyper” since he returned. 

The complaint also details investigators’ application for and use of search warrants to obtain Facebook and phone records tying Walker to the deceased, including references to a meeting between the two in La Crosse County days before the man was found dead.

In mid-May, Rhinelander officers interviewed Walker while she was being held in the La Crosse County jail, the complaint notes. During the interview, she admitted to being involved in a transaction between the deceased and individuals in La Crosse County in late January.

“I guess it’s my fault if I’m the middleman,” she said, according to the complaint. 

During Wednesday’s appearance, Walker waived her right to a preliminary hearing and was bound over for trial. She is scheduled to be arraigned on Sept. 11.

The Class C felony carries a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison.

Heather Schaefer may be reached at [email protected].