Trial set for woman charged in overdose death case

An October trial date has been set for a 43-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 back in January 2023.

According to court records, Andrea Jean Walker is set to stand trial starting on Oct. 7. The proceedings are scheduled to last three days.

 A final pretrial conference is scheduled for late September.

According to a criminal complaint filed in July 2023, Walker is accused of being “the middleman” in a drug transaction wherein the Rhinelander man purchased heroin and methamphetamine. 

According to the 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 12-page 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 2023, 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. 

Walker was last in court on June 3, via Zoom.

At that time, court records indicate Oneida County district attorney Jillian Pfeifer advised Judge Mike Bloom that Judge-Elect Mary Sowinski does not have a conflict with respect to this case and will not have to recuse herself.

Sowinski, who is currently serving as an assistant district attorney, is scheduled to take the bench on Aug. 1. 

She was elected in April to fill the seat about to be vacated by Bloom’s retirement, which he announced late last year.

The parties were unable to schedule the trial prior to July 31 — Bloom’s final day on the bench.

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

Heather Schaefer may be reached at [email protected].