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 motaman
old hand
Registered: 12/18/02
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 Drug case likely first of its kind 
#3962069 - 03/23/05 09:24 PM (19 years, 28 days ago) |
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http://www.wausaudailyherald.com/wdhlocal/289956861966244.shtml
Wed, Mar 23, 2005
Drug case likely first of its kind
Woman charged in death of man who overdosed
By Jessica Bock
Wausau Daily Herald
jbock@wdhprint.com
A Wausau woman facing a charge of first-degree reckless homicide likely is the first person charged in Marathon County under a 1986 law that holds drug dealers responsible when the drugs they supply cause someone's death.
The woman, 54-year-old Carolyn Wewasson, is charged in the death of Wayne Thompson, a 43-year-old man who overdosed on pain medication earlier this year at a Wausau home.
Wewasson made an initial appearance on the charge Tuesday in Marathon County court and is being held in the Marathon County Jail on a $100,000 cash bond.
The case likely is the first of its kind in Marathon County, said Assistant District Attorney Ken Heimerman, who could not recall another person charged under the law in the 17 years he has prosecuted cases here.
Wewasson was charged under a federal statute sometimes referred to as the "Len Bias" law. Congress passed legislation in 1986 that included a provision to allow prosecutors to charge individuals who supply drugs that cause a person's death. It was shortly after the death of Len Bias, a 22-year-old NCAA basketball star who died of a cocaine overdose two days after the Boston Celtics chose him as the team's No. 1 draft pick.
Accidental drug overdoses occur infrequently in Marathon County, and it can be difficult for police to trace an overdose to the source of the drugs, Heimerman said.
But after Thompson died Jan. 12, friends helped lead investigators to Wewasson, who they said gave him patches containing the painkiller Fentanyl, the drug found in his system, according to police reports attached to the criminal complaint. Wewasson had a prescription for the medication.
Investigators learned that the patches are meant to be worn on an individual's skin so the drug can be absorbed slowly by the body to prevent toxic levels in the system. Thompson's friends told police they had seen him swallow the contents of the patches, according to police reports.
Emergency services workers and police were called Jan. 12 to a North Third Avenue home because Thompson was not breathing. An autopsy determined he had died of an overdose of Fentanyl.
If convicted of the reckless homicide charge, Wewasson could be sentenced to a prison term of 40 years. She also is charged with delivering a narcotic, which carries a penalty of 15 years in prison.
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LethalX5
Registered: 01/07/05
Posts: 2,176
Last seen: 7 years, 8 months
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Re: Drug case likely first of its kind [Re: motaman]
#3963311 - 03/24/05 01:43 AM (19 years, 27 days ago) |
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Quote:
motaman said:
But after Thompson died Jan. 12, friends helped lead investigators to Wewasson, who they said gave him patches containing the painkiller Fentanyl
Well what about the 12 friends that knew he was going to do it and were prob with him when he ODed. I think they are just as responsible as the "drug dealer" also i am pretty sure that this wasn't a huge "drug dealer". I'm sure she was just some lady who got a prescription and gave some to a friend. was it wrong to do that? yes... does she deserve a first-degree reckless homicide conviction? No.... But i don't know all the facts.
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"To get what you've never had, You must do what you've never done."
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Kalix
'Head
Registered: 03/20/05
Posts: 1,504
Last seen: 18 years, 4 months
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Re: Drug case likely first of its kind [Re: LethalX5]
#3965981 - 03/24/05 05:42 PM (19 years, 27 days ago) |
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I live in WI and about 6 months ago, an 18 yr old dude was sentenced for homicide because he hooked up some chick that OD'ed on Oxy, around here they lock people up for as long as possible for as little as possible.
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My Unitarian Jihad Name is: The Shotgun of Sweet Reason
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 Dark_Star
train driver pervading a desktop
Registered: 08/20/04
Posts: 31,859
Loc: Uranus
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Re: Drug case likely first of its kind [Re: Kalix]
#3966365 - 03/24/05 07:52 PM (19 years, 27 days ago) |
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Yeah that's fucked up.....they don't charge car dealerships when dumbasses crash their cars.  Fuck this country...
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motaman
old hand
Registered: 12/18/02
Posts: 6,047
Last seen: 15 days, 16 hours
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Re: Drug case likely first of its kind [Re: Kalix]
#3969537 - 03/25/05 04:23 PM (19 years, 26 days ago) |
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If your selling/giving anything that has a potenitial for overdose, you need to be careful. You can be charged and be held responsible. Happens more and more often, even to Shroomerites.
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automan
blasted chipmunk
Registered: 09/18/03
Posts: 8,272
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Re: Drug case likely first of its kind [Re: motaman]
#3969643 - 03/25/05 05:00 PM (19 years, 26 days ago) |
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/me nods
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No, no, you're not thinking, you're just being logical. ~ Niels Bohr
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1whoknows
Stranger
Registered: 04/01/05
Posts: 1
Last seen: 19 years, 19 days
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 Re: Drug case likely first of its kind [Re: LethalX5]
#3999844 - 04/01/05 11:14 AM (19 years, 19 days ago) |
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Perhaps before you decide
this is some nice old woman you'd like to have coffee and ganja brownies with, you should investigate the 2 previous deaths she's involved with!
Edited by 1whoknows (04/01/05 11:16 AM)
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gdman
badger, badger,badger...
Registered: 12/10/02
Posts: 16,286
Loc: Dancing In the Streets
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Re: Drug case likely first of its kind [Re: 1whoknows]
#3999964 - 04/01/05 11:35 AM (19 years, 19 days ago) |
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Regardless, what ever happened to taking responsibility for your own actions? It's not her fault that this man ODed on drugs he willingly took. This is what happens when you make drugs illegal, there is no regulation. People will always use drugs, but when the government makes them illegal, they in a sense loose all control over them.
This woman should not be held responsible for his death.
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