By Shereen Siewert
WAUSAU — Jury trial dates have been set for a 28-year-old Marshfield woman accused of homicide in connection with the January 2017 overdose death of a Spencer man.
The charges are filed in Marathon County Circuit Court against Cassandra Staab, who police say was the supplier who sold the fentanyl-laced heroin that caused 22-year-old Thomas Bychinski’s death. Heroin laced with fentanyl is particularly deadly, police say, and has become a significant problem in Marathon County.
During a pretrial conference on Monday, a five-day jury trial was scheduled in the case. The trial will begin July 8.
On Jan. 31, 2017 police were called to a home on Hansen Road in Spencer after two people found Bychinski’s body, according to the police report. During the investigation, police learned Staab was Bychinski’s regular source for heroin, the report stated.
One witness told police he had been buying heroin from Staab for about a month before Bychinski’s death and that Staab told the witness the heroin was “very potent, powerful stuff,” according to the criminal complaint.
The emergence of fentanyl-laced heroin in Marathon County in June 2016 prompted police to issue a warning to residents about the danger surrounding the drug. At that time, a highly potent strain had been circulating the area that was blamed for at least one death and eight other heroin overdoses in a 10-day span.
Fentanyl is 80 to 100 times more potent than morphine and 50 times more potent than heroin, making the combination especially deadly, police said.
Staab’s charges in Marathon County include first degree reckless homicide by delivery of drugs, first degree recklessly endangering safety, and two counts of bail jumping. She faces up to 40 years in prison if she is convicted on the first-degree reckless homicide charge alone.
