Trial delayed for suspect in decades-old shooting

STEVENS POINT – The trial for a Wisconsin Rapids man accused of killing his wife in 1984 will be delayed to give the man’s defense attorney more time to review the large amount of evidence related to the case.

Joseph Reinwand, 56, was scheduled to stand trial in October, but Portage County Judge Thomas Flugaur reluctantly agreed to postpone the trial on Friday after Reinwand’s defense attorney, Jeffrey Jazgar, asked for more time to go through evidence — including more than 6,600 pages of documents — related to the case. Reinwand still needed to be given the opportunity to review the evidence in the case, Jazgar said.

Reinwand is accused of shooting and killing his wife, Pamela, 19, at their home in Plover on May 13, 1984. Reinwand told investigators at the time that he was sitting on the couch after the couple returned home from a night of dining and drinking when his wife grabbed a pistol off the kitchen table, pointed it at her own forehead and pulled the trigger, according to a criminal complaint.

Reinwand also told investigators at the time that he "slapped her up a little" when they returned home, then changed that to "OK, slapped her up a lot," the complaint said, but maintained that she killed herself with the pistol.

Reinwand is already serving life in prison in connection with the shooting death of his daughter’s ex-boyfriend, 35-year-old Dale Meister, of Wisconsin Rapids. The investigation into Pamela Reinwand’s death, which was originally ruled a suicide, was reopened after Meister’s death.

The trial was not set for new dates during the hearing Friday, but the judge and attorneys planned to meet to come up with a new schedule.

Chris Mueller can be reached at 715-345-2251 and christopher.mueller@gannettwisconsin.com. Follow him on Twitter as @AtChrisMueller .