Trial begins in Plover woman's 1984 death

STEVENS POINT - The trial for a man accused of killing his wife, whose death in 1984 was initially thought to be a suicide, began Monday with a prosecutor telling jurors about the life and death of the victim.

Joseph Reinwand, 56, is accused of shooting and killing his wife, Pamela, 19, at their home in Plover on May 13, 1984. Reinwand is already serving life in prison in connection with the 2008 shooting death of his daughter’s ex-boyfriend, a 35-year-old Wisconsin Rapids man named Dale Meister. The investigation into Pamela Reinwand’s death, which was originally ruled a suicide, was reopened after Meister’s death.

“This was not a suicide,” said Assistant Attorney General Robert Kaiser during his opening statement. “The evidence will show you this was not a suicide.”

Kaiser told jurors the victim’s original autopsy never conclusively determined the death was a suicide and it would have been “almost impossible” for her to kill herself the way it must have happened based on the evidence.

Reinwand’s defense attorney, Jeffrey Jazgar, told jurors to pay close attention to the manner and methodology of the investigation and tried to cast doubt on the theories presented by the prosecution.

“The experts have not concluded this was a homicide,” he said.

The trial is scheduled to last through at least the rest of the week. The trial was delayed in August after Jazgar asked for more time to go through evidence, including thousands of pages of documents related to the case.

The jury was selected after a process that took several hours and involved 64 people called as potential jurors. That number was narrowed to 14 jurors, including two alternates, by early Monday afternoon.

Kaiser told the jurors Reinwand gave conflicting statements to investigators and family members in the immediate aftermath of his wife’s death.

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 head 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.

The case was reopened after new information came to light during the investigation into Meister's death. Reinwand was found guilty by a jury of Meister’s death on Oct. 30, 2014, after a trial in Wood County. He was immediately sentenced to life in prison.

Kaiser told jurors Reinwand admitted to killing his wife to Meister “and that he would or could do the same thing to Dale.”

Jazgar, though, questioned the credibility of Meister’s supposed statements during his opening statement.

“This case is not about 2008,” he said, referencing the year Meister was killed. “This case is about 1984.”

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