Wisconsin Rapids man charged in 1984 death of wife

STEVENS POINT – Portage County authorities have filed a charge of first-degree homicide against a 55-year-old Wisconsin Rapids man already facing a first-degree intentional homicide charge in Wood County.

Joseph B. Reinwand, who currently is in prison on unrelated burglary charges, was charged in Portage County Circuit Court on Thursday in the May 13, 1984, shooting death of his wife. He's scheduled to make his initial appearance on the case Tuesday.

In May 2008, Portage County Sheriff John Charewicz announced he was reopening the investigation into the death of Pamela Reinwand. Pamela Reinwand died of a gunshot wound to the head at her Plover home, near the intersection of highways F and 54. Joseph Reinwand, her husband, told Portage County Deputy Charewicz and another deputy that the death was a suicide brought on by an argument after a night at a bar.

Charewicz told Gannett Wisconsin Media in 2008 that he hadn't believed Joseph Reinwand in 1984.

"I guess it was more of a gut feeling than anything else," Charewicz said, "but based on what we saw there, we thought it was not a suicide. But we could never prove different."

Charewicz reopened the case after Wisconsin Rapids detectives investigating the death of Dale Meister, 35, of Wisconsin Rapids uncovered information on Pamela Reinwand's death. Portage County Detective Gary Koehmstedt said the Wisconsin Rapids investigation spurred detectives to revisit the decades-old investigation. Pamela Reinwand's death remained classified as a suicide at that time.

On May 24, 2013, a special prosecutor filed first-degree intentional homicide charges against Joseph Reinwand in the February 2008 shooting death of Meister.

Among motions filed by the defense in the Wood County homicide case was one to prevent prosecutors from mentioning Reinwand possessed the .22-caliber handgun that caused the death of his wife.

Vince Biskupic, an attorney from the Appleton area who is working as a special prosecutor on the Wood County case, also is listed as the prosecuting attorney in the Portage County case.

Reinwand is scheduled to begin a two-week trial on the Wood County first-degree homicide case Oct. 20.

You may contact reporter Karen Madden at 715-423-7200, ext. 6729, or follow her on Twitter: @wrtkmadden