A 53-year-old Neenah man is facing a first-degree reckless homicide charge after investigators say he supplied the cocaine that killed a woman in Waupaca County this summer. Richard A. Kramer was taken into custody following a search of his home that turned up cocaine, prescription medications and firearms, according to authorities.
The case traces back to July 29, when Waupaca County deputies received a report of an unresponsive woman who was later pronounced dead at the scene, according to fox11online.com. Officials determined her cause of death was an overdose. During the investigation that followed, officials say they identified Kramer as the source of the drugs involved.
Investigators then executed a search warrant at Kramer's Neenah residence, where deputies say they recovered cocaine, numerous prescription medications and firearms. Kramer was taken into custody after that search, according to the same report. The victim's identity has not been made public, and no additional personal details about her have been released.
Charges and Bond
Kramer was formally charged in Waupaca County with first-degree reckless homicide by delivery of cocaine and manufacture or delivery of 1 to 5 grams of cocaine, as reported by wbay.com. His cash bond was set at $100,000, well below the $500,000 prosecutors had requested, the station's report notes. He is due back in Waupaca County court on Nov. 3.
Under Wisconsin law, what separates a first-degree reckless homicide charge from a second-degree charge is a single added element: prosecutors must show the defendant acted with “utter disregard for human life,” according to the Wisconsin Legislature's statute annotation. That distinction is central to drug-delivery homicide cases like Kramer's, where the charge hinges on the state proving the seller's conduct met that higher threshold.
Similar Cases Around the State
Kramer's arrest fits a pattern of recent Wisconsin prosecutions tying drug suppliers directly to fatal overdoses. In Oshkosh, 41-year-old Jennifer O'Connor was charged with first-degree reckless homicide, maintaining a drug-trafficking place, and possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver, according to nbc26.com. Investigators in that case said O'Connor admitted providing the victim with $20 worth of methamphetamine the morning of his overdose, and an autopsy attributed his death to cocaine and methamphetamine toxicity. A search of her home recovered meth, cocaine, marijuana, crack pipes, scales, syringes and packaging materials, and a judge continued her $20,000 bond with a status hearing set for Nov. 16.
In a separate northern Wisconsin case, a man was arrested on multiple charges, including first-degree reckless homicide, after a 42-year-old St. Germain resident died from an overdose, as reported by wearegreenbay.com. That suspect was held on a $100,000 bond, matching the amount set for Kramer, though authorities had not publicly disclosed his specific connection to the incident.
State health officials have pointed to a broader shift in overdose deaths nationally, describing what they call a fourth wave of high-mortality overdoses driven by polysubstance use, particularly fentanyl combined with a stimulant such as cocaine or methamphetamine, according to a Wisconsin Department of Health Services document that lists Waupaca among the sites funded for overdose-fatality reviews. The department also maintains a dashboard tracking overdose deaths involving opioids, heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine, filterable by drug, location and demographic information, per the agency's overdose data portal.
Kramer's case remains pending, and he is next scheduled to appear in Waupaca County court on Nov. 3.
