Police: EC man provided fentanyl in overdose death
Nov. 12—EAU CLAIRE — An Eau Claire man provided the fentanyl that led to the August overdose death of another man, police say.
Edward C. Wells, 36, was charged Friday in Eau Claire County Court with felony counts of first-degree reckless homicide and possession of fentanyl with intent to deliver, four felony counts of bail jumping and a misdemeanor count of resisting an officer.
A $50,000 cash bail was set for Wells, which requires him to maintain absolute sobriety and prohibits him from having contact with anyone involved in illegal drug activities.
Wells returns to court Dec. 1.
According to the criminal complaint:
Police received a report Aug. 2 of a non-breathing and pulseless man who was lying on his back on a sidewalk just outside of Oakwood Mall. A nearby witness said he was with the man when he slumped over.
Emergency personnel were able to get a pulse from the man but he later died at HSHS Sacred Heart Hospital.
The man's phone, wallet and a pill, which were found with him at Oakwood Mall, were taken as evidence.
A medical examiner told police the man's cause of death was fentanyl overdose and his manner of death was accidental.
The man's mother told police she had not noticed any recent signs of drug use. She said her son had used methamphetamine in the past but she had not recently seen anything that would indicate drug use.
Wells, who had an active arrest warrant, was taken into custody by police on Aug. 6. Inside his backpack, police found 12 blue pills. The pills matched the pill that was found in possession of the deceased man.
Inside the deceased man's vehicle, police found three more pills that also matched Wells pills.
On Aug. 17, police met with the deceased man's girlfriend to return some of his belongings to her. She was shown a picture of the white phone that was found in Wells' backpack. She said it was actually her old phone and that she got a new phone.
The next day police reviewed Snapchat messages between Wells and the deceased man. The messages appeared to describe a drug transaction.
At the time of this incident, Wells was free on signature bonds for two pending felony cases in Eau Claire County.
Wells is being prosecuted as a repeat offender. He was convicted of a felony count of attempted battery to a law enforcement officer in June 2018 in Eau Claire County.
If convicted of the felony charges in the drug overdose case, Wells could be sentenced to up to 47 years in prison.
