May 9, 2006

Tragedy in Stevens Point

By Patrick Thornton
Stevens Point Journal staff

Two brothers were found dead Monday morning in the Fairview Village Trailer Park in Stevens Point of apparent drug overdoses, police said. Kerry W. Ostrowski, 34, and Wade A. Ostrowski, 36, were found in the living room of trailer 222 at 1430 Torun Road, said Stevens Point Police Chief Jeff Morris at a press conference Monday afternoon at the department. Police are investigating both deaths as overdoses. The ages of the men, the positions the bodies were found in and some drug paraphernalia found at the scene were consistent with an overdose, Morris said. There was no sign of foul play or forced entry at the residence.Portage County Coroner Scott Rifleman said a state forensic pathologist will perform autopsies this morning in Madison, and preliminary results might be available tonight.

The bodies were discovered by a co-worker who came to pick the men up for work around 6:30 a.m. Police and Stevens Point paramedics responded to the call. Both men were pronounced dead at the scene.

The evidence found at the scene was transported to the state’s crime lab in Wausau, police said. Final autopsy results could take three to four months to complete, and it could take two to three weeks to process the evidence recovered at the scene, police said.

The Ostrowski brothers were seen together Sunday afternoon and police believe they were alive as late as 8 p.m.

“Detectives are still working on the case, but it is critical to get as much help from the public as possible,” Morris said.

Police did not say what kind of drugs the men were alleged to be using.

“We have not had any incidents of bad drugs in the area in the last few years,” Morris said. “But illegal drugs are not produced under lab conditions. The people who make them are not Ph.D. chemists.”

Supplying illegal drugs that lead to a death is a crime. Morris said there is no evidence at this time to warrant charges against a third person.

“We want to run all this information down and not operate on suspicion right now,” Morris said.

Police notified the family of the two men Monday. Both men have been arrested before and have a history with drugs, Morris said.

Kerry Ostrowski was charged with a misdemeanor possession of marijuana in 1997 in Winnebago County and a drug paraphernalia charge in 2000 in Waupaca County. He was due in Portage County Court this summer for driving on a revoked license and a second drunken driving offense.

Police are asking for the public’s help. Anyone with any information on the two brothers’ activities in the last 24 to 72 hours is asked to call the Stevens Point Police Department at 346-1500 or 888-346-6600.