GUILTY WI - Pamela Reinwand, 19, shot to death, Plover, 13 May 1984

Pamela Reinwand, 19, died of single gunshot wound May 13, 1984 at the couple's Plover home. Her death was ruled a suicide; however, in 2009 Pamela Reinwand's body was exhumed following advancements in technology. Police were acting on a tip they received in 2008.

During an interview with police in 1984, a cousin of Pamela's told police she [Pamela] was excited about being a new mom and suspected the death was something other a suicide. Pamela's daughter was about six months old at the time of the death. Another witness said after Pamela's funeral she was at the couple's home and saw Pam's bags packed and suspected Pamela intended to leave Joseph prior to her death...

A trial has been scheduled to begin July 10, 2015 in Portage County.

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Joseph B. Reinwand, 55, is serving a life sentence for first-degree intentional homicide in the 2008 shooting death of Dale R. Meister, 35, of Wisconsin Rapids...

According to court documents in the Portage County case, Joseph Reinwand is accused of killing Pamela after the two went out to dinner May 13, 1984, and he became angry that she ordered an expensive meal. Joseph Reinwand told investigators at the time that he slapped his wife when they returned home, and that she then shot herself with a pistol, according to the criminal complaint.

During the investigation of the 2008 shooting death of Meister, authorities found new evidence regarding the Portage County shooting of Pamela Reinwand and reopened the case, which originally had been declared a suicide. During the Wood County court proceedings, it was revealed that Meister had quoted Reinwand as boasting that he had already gotten away with one murder and could do it again.

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A Wisconsin Rapids man started to look into a Portage County shooting death before he was murdered in 2008, authorities say... Police re-opened the investigation of Pamela Reinwand's death, previously ruled a suicide, after Meister was killed.

Even before police decided to take another look at the circumstances of Pamela Reinwand's death, Meister said numerous times Reinwand admitted to killing Pamela, according to a motion the prosecution filed in the Portage County case. Meister, who was having a child custody battle with Reinwand's daughter, told people Reinwand said he killed in the past and got away with it, and he could do so again, according to the court documents. Meister also was checking into whether Pamela Reinwand's death was a suicide.

Reinwand, who was sentenced to life in prison for first-degree intentional homicide in Meister's death, had been scheduled to go to trial in July regarding Pamela Reinwand's death. That trial has been postponed after Reinwand's attorney, Troy Nielsen, withdrew from the case...

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Witness testimony began Monday for 56-year-old Joseph Reinwald of Wisconsin Rapids, charged with the 1984 death of his wife, Pamela Reinwand.

Monday, a pool of 64 jurors was narrowed to 14 -- including two alternates.

Pamela was 19-years-old when she died of a single gunshot wound May 13, 1984 at the couple's Plover home. Her death was ruled a suicide, however, in 2009 Pamela's body was exhumed following advancements in technology. Police were acting on a tip they received in 2008.

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After a five-day trial, a jury has found Joseph Reinwand, 56, guilty of first degree murder in the 1984 death of his wife, Pamela.

It took a jury about four hours of deliberation Friday to decide on a verdict, closing a decades-old case in Portage County.

Pamela Reinwand was 19-years-old when she died of a single gunshot wound May 13, 1984 at the couple's Plover home. Her death was ruled a suicide, but now, more than 30 years later, a jury ruled Joseph was actually the one who pulled the trigger.

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"Three decades have lapsed since this verdict has come down, but the people of Portage County indefinitely in remembrance of Pamela, her family, justice has been served," Molepske said.

During the trial Joseph did not take the stand in his own defense.

Judge Thomas Flugaur revoked any form of bond, and scheduled a sentencing date for April 22.

Again, Reinwand is already spending life in prison for the murder of Meister.

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A 56-year-old man now convicted of killing two people has been sentenced to his second life sentence in prison.

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