WIFE FACES DRUG CHARGES

The co-owner of a rural Blanchardville home where three men died in
drug-related shootings last March was charged Tuesday in Lafayette
County Circuit Court with helping run a drug house.

A woman , 29, told investigators she knew her husband, Brad, was
growing marijuana in a secret basement room and helped him grow and
process it, according to the criminal complaint.

Brad Fandrich, a gun collector, shot two men raiding the home March
16, then killed himself while being interviewed by Lafayette County
deputies who responded to the wife's telephone call for help.

The wife, who now lives in Dodgeville, met the two men, Jaeson C.
Shepard and Eddie E. Harris, at the door of the home, according to
the complaint.

The two men had conspired with two others, a woman, 23, and a man,
22, to steal the marijuana, according to court records. Harris died
at the home and Shepard died later at a hospital.

The woman faces felony charges of theft and burglary. The man's name
has surfaced in complaints against the woman and the wife , but he
has not been charged. He did not show up on the night of the planned
robbery, according to the complaint.

The woman was shot at by Brad Fandrich but escaped. She surrendered
to authorities the next day.

Until the wife was charged Tuesday, the woman was the only survivor
of the incident to be charged following a five-month investigation by
state agents.

The state took over the case because county deputies were present
when Brad Fandrich shot himself. That shooting happened shortly after
deputies discovered large quantities of weapons and prescription
painkillers in Fandrich's safe.

The criminal complaint against the wife notes she helped her husband
in the marijuana growing room about twice a week and that the room
was set up by her husband, "assisted by others."

The room was so well hidden it escaped state agents' notice until a
relative of the wife's discovered a false wall while picking up
belongings after the shootings. A complex growing system had been set
up in the room, where officers found 497 marijuana plants and a large
quantity of processed marijuana, according to court records.

The woman and her late husband filed for divorce early last year.
Since the shootings, she has legally returned to her maiden surname
of [Name redacted] and a bank has foreclosed on the property.

Lafayette County District Attorney Charlotte Doherty said the charges
Tuesday do not end the investigation.

An initial hearing is set for Jan. 22. The wife and her lawyer, Roger
Merry, were not available for comment Tuesday.

In a related development, the 23 year old woman, who had been free on
a $5,000 signature bond while undergoing treatment for a drug
addiction, was arrested Monday in Mineral Point, according to Iowa
County Sheriff Steve Michek.

Details of the arrest were not available, but Michek said the woman
remained in the Iowa County Jail on tentative charges of drunken
driving, driving with a revoked license and violating her probation.