February 23, 2023 |
A 23-year-old Saratoga man was arrested Friday in connection to two fentanyl-related deaths in town earlier this month.
Max Jacob Schneider is charged with one count of “delivery of a controlled substance,” fentanyl, and two counts of “manslaughter.”
The manslaughter charges stem from the discovery of a young couple found dead at their residence on the 400 block of North Sharp Street on Saturday, morning February 4th. The pair, Megan Cassidee Wingo, 27, and Richard Heap, 28, were suspected to have died of a drug overdose. A toxicology report on Wingo confirmed she had more than 11 times the amount of fentanyl in her blood to be fatal.
A small baggie with green, space alien heads printed on it was found near the victims. Tests confirmed the white powder in the bag was fentanyl.
Almost 10 days later, a third overdose occurred. An unidentified 34-year-old man was found dead at a residence in Hanna. Again, a small baggie of white powder was found at the scene. The drug was later identified as fentanyl.
Most of the eight pages of court documents filed this week contain the findings of the DCI investigator assigned to the case.
The Hanna victim’s housemate told investigators that the dead man was a drug user who had relapsed. According to court documents, the housemate said prior to his death, the unnamed Hanna man allegedly had lost a baggie of drugs on February 3rd in a Saratoga restaurant where he had just ingested some of the narcotic. The date corresponds with what eyewitnesses in Saratoga said during their interviews with DCI.
Early on, law enforcement was unwilling to disclose much information about the two drug cases.
Small town news travels fast, though. Last weekend, rumors of a noontime arrest associated with the overdose deaths circulated quickly. On Monday, Sheriff Alex Bakken confirmed that an arrest had been made but he did not provide any details.
Pictured above: File photo of Carbon County Jail. Photo by Cali O’Hare/Bigfoot 99.
After making an initial court appearance Monday afternoon, the suspect was identified officially Schneider. A local man who grew up in the Platte Valley, Schneider faces two counts of manslaughter, one each for Wingo and Heap. A third count alleges “delivery of a controlled substance.” All are felony charges.
Court documents describe how, on February 3rd, Schneider allegedly found a small baggie of white powder with space alien heads printed on it in the bathroom of the restaurant where he worked. Witnesses described how Schneider bragged about finding the drugs. When confronted by his boss about the bag, Schneider said he had disposed of it. He was reprimanded for not alerting the authorities. Witnesses who were interviewed told investigators that Schneider gave the bag of what everyone allegedly presumed was cocaine to Wingo during the evening of February 3rd.
Law Enforcement has confirmed the Hanna and two Saratoga deaths are connected.
Court documents indicate that drugs Schneider found in the shop may have belonged to the deceased Hanna man. Sheriff Bakken said DCI, the lead agency in the case, is continuing to investigate for the original source of the drugs.
Schneider is being held in the Carbon County Jail on a $150,000 cash-only bond.
