Woman leaves jail after 2001 death trial postponed (UPDATE)

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PORTAGE, Wis. (AP) — A woman charged with killing a Beaver Dam man in 2001 is out of jail on bond after her trial was postponed until October.

The Portage Daily Register reports 39-year-old Leah Waldhart had been in the Columbia County Jail since February 2014. She’s accused of causing the death of Curtis Wylesky through cocaine toxicity. His body was found in a ditch near Fall River.

Waldhart has pleaded not guilty to a charge of first-degree intentional homicide.

Columbia County Circuit Court Judge Alan White told prospective jurors Monday that he had to lower Waldhart’s bail to a $100,000 signature bond because her trial was delayed so many times, and that she was being released from jail. White said there’s a chance it could be delayed again.

The trial was previously delayed by White in January. Questions had been raised over the analysis of some evidence by the Wisconsin Crime Lab, and White said the trial couldn’t go forward without all the evidence.

White said Friday at a pre-trial hearing that the trial was being delayed again because there was a possibility two key witnesses for the prosecution might not show, and that defense attorneys said they had little time to study evidence of recorded phone calls Waldhart made from jail.

As part of conditions for Waldhart’s release, she’s required to report to the jail every 72 hours until she gets an electronic monitoring device.

The investigation into Wylesky’s death was reopened in October 2012 amid new information in the case. Investigators say more than one bag of cocaine was found in his stomach and that he was forced to eat it.