Jury Convicts Jannke In Overdose Death

10/5/17 – A jury in Dodge County Thursday afternoon found a Watertown man guilty of supplying the drugs that caused an overdose death. Terence Jannke was convicted on felony charges of First Degree Reckless Homicide, Maintaining a Drug Trafficking Place as a Party to a Crime, and Possession with Intent to Deliver Heroin. The 50-year-old provided the drugs that killed Holly Nehls in May of last year. Jannke’s role in the overdose came to light following the surprise confession of Gabriel Brandl who was sentenced to seven years in prison in January. Brandl voluntarily went to police and was told investigators multiple times that he was not under arrest. The 30-year-old Clyman man at one point stated (quote) “heroin is an epidemic” and he wanted to do what was right for Nehls by explaining the circumstances surrounding her death. Brandl said Nehls was initially fine after shooting up but then went unconscious. Brandl says he assumed she would “snap out of it” and drove around for three hours deciding the right thing to do. Nehls eventually died and Jannke was implicated a short time later along with his roommate, 35-year-old Jason Twaite, who is charged with felony Maintaining a Drug Trafficking Place as a Party to a Crime and has a plea and sentencing hearing on the calendar in two weeks. A search warrant was executed at Jannke and Twaite’s residence on July 1, after tips from multiple confidential informants. Police found syringes, heroin packaging, and a drug ledger in Jannke’s bedroom. They also reportedly found syringes in Twaite’s bedroom and in a common area. Jannke and Twaite were arrested soon after the search. They were apparently on the way back from buying heroin in Illinois, and Twaite reportedly had a kit full of items used to inject heroin. During the trial several heroin users took the stand and told the court that Jannke was their long-time, reliable heroin dealer. They recounted buying drugs from him regularly from his bedroom in a mobile home on Warbler Way in Watertown. During closing arguments, District Attorney Kurt Klomberg told the jury, “He provided heroin to all these people.  Holly died from this heroin.  And what did Jannke do?  He bragged that his heroin was ‘so good it killed someone,’ as if this was some kind of macabre marketing tool.” Jannke faces up to 64 years in prison when he is sentenced in January.