DARLINGTON — Sharon Wand, one of the survivors of the Sept. 7 fatal Argyle house fire, sent a letter to two southern Wisconsin daily newspapers claiming that her husband and brother-in-law didn’t start the house fire that killed Armin and Sharon Wand’s three children.
Or did she?
The lead prosecutor in the cases against Wand’s husband, Armin, and brother-in-law, Jeremy, claimed during Jeremy Wand’s sentencing Thursday that Sharon Wand denies writing the letters or “many” of the social media posts attributed to her.
Assistant Attorney General Roy Korte said in court it is “physically impossible” for Sharon to write “in the style and manner those letters were written.”
Afterward, Korte said, “Sharon denies it. She can barely write physically.”
The purported letter and social media posts were one of the grounds on which Jeremy Wand sought to change his plea from guilty June 12. Jeremy Wand’s motion was filed one day before his originally scheduled sentencing of July 19.
The letter sent to the Monroe Times and Wisconsin State Journal in Madison said “Jeremy Wand was not there and Armin Wand III was asleep by me. That stuff I said about Armin was not true.”
The letter attributed to Sharon Wand said “Since I don’t have people talking for me,” “I want to do the right thing.” She said she had been on “high pain meds that made me so like I was high but I wasn’t. When I learned what happen[ed] I was hurt and upset,” and “I was looking for someone to blame like everybody was. So that’s why I said those lies about Armin. We did not have a perfect [marriage], we had our problems, but he would not do anything to me or the kids.”
Sharon Wand faces two counts of criminal trespass and three counts of misdemeanor theft for allegedly stealing items from Bloomfield Nursing Home and Rehabilitation Facility near Dodgeville, where she was staying after her release from UW Hospital. A status conference on the charges was held this week.
Four Juneau County misdemeanor charges of issuing worthless checks of up to $2,500, which were filed in 2007, were dismissed with the agreement of the alleged victim July 31, according to court records.
Sharon Wand’s divorce from Armin was granted Aug. 8, according to court records.
