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May 31, 2001Prelim begins in meth lab case- Prosecutors say drugs, toxic substances show couple was operating a home-based meth labBy PATRICK SULLIVANRecord-Eagle staff writer CADILLAC - A long list of over-the-counter drugs and other legal items found in the charred remains of a house gutted in a March explosion is what led police to suspect a Cadillac couple of running an illegal methamphetamine lab. More than 3,600 tablets of psuedoephedrine, also known by the brand name Sudafed, bottles of powdered iodine, hydrogen peroxide, and a light bulb with its filament removed were found in the house, Wexford County prosecutor William Fagerman said Wednesday during the first day of a preliminary hearing for David Russell Bowen and Debra Kay Deboer. Also discovered were jars of toxic red liquid, a likely by-product of meth production, and a jug of white sludge, another by-product, said Randi Whitney, a state police detective with the statewide methamphetamine investigation team out of Battle Creek. Whitney, who investigated and helped dismantle 50 to 60 meth labs in Michigan since last August, said all of the items together spelled one thing - methamphetamine, also known as "speed," "crank" or "ice," a drug that the Federal Drug Enforcement Agency calls the fastest-growing drug threat in America today. Fagerman laid out evidence that described a meth lab at a Cadillac home but didn't connect either defendant to the operation. That evidence is expected to come as the hearing continues today. Most of Wednesday's evidence concentrated on how investigators came to believe the house in a northeast neighborhood in Cadillac was home to a drug lab and how the drug can be produced from common and legal materials. Witnesses also testified that a small amount of white powder found in a plastic baggy at the home tested positive as methamphetamine. The difference between Sudafed and methamphetamine is one oxygen atom, said Anne Kidd, a forensic scientist at the Michigan State Police crime lab in Grayling. Removing that one atom is a dangerous and complicated process, she said. Explosions are frequently associated with meth labs because the process of making meth requires heat and extremely flammable chemicals, Kidd said. Bowen and Deboer became suspects after the March 7 explosion gutted the home they shared. Bowen, 32, suffered burn injuries in that explosion. While he was receiving treatment, police said they received anonymous tips connecting the couple to drugs. Until that explosion, one neighbor said they never had suspected the house across the street could be home to a drug-making operation. "Everybody said, 'I can't believe you couldn't smell it,' " said the woman, who asked not to be identified. "I said, 'Well you've got the sewer plant over there, and all the factories behind there,' but I wouldn't know what it smelled like anyway." Deboer, 38, who is free on bond, faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted on a charge of operating a drug lab within 500 feet of a residence, school or church. Bowen faces up to life in prison on the same charge and a charge of delivering and manufacturing methamphetamine. Bowen, who is jailed in lieu of $155,000 bond, faces more time because he is a habitual offender with prior convictions for breaking and entering and twice disarming a police officer. On Wednesday, Deboer's defense lawyer, Brian Hoffman, and Bowen's lawyer, Jim Carr, questioned why forensic investigators never tested or saved many of the chemicals found at the scene, including the red liquid and white sludge witnesses claimed were by-products of meth production. Wexford County District Judge David Hogg will likely decide today whether prosecutors presented enough evidence to take the case against the couple to trial. Patrick Sullivan is the reporter for crime, courts and public safety. He can be reached at (231) 933-1478, or at psullivan@record-eagle.com |