Killer's death ruled drug overdose
Wapp was found unresponsive at Waupun Correctional Institution
A convicted killer from Waukesha County who was found dead in his prison cell in November died from a drug overdose, the Dodge County medical examiner said Wednesday.
The cause of death of David A. Wapp, 31, was methadone toxicity and the death has been ruled an accident, Medical Examiner Patrick J. Schoebel said.
State Department of Corrections spokesman Timothy Le Monds said the department is conducting an investigation to determine how Wapp obtained the methadone.
Wapp was sentenced in June 2010 to life in prison with no possibility for parole for stabbing his former girlfriend, Samantha Peterson, to death on Sept. 5, 2009.
Wapp was found unresponsive in his cell the morning of Nov. 8 at Waupun Correctional Institution and was pronounced dead at a hospital that afternoon.
At the time, the Department of Corrections said a preliminary assessment showed there was no foul play. However, the department could not say what the official cause of death was because it was awaiting toxicology test results.
Schoebel released his findings Wednesday after all of Wapp's relatives had been notified.
Wapp, of the Town of Mukwonago, stabbed and cut Peterson 37 times in the chest, neck and arms after the two quarreled in a car outside the Waukesha home of Wapp's aunt.
A jury in April 2010 took less than 30 minutes to find him guilty of first-degree intentional homicide.
Wapp, who had a long and violent criminal record, killed Peterson, 21, of Waukesha, four days after he got out of prison.
