McCandless case set for October trial

The case of Tina L. McCandless, 48, of Menasha, is scheduled to go to trial in October as she stands accused of attempted first-degree homicide and first-degree reckless endangerment.

The trial is set for three days beginning Oct. 25 in Branch I at the Shawano County Courthouse, with a final pre-trial hearing on Oct. 12 and a motion hearing on Oct. 20.

Mark Jansen, who is representing McCandless, told Shawano-Menominee County Circuit Court Judge Katherine Sloma on Sept. 16 that he has received most of the discovery items from the district attorney’s office, with the exception of some crime lab tests. Jansen told Sloma that he would also be furnishing his discovery materials to the state by the end of this week.

“I think we’re ready to face trial on the 25th, 26th and 27th as of today,” Jansen said.

District Attorney Greg Parker, who was sitting in for Assistant District Attorney Norman Gahn, indicated there would be a number of motions coming from his office for the Oct. 20 hearing. He noted that one of the outstanding crime lab tests was on the gun used in the incident. Parker claimed that, when Jansen initially made the request on the firearm, his office thought Jansen was planning to call an expert witness.

“The state decided the best thing to do was to have the crime lab examine the weapon, and that’s why it’s in the mix right now,” Parker said.

According to the criminal complaint, officers were called to Mark A. McCandless’ home in the Town of Morris early Jan. 4 on a report that shots had been fired and an individual was wounded in the leg. The responding officer found the couple across from each other with a .22 caliber pistol on a living room table.

Mark McCandless said they had gone out for drinks, and then Tina McCandless left to go back to Menasha, where she was staying with family. Later he woke up to find her allegedly holding the pistol, and she told him to put his wedding ring back on. When he declined because the marriage is over, she allegedly fired off a round, according to the complaint.

The court document stated she then chased him through the house, occasionally firing the pistol, and one of the bullets struck him in the calf. At one point, he grabbed for the weapon and they struggled, and he was able to restrain her long enough to call police, according to the complaint.

The gun was registered in Mark McCandless’ name, according to the complaint, and at first Tina McCandless claimed self-defense, telling the investigator that he had the gun and it went off as they struggled, but the location of the spent casings — officers found more than a half-dozen rounds scattered around the house — appears to point to his version of events.

Online court documents show that the couple filed for divorce at the end of October 2021, and it was finalized in March of this year. The complaint indicates that Tina McCandless had just found out her estranged husband had begun dating another woman.

The defendant remains in the Shawano County Jail on a $500,000 cash bond. McCandless, through her attorney, requested a jury trial in July.

lpulaski@newmedia-wi.com