http://www.sctimes.com/article/20090205/NEWS01/102040046/1009

Big Lake woman charged with murder

ELK RIVER — A Big Lake woman was charged Wednesday with murder in the death of a woman who died from a methadone overdose.

Rebecca Ann Seffinga, 42, was charged with third-degree murder and a third-degree controlled substance crime. She is in Sherburne County Jail. The charges relate to the Sept. 29 death of Anna Jean Burns, 21, of Big Lake.

On Sept. 29, deputies were called to an apartment at 121 Euclid Ave. in Big Lake where they found Seffinga with Burns, who was dead, Sherburne County Sheriff Joel Brott said. Deputies searched the apartment and found numerous prescription pills.

Deputies learned that Seffinga had two prescriptions for methadone, a drug commonly used to treat heroin and morphine addictions. They fail to mention that it is used 3 times as much now for chronic pain and if they found script bottles then it was NOT obtained at an MMT clinic.

Ramsey County Medical Examiner's Office's autopsy found that Burns died from a mixed drug overdose and had a lethal level of methadone in her system, Brott said. Research shows what is lethal to one person is not lethal to another and she died from a mixed drug overdose...what other drugs were found and how were they obtained? This is a pattern that continues and must be stopped. You cannot have a law and attempt to "pick and choose" who you will  enforce it with. If they are going to go down this treacherous path then they had better charge every damn one of the dealers when a death occurs NOT just those with Methadone in their system!

Initially Seffinga said she had given Burns one methadone pill, but later admitted she gave Burns as many as four or five, Brott said.

Seffinga told deputies she thought Burns was dead Sept. 28 and on Sept. 29 called a pharmacy and a clinic to find out the ramifications of Burns' methadone ingestion.

Investigators were able to confirm that the calls were made. Seffinga told investigators that after she confirmed that Burns was dead, she flushed her remaining methadone, Ativan and Valium pills down the toilet before police arrived.

Ativan and Valium are commonly prescribed to treat anxiety.

Deputies found that Seffinga had given prescription pills to others who did not have a prescription.

Investigators had an informant purchase the prescription anti-anxiety drug Xanax from Seffinga, Brott said. Well? Were Ativan, Xanax and Valium in her system when she died? Hello?