http://www.sctimes.com/article/20090207/NEWS01/102060046/1009

Woman's bail set at $100K

Rebecca Ann Seffinga, 42, remains in Sherburne County Jail. Her next court appearance is Feb. 25 in front of Sherburne County District Court Judge Mary Yunker.

Seffinga is charged with murder and third-degree controlled substance crime. A complaint accuses her of causing the Sept. 29 death of Anna Jean Burns, 21, of Big Lake.

The complaint accuses Seffinga of giving Burns four or five tablets of methadone, a drug commonly used to treat heroin and morphine addictions. An autopsy by the Ramsey County Medical Examiner's Office found Burns died from a mixed drug overdose and had a lethal level of methadone, according to the court complaint.What is lethal to one is not lethal to another. Of course, the other meds in her system produced no charges.

The charges against Seffinga came after a joint investigation by Big Lake police and Sherburne County deputies. Investigators were called Sept. 29 to an apartment at 121 Euclid Ave. in Big Lake where they found Seffinga with Burns, who appeared to have been dead "for some time," according to the complaint.

Deputies found numerous prescription pills and learned Seffinga had two prescriptions for methadone,

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

The complaint accuses Seffinga of calling a pharmacy and clinic to find out the ramifications of Burns' methadone ingestion. Seffinga told investigators that after she confirmed Burns was dead, she flushed her remaining methadone, Ativan and Valium pills down the toilet before police arrived.

Investigators later had an informant buy the prescription anti-anxiety drug Xanax from Seffinga, according to the complaint.