Case against pharmacist who allegedly sabotaged vaccine in limbo

A pharmacist at the Aurora Medical Center in Grafton, accused of intentionally ruining hundreds of doses of Covid-19 vaccine at the hospital, was released Monday on a $10,000 signature bond after the prosecutor told an Ozaukee County judge the vaccine may not have been destroyed after all.

“If they (the vials of vaccine) were not, there may not be a crime,” Ozaukee County District Attorney Adam Gerol told Judge Paul Malloy.

Steven Brandenburg, 46, who according to court documents is going through a contentious divorce and is an “admitted conspiracy theorist,” sabotaged the vaccine because, he told investigators, he believed “it was dangerous and would change people’s DNA,” according to a probable cause statement.

Brandenburg was arrested by Grafton police on Thursday, Dec. 31, after Aurora officials said he intentionally left 57 vials of Moderna vaccine outside of a refrigerator overnight, rendering it inert and prompting the hospital to destroy the vials, each of which contains 10 doses.

The next day, Malloy ordered Brandenburg held in the Ozaukee County jail on suspicion of second degree recklessly endangering safety and criminal damage to property worth more than $1,500, both felonies.

The vaccine is estimated to be worth $8,550 to $11,000, according to court documents.

On Monday, however, Gerol said he was informed “one key element” of the case had changed.

“Aurora officials said they (the vials) had been destroyed. On Monday, that was walked back,” Gerol told Malloy.

The vials had not been destroyed and the vaccine in the vials may still be usable, Gerol said he was told.

The only way to know whether the vaccine in the vials is still viable is to send them back to Moderna for testing, he said.

It’s unclear how long it will take to get results back, he said.

Moderna vaccine requires initial transport and storage at deep-freeze temperatures, but it can be stored locally at more typical refrigeration temperatures for several days before use, officials say.

If the vaccine is still viable, the two charges requested against Brandenburg, who appeared by video conference during Monday’s hearing, would not stand, Gerol said.

If that were the case, Brandenburg could be charged with a misdemeanor at most, Gerol said.

According to the probable cause statement from police, Brandenburg admitted removing the vials from a refrigerator on Dec. 24 and 25 and left them unrefrigerated for 12 hours.

He did so “knowing that it would diminish the effects of the vaccine and render the vaccine useless against the Covid-19 virus in the middle of an international pandemic that has caused thousands of deaths,” according to the police statement.

Brandenburg, who according to court documents believes the world may soon end, is being divorced by his wife of eight years because of his beliefs, according to court filings in the divorce case.

He has “vastly different views of parenting and views of the world” from those of his wife, her attorney told a court commissioner, according to a transcript of a hearing in July. “My understanding is that (Brandenburg) is more aligned with conspiracy theories.”

On Monday, Ozaukee County Court Commissioner Barry Boline suspended placement of the couple’s two children, ages 6 and 4, with him after the mother became frightened by things he said to her and the children.

In an affidavit filed on Dec. 30, one of their daughters told her Brandenburg said, “This is not our home; heaven is our home”; “The devil likes divorce”; and “You broke the Holy Spirit Mommy, you did divorce.”

The daughter also said Brandenburg told the children they should not do yoga anymore because if they do “you can’t believe in Jesus.”

Brandenburg was ordered to leave the family’s Town of Grafton home in July and has since lived in apartments in Plymouth and Grafton. 

According to the affidavit filed Dec. 30, Brandenburg dropped off a water purifier, a large bucket of powdered milk and two 30-day emergency food buckets at the family home on Dec. 6.

During that visit, he told his wife, “The world is crashing down around us” and the government is planning “cyber attacks and plans to shut down the power grid.”

“I had trouble looking at him while he was talking and he firmly asked me to look him in the eyes when he spoke to me so that he knew I was hearing and understanding him,” the woman wrote. “The whole interaction was very uncomfortable and upsetting for me.

“I was so concerned about my safety and the safety of the children that I left town for a period of time.”

She said she is concerned how Brandenburg will react to having lost his job at Aurora, where he was paid about $127,000 a year, working seven nights in a row, followed by seven days, according to court documents.

According to a transcript of the July hearing, Brandenburg broke down several times, prompting Boline to ask whether he was “alright” and suggesting he “take a breath” on several occasions.

“I have nowhere to go. I literally have nowhere to go,” Brandenburg said.

Brandenburg admitted he was in therapy to help him “work through all the issues that are going on with the divorce and marriage.”

He also said he was under extreme stress because of his job at Aurora.

“It’s not easy, especially with all the other stress going on, to get enough sleep to function at work. And if I make mistakes at work ... I’m responsible for life and death issues. ... These are just incredibly trying circumstances,” he told Boline, according to the transcript.

Brandenburg was convicted in 2002 of second offense THC possession, a felony, and was sentenced to 18 months probation.

Boline, coincidentally, was Brandenburg’s defense attorney in that case. 

On Monday, Gerol said Brandenburg’s co-workers reported he had brought a gun to work on at least two occasions.

As a condition of his release, Malloy ordered Brandenburg to surrender all firearms to the Ozaukee County Sheriff’s Office and to have no contact with Aurora or any of its employees.

Brandenburg is due next in court on Jan. 19.