Judge raises bail for former Ennis doctor

published on Monday, April 4, 2005 10:10 PM MDT

By NICK GEVOCK Chronicle Staff Writer

A judge revoked the bail Monday of a former Ennis doctor accused of murder and a host of felony drug charges.

Madison County District Judge Loren Tucker established a new bail of $750,000 for James Bischoff for allegedly breaking the terms of his previous $150,000 bail.

Bischoff is accused of giving injections to 85-year-old Kathryn Dvarishkis that ended her life when she was under his care in 2000 at the Madison Valley Hospital. He also faces three felony drug charges, including allegations he filled prescriptions in other people's names and couldn't account for thousands of doses of narcotics.

But Bischoff is also charged with the armed robbery of a bank in Rexburg, Idaho, last month and fleeing with cash. Officials in Madison County, Idaho, have issued a warrant to have Bischoff extradited there to face those charges.

However, Tucker agreed with Madison County Attorney Bob Zenker that Bischoff's alleged behavior meant he posed a threat to society and needed a high bail.

"The allegations here are that he had a loaded gun, brandished it and pointed it at people," Zenker said in a telephone interview. "That's pretty serious."

Bischoff has been held for the past two weeks at the Jefferson County jail in Boulder. Madison County officers returned him there Monday.

His trial for the deliberate homicide and drug charges is scheduled for May 16.

Tucker also denied a motion by Bischoff's attorney, John Smith, to exclude Madisonian newspaper reporter Bridget Tighe as a witness. Smith asserted that because Tighe is married to Ennis Police Officer Tom Tighe, she was acting as an agent of the state when she interviewed Bischoff shortly after his arrest last fall.

Prosecutors are trying to use Bridget Tighe as a witness.

Nick Gevock is at ngevock@dailychronicle.com

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