Police say evidence implicates Srebnik and Wirgau in the 2021 deaths of Alpena woman Abby Hill and Alpena teen Brynn Bills.

Judge Alan Curtis, citing a law requiring him to assess a bond until the prosecution presents some facts in the case, set bond for each man at $500,000 cash or surety.

Both men are currently serving two-year prison sentences on separate charges.

Attorney Rick Steiger, who represented Wirgau at the arraignment, declined to comment.

News Photo by Julie Riddle Brad Srebnik, left, appears via videoconference from the Ionia Correctional Facility at a hearing in Alpena’s 88th District Court on Thursday. Assistant Attorney General Gage Wakula, also via videoconference, appears alongside Srebnik.

Matt Wojda, who represented Srebnik for purposes of the arraignment only, said Srebnik will fight the charges and is entitled to a presumption of the innocence he claimed in his not-guilty plea.

Courts have three weeks to hold a preliminary examination, at which prosecutors present some evidence and a judge decides if a case can continue toward trial.

Srebnik and Wirgau will probably waive that three-week requirement to give their attorneys time to wade through voluminous information about the police case against them, both attorneys said.

The exam — to be held jointly, with Srebnik and Wirgau as co-defendants — will take two to three days and include 10 or more witnesses, according to Assistant Attorney General Gage Wakula, who appeared at the hearing via videoconference.

The Michigan Attorney General’s Office has been involved with the investigation into Bills’ and Hill’s deaths for at least five months.

News Photo by Julie Riddle Joshua Wirgau appears via videoconference from the Bellamy Creek Correctional Facility at a hearing in Alpena’s 88th District Court on Thursday.

That office regularly makes its assistant prosecutors and other resources available to counties handling complex cases, Attorney General Dana Nessel said at a news conference on Wednesday.

Wakula said he and Assistant Attorney General Danielle Hagaman-Clark will appear in Alpena at all significant hearings but asked for — and received — Curtis’s permission to appear at simpler hearings virtually.

Wakula, Hagaman-Clark, and Alpena County Prosecutor Cynthia Muszynski will prosecute both cases.

At Thursday’s hearing, Curtis said he will reevaluate the $500,000 bond after the preliminary exam.

Prosecutors can ask for bond reconsideration if they learn either man could be released from prison before the exam, the judge said.

News Photo by Julie Riddle Joshua Wirgau, left, appears via videoconference from the Bellamy Creek Correctional Facility at a hearing in Alpena’s 88th District Court on Thursday. Assistant Attorney General Gage Wakula, also via videoconference, appears alongside Wirgau.

Srebnik and Wirgau are scheduled for release in September 2023 with no option of early parole.

In court discussion about offering a bond to either defendant, Curtis referenced Nessel’s assertion at the news conference that Hill was killed because she knew too much about Bills’ death.

That statement, if the law did not require him to offer a bond, would probably convince him to deny such an option for the safety of the community, Curtis said.

“I’m unaware of how many other witnesses are out there,” Curtis said, “and whether they have been in jeopardy.”

Though the preliminary exam will be conducted jointly, Steiger will request that the cases be kept separate as they proceed toward trial, he said.

Because they are in prison, Wirgau and Srebnik are presumed eligible for court-appointed attorneys, according to state law.

Steiger, chief defender at the Northeast Michigan Regional Defender Office — which provides indigent defense in Alpena — will handle Wirgau’s case, along with attorney Dennis Grenkowicz, also with the Defender Office.

That office can’t handle both cases, as such an arrangement would post a conflict of interest.

According to Michigan Indigent Defense Commission standards, appointed attorneys representing defendants who could be sentenced to life in prison must have practiced criminal law for at least five years and have experience as lead counsel in at least seven felony jury trials or a “significant record of consistently high-quality criminal trial court representation.”

Few attorneys in Northeast Michigan have the needed experience to handle a life-offense case.

Steiger has reached out to two attorneys to see if they would consider accepting assignment of Srebnik’s case. Neither lives in Alpena County, he said.

The few Alpena attorneys with the required experience cannot take Srebnik’s case because of conflicts of interest, Steiger said.

Srebnik, 36, was arraigned on two counts of premeditated murder, a charge of disinterment and mutilation of a body, and weapons charges.

Wirgau, 35, was arraigned on a single charge of premeditated murder and charges of disinterment and mutilation of a body, accessory after the fact to a felony, and weapons charges.

Srebnik and Wirgau each face life in prison without eligibility for parole, according to state law.

Both men next appear in court on Nov. 3 for a probable cause conference, at which attorneys can discuss possible plea deals, court dates, and other housekeeping issues.

Julie Riddle can be reached at 989-358-5693, jriddle@thealpenanews.com or on Twitter @jriddleX.