Prosecutors worry about Wade trial witness safety

ANCHORAGE - A letter about "snitches" and a book on prison escapes have federal prosecutors worried about witness safety in the trial of accused killer Joshua Wade.

Prosecutors say Wade wrote a letter to a "criminal associate" that claimed Wade had beaten up an informant.

Another concern is a book seized before it was delivered to Wade in an Anchorage jail. The book, titled "Hacksaw," is about a convict who escaped from prisons, jails and chain gangs 14 times.

Prosecutors cited the letter and book in a new court filing saying they are withdrawing from an agreement to provide witness names to the defense.

A hearing was set for August 26. Wade faces a possible death penalty on federal charges he killed Mindy Schloss, a nurse who was a neighbor in Jewel Lake.