News Photo by Julie Riddle Joshua Wirgau, right, appears virtually in court on Monday with defense attorney Rick Steiger, center.

ALPENA ― Joshua Wirgau, a person of interest in the murder of at least one Alpena woman, is likely to flee the area if allowed out of jail on charges in a separate case, Alpena County Prosecutor Cynthia Muszynski said in court on Monday.

Wirgau faces several felonies over police allegations he held a gun to a tow truck driver’s head and demanded a ride in Alpena Township in September.

Separately, police consider Wirgau a person of interest in the death of Alpena teen Brynn Bills, whose body was discovered in September in Wirgau’s back yard.

In court on Monday for Wirgau’s hijacking case, both Muszynski and Wirgau’s attorney, Rick Steiger, alluded to but would not mention the suspicious deaths of Bills and another woman, Abby Hill, who is connected to Wirgau and whose body police found in October in Alpena Township.

Steiger said Wirgau’s $500,000 bond on kidnapping and weapons charges related to the alleged hijacking unfairly keeps him in jail for a crime for which he has not been charged.

Muszynski last month said police consider both deaths homicides and called Brad Srebnik, also charged related to the alleged hijacking, a primary suspect in both deaths.

Muszynski has filed no charges related to the death of either woman.

While the current accusations against Wirgau alone may not merit a steep bond amount, Judge Ed Black said, he had to consider other circumstances, including police suspicions related to the homicide investigations.

Black reduced Wirgau’s bond to $350,000, matching the bond amount he set for Srebnik last month.

Wirgau is currently incarcerated in the Alpena County Jail.