Judge Orders Release Of Werner Kunkel After Murder Conviction Overturned

<![CDATA[

DEVILS LAKE, N.D. — A North Dakota judge on Wednesday essentially agreed to let a once-convicted killer walk free after his murder conviction from 1996 was overturned earlier this year.

But as of Wednesday evening, Aug. 12, Werner Kunkel, 65, remained behind bars, somewhere he has been for 32 years.

Kunkel was convicted in 1995 of the murder of Gilbert Fassett on the Spirit Lake Nation and sentenced to life in prison. Fassett's decomposing body was found riddled with stab wounds in August 1986, but Kunkel was not identified as a suspect in the case for nearly a decade, after jailhouse informants came forward alleging Kunkel had confessed.

In February, District Judge Daniel Narum overturned Kunkel's conviction, saying he could not have been the killer based on the prosecution's evidence at trial and said prosecutors withheld evidence that could have proved Kunkel's innocence.

With prosecutors appealing Narum's ruling and the possibility of a new trial, Kunkel was being held on the $300,000 cash bond originally set in the case. He was moved from the state prison in Jamestown to the Lake Regional Correctional Facility in Devils Lake.

Kunkel's lawyer said his team is still working on the logistics after District Judge Ted Sandberg made his ruling Wednesday, effectively releasing Kunkel after an hour-long hearing.

"What are we holding him for? When is this hypothetical retrial going to happen? Is it going to happen?" said Jim Mayer of the Great North Innocence Project. "He is warehoused like a sardine, boxed in a room with a bunch of bunks and a rotating house of characters."

Citing his failing health, including being diagnosed with stage 3 kidney failure, Kunkel's defense team asked he be set free without conditions. The plan is for Kunkel to live with his mother in Devils Lake.

"So he can finally begin healing himself, healing his body and healing his family," Mayer said.

Prosecutors objected, partially based on Kunkel's violent history, including a shooting at the home of a state trooper.

"Mr. Kunkel might hold a grudge against individuals who participated in his conviction in 1996," said Daniel Howell, Ramsey County state's attorney.

"We all change as we grow older," Sandberg said.

Sandberg agreed to release Kunkel with conditions. He set a personal recognizance bond of $25,000, meaning Kunkel does not have to pay anything to get out of jail, but if he violates those conditions, he will have to pay that $25,000 and will be returned to jail.

Kunkel is also subject to electronic home monitoring and cannot leave Ramsey County except for medical appointments.

Sandberg felt Kunkel's health issues can be better addressed outside of jail and noted his lack of disciplinary issues in prison.

"If the state does not prevail on that appeal, Mr. Kunkel would have spent a significant amount of extra time in a county jail much to his detriment," Sandberg said.

Kunkel may not be free for long if he is released, however. His mother brought him here from Germany as a child but he never became a U.S. citizen.

Based on some other convictions on his record, Kunkel does have an ICE detainer listed on him, officials said. The Ramsey County prosecutor said in court Wednesday he has been in contact with ICE.