Two murders committed in the 1980s still haunt Spirit Lake Nation.
The body of Eddie Peltier, a former officer in nearby Devils Lake, was found on a highway in 1983 . Three years later, the badly decomposed body of Gilbert Fassett was found not far from where Peltier’s body had been. Both resulted in convictions, but the verdicts have been dogged over the decades by controversy.
In this series, veteran reporter Patrick Springer looks back at the evidence and considers a sobering question: Were the men convicted of these murders guilty?
The murders of Eddie Peltier and Gilbert Fassett are unrelated, but the men convicted of those killings may not be responsible.
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Werner Rümmer was granted parole despite denying involvement in Fassett's death — but his parole was abruptly reversed.
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Possible suspect failed polygraph, but never was charged in connection with Gilbert Fassett’s murder
The murder victim's mother told investigators she heard a police officer shot her son.
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How a notorious double murder near Minot would help snare Werner Kunkel in an unrelated murder case.
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The use of jailhouse snitches is a common practice, but informants are involved in many wrongful convictions, experts say.
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A University of North Dakota parasitologist estimated that Gilbert Fassett died on Aug. 1, 1986. A forensic entomologist who has provided analysis for thousands of cases later disputed that timeline.
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Two witnesses recanted their trial testimony and some new witnesses came forward after the trial.
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A purported witness to Gilbert Fassett's murder gave statements the FBI concluded were "indicative of deception" when disavowing knowledge of the murder.
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Lawyers work to win parole for Werner Rümmer, investigate new evidence to gain his release.
All of the important figures in the two murder cases examined in Forum Communications' "Who Killed Eddie and Gilbert?" series.
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