Who’s who in 'Who Killed Eddie and Gilbert?'

A photo illustration reads Who Killed Eddie & Gilbert? on a red colored background. The background includes a map on the Spirit Lake Nation with a radar and pin drop on a location called Ski Jump Hill.

By Forum staff

July 02, 2024 at 5:20 AM

DEVILS LAKE, N.D. — Here are important figures in the two murder cases examined in Forum Communications' "Who Killed Eddie and Gilbert?" series.

Murder victims

Jerome “Eddie” Peltier: A former Devils Lake police officer, Peltier’s body was found on Highway 57 on the Spirit Lake Nation on the morning of Aug. 28, 1983.

Gilbert Fassett: Berry pickers found Fassett's body on Aug. 10, 1986, in a wooded area on Ski Jump Hill near Fort Totten on Spirit Lake Nation.

Murder suspects

Werner Kunkel: The last person known to have seen Gilbert Fassett alive in 1986, Kunkel was convicted in 1995 of the murder. Kunkel changed his name to Werner Rümmer after the trial.

Richard LaFuente and John Perez: Two of 11 men convicted in 1986 in connection with Peltier's assault and murder.

Witnesses and others

James Yankton: A Bureau of Indian Affairs officer who investigated both the Peltier and Fassett murder cases.

Quentin Yankton: James Yankton’s brother who was with Eddie Peltier in the hours before Peltier’s body was found. He attended a party at the home of his sister, Celeste Yankton Herman, also attended by Peltier hours before his body was found.

By Forum staff

Our newsroom occasionally reports stories under a byline of "staff." Often, the "staff" byline is used when rewriting basic news briefs that originate from official sources, such as a city press release about a road closure, and which require little or no reporting. At times, this byline is used when a news story includes numerous authors or when the story is formed by aggregating previously reported news from various sources. If outside sources are used, it is noted within the story.

Conversation