Taos Land & Film Company: Where Taos Land Sales Fund Independent Films
INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTS

Joan Kahl

JOAN IN FARGO
 
JOAN SPEAKS IN FARGO
 
Opening shots , Joan turns down a TV reporter who wants to do an interview.
 
12/50 it's good to be here tonight and I've been asked to come and tell
the events that happened to me and my family on Feb. 13, 1983 and then again
on June 3, 1983 when my husband was murdered in coldblookd by federal agents....13/09...
...and we were ambushed on feb.13, 1983 by federal agents and fed. marshals
on our way home from a meeting and you all have heard about that. ...13/20
...my husband was a tax protester, just like all the rest of you out
there, but you don't voice it like he did. He just simply got out of it
for reasons that he could no longer condone a system that was so corrupt.
But before I go into that I need to tell you why he did the things he did.
He didn't just up and quit paying income tax for no reason...13/46...
it gets to be kind of a long story...because I'm not a speaker, it's
not that easy for me, but the story needs to be told because the news media
and the television have done us no good with their lies, so I'm here to
night...14/11...
...to defend my husband and what he did and why he did it. And then
again there's a book written by a man named Jim Corcoran, ....called bitter
harvest and in this book he has told about my husband. And there are some
truths in the book but they are mostly untruths...
...14/35... but first of all, I think I need to tell you why my husband
was a tax protestor. Nobody like to pay this income tax and especially when
we found out it was an illegal tax to start with and it was illegal plunder
to rob the people...14/52...
...well we go way back to WWII when Pearl Harbor broke out. I was not
married to Gordon at the time, but we were going together, But the war broke
out at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7 and Gordon thought then that every able bodied
man ought to go to war to save his country, just like he did after he found
out the income tax was robbing the people...15/18...
...he got out of that trying to tell people to quit paying it because
we were not, we were losing our country as we can all see it's going down
the drain a little bit more everyday...15/32
...but anyway, he went to war, he enlisted in the air force, in 1945,
in January he came home, he had been wounded, he had completed 57 bombing
missions over the CBI area, and when he got back in the states, he just
thought something wasn't quite right in the states, incidentally, I, I pardon
me for stopping here for a minute, but who's that...
16:05 Who's that out in the hall. Because if it's the news media I ran
one of them out of here...Would you go check, I don't want that camera out
there in the hall... I don't want the news media in here at all. (they
shut the door)
16/30...(CROWD AND HALL SHOTS)
 
16/45...when he got back to the states he realized there was something
drastically wrong in the states and then he found out that that war was
never meant to be won in the first place. That Pres. Roosevelt and his gang
had promoted that. And, by the time he came back there was a lot of changes
made in the states, including these giveaway programs...and a lot of other
things...17/06...that Gokrdon just didn't think was right. ...
Gordan studied and found out things just weren't right17:19...so he
was discharged in dec., he was a flight instructor, we were married in Jan.
of 1945...as
...17/47...as time went on and he begin to realize there was more and
more going on in the country than shouldn't be...he said to me, I think
we're going to end up this nation as a survival nation...
18/04...one day when I came home from work ...he told me he had bought
me something really nice, well, I like pretty clothes and I thought it was
a pretty dress or something . But it was a shotgun, 20gauge double barral
shotgun. He had bought that at sears & roebuck in Greenville, SC, now
that was in 1945, it was brand new for $30. So you can see there from then
until now how the value of the dollar has devalued...And I was afraid of
that gun, I dind't want to use it and I wasn't very happy with it, he had
bought me a box of shells and he said he was going to teach me to shoot
that gun...18/50...
...And, when we had children, they were all going to learn how to use
a gun. He said we were going to have to learn how to do this to survive...
...He said I can see our country is really going down the tubes here.
That was way back in 1945. Well I did learn to shoot the gun and I had to
learn a few other things too. At the time it was really hard, but I'm glad
now...19/19...
...We were going to go into these mens clothing stores and buy us some
socks and handkerchefs and they were all closed up for the Jewish New Year
and yet they had all these norwegian names on there, smith, johnson, Johannsen,
and he said I dont' understand this, he said I'm going to have to check
into this a little farther...20/00...
 
21:45 His english teach din't like him very well...his english teach
said it's your attitude...he found out she was a card carrying communist.
23:28 they're just controlling us too much...I'm going to get out of
this program.
24:10 ...a nation betrayed, a nation out of control...you know I had
to send all the silver certificates in...they were talking all the gold
and silver out of the money. 25:30 we were financing the enemies of christ
and these were evil people.
 
26:35 addressed the letter to the tighing collectors of the synagogue
of satan, Wah. DC...
27:10 he found out we were under a Jew Masonic control,...money going
for abortions, which we did not believe in. ...
28:30 he quit paying because it was wrong to be in the system and if
anybody here is offened, I'm not sorry.
29:50 I didn't fail to file, I refused to file...
32/00 Posse Comitatus law...the income tax law is illegal and unstonstituional...
33:00 govt. run by jew masonic govt...
 
 
47:00 Chesire was playing dead...he rose up and Gordan blew his head
off.
 
 
 
JOAN IN FARGO
 
52:45 FBI dogs, (reaction shot by an FBI guy? next to Opie?) and if
you're out there, I'm not through with you yet...
 
54:10 everywhere I speak there are always FBI agensts, they are evil...I
hope you slither out of here...
55:25 ...forget about a lawyer there isn't a good one!...
56:00 this is our court system,,, it's rotten...
 
56:55 if you will make a pleas on national TV, ...57:20 I hate myself
for doing that... we'll write it up for you...
 
58:10 when I tell you what happened in ARK, the lions couldn't have
done any worse...
JOAN/FARGO
1:01 We're going to blow that farm up...
they shot our dog in the voice box... the big cowards that they
 
65:10 ...Gordan said it would be nation against nation, race against
race...
 
68:00 met with FBI regarding the house...I didn't know you could insure
your house against the SWAT, he said strike that from the record...
 
69:00 ...nobodies going to farm this land... nobody would bid on the
farm...
 
71:30 They said Gordan and the sheriff in Ark shot each other...well,
they were shot in the back, anybody who knows anything knows you can't do
that...
 
 
JOAN/FARGO
72:30 the news media don't do any good, they have you believe that gordan
went after the Feds.
JOAN/FARGO
...they chopped his hands and feet off. then they burned him...that's
what they'll do to you. ...
JOAN/FARGO
the local coroner said they have to send back every part of the body,..
they weren't going to send the jaws back. 74:00 now those jaws weren't
gordan's jaws... but I am sure that they got gordan that day. ...
75:000 gordan's funeral...
what happened to me that day could happen to anyone.
76:00 when my children are standing in thhe soup line I don't want them
to ask where their father and grandfather were, when this was going on...
 
77:00 Corcoran's book.... that book is a bunch of lies. he portrays
me as fray and worn out and given up.. well I'm not frail, or wornout and
I'm not afraid of those FBI agents out there...
He said gordan was a hatemonger and hated jews and blacks.. and the
meeting that day was racist... that's not true...jews should marry jews,
etc.
79:00 he took no pleasure in killing those men... and any man who would't
defend his son when he saw him shot is not a man.
80:00 the end of Joan's speech.
I think here you got a woman that's got more guts than any federal marshals.
81:00 LEN MARTIN
You may think they're protecting us... let me tell you
JOAN'S INTERVIEW (ARK)
 
TAPE#7
 
 
Reel #7 Joan Kahl
JOAN#7
It's not at all like I thought it'd end up. Although Gordan and I had
a mutual agreement when he told the IRS in 1969... I envisioned they would
take Gordan nice and they'd just let me go. ...It's been very hard on me...of
course
2:00 It's been very hard for me. my son's doing life in prison, ...Gordan
was shot in the back of the head and burned beyond recognition...
I have a lot of tragedies , ...I do thank God for the strength that
he's given me...(tears, dabbing eyes)
3:00 It was Feb. 13, 1983, it was an unusally beautiful day. We didn't
have any snow. At this particular time, G. and I were livintg in an apt.
in Carrington and I was working at a local hospital. Yorie and his wife
lived on the farm. She was going to have another baby in August.
Gordan usuallly went to church with me. It was such a nice day, Gordan
said he thought he'd stay home and fix up my little car. It was called
the Heaton Bible church, we used to go there.
He stayed home from church that morning, so Janice and I went to church
and took the little girls. ... I often think about it. little did I know
I'd be in church at 12 oclock that sunday morning and be in jail that night
for murder. and I didn't even have a gun.
We got home and had our dinner. Yorie and Scott didn't even want to
go, they wanted to stay home and shoot rabbits. Gordan said why don't
you guys come along.
...5/10...We discussed the issues. Farmers were being foreclosed on...
...Talked about school at home. So all these things were discussed.
The clinic at medina is a large building. We parked at the North door
to go home. Someone drove up and said, Gordan you're being set up. ...We
were being watched by the Chief of police. We drove around to the south
side of the clinic.
8: Gordan says there isn't going to be any trouble...Yori says lets change
clothes... Yori and Gordan changed clothes. Stocking cap...
the suspect was wearing brown but that wasn't radioed in. Dave Broer
said you ride out with me. ....Vernon Wagner turned states evidence, which
didn't surprise any of us.
10/00 (apx)...we came over the hill of the town and saw a roadblock a
half to a mile down the road. Gordan probably said let's turn around and
go back to town. We got half way turned around before we were enclosed
by a ram charger. Which we found out later was a us marshal. a firetruck
an ambulance ...they come upon us with their shotguns out their windows.
Yori got out of the car with his mini-14
11:00 When I married Gordan we always had guns he was a hunter.
11:40 It was just like it was written in my head.
JOAN#7
Now I just want to be left alone. ...He told fed, agents who came out
to the farm, I'm not taking anything, I'm not giving anything, I just want
to be left alone. ...I 'll never go after you... but, I'll never back off...
I want me and my family to be left alone 12:00 I'll never go after you,
but I'll never back off...
...12/06 (apx)...all I could think of is who are these people ? We didn't
even know, they came upon us like terrorists but in my mind, I was thinking
these have got to be fed agents coming after gordan. ...I knew he would
never back off. I knew there would be a gun battle. I looked around I saw
all these guns pointing at everybody. Mrshal Chesire pointing his gun at
Yori yelling I'm going to blow your so and so head off. Yori told me later
it became a chant. He said it six eight ten time.
he just kept repeating it. Marshal pointing his gun at Scott running
saying you're going to die you're going to die.
13:20 I looked around I seen all this and I got on the floorboard of
the car...I knew in my own heart that Gordan would never back off. Gordan
was a warrior, he'd been in war and you never put your weapon. ...so I
got on the floorboards and prayed, ...I prayed to god that none of us would
get killed... well none of ours got killed. they tell me it lasted only
fifteen seconds, but it seemed like an eternity... we didn't plan this.
at one point the marshal from Bismark, hit the back of our car and said
get out of the car. I knew not to get out of the car. There was a bullet
that came thorugh the car and just missed.
JOAN#7
14:45 This is hard, I saw Yori, I saw Scott bringing Yori from the pole
he was carrying him, the blood was running from him. I said thank god he's
still alive (tear rolls down) I guess I must have gone into shock...I must
of blinked my eyes and then I looked and he was slumped to the ground.
I was in shock. I remember the car was still in motion and I jumped out
and ran into the clinic. ...I went in where Yori was on the table...the
doc said this boys not going to make it
16:25 Yori heard this, the blood was shooting out of him.. Yori said
mom, take care of the children and Janice, I'm not going to make it, but
I had to do what I did. I said you will make it. He said take off my boots
... doc said I'm going to give him one more shoot and if this doesn't do
it, he said it's all over. So he gave him another shot. immediately his
vital signs became stable and stayed that way all the way to Jamestown.
 
17:40 Yorie was shot through the liver and the lungs, he had ten holes
in his intestines, and he was shot through his chin and his hand and his
upper left arm, The doctor removed the gall bladder and one kidney and
in 14 days YOri was all healed up and never had any infection. Yori was
miraculously healthy.
18"30 When Marshal Muir shot Yorie at the shoot out that was the
first bullet that came by. Shooting YOri and it was a high powered pistol
. Thinking this was Gordan because Yori was wearing blue and they had radioed
in that the suspect was wearing blue. So you see, Gordan could not have
survived the shots the way Yori did.
JOAN#7
19:00 I stood by the operating room and the nurse came along and she
wasn't very nice to me. By now she 'd heard there was a shootout. ...two
dead marshals...I wasn't very popular around there. This nurse come out
and said, you're not going to stand here. I said, well, my son is dying.
I have to be here. She said well you're not going to stand here. ...A
social worker came along and took me by the arm and by now she was told
not to let me go. She did not let go of my arm. I said I've got to call
Yori's wife. ...I told her he'd be alright. ...she went to pieces... I
called my daughter in TX ... she thought someone was playing a trick on
her cause I didn't sound like myself.
21: they operated on him. there was two marshall in his room, they
chained him to the bed. they would not let him read a newspaper or watch
TV. he asked about me and they tried to make like I was dead. ...and so
this is how these people work.
JOAN#7
21:48 two fed. marshals said I was under arrest...I need to call my
neighbors... just then here's these two big fed. marhsals they looked like
they weighed 300 pounds. I said but my son is dying. they said it doesn't
matter there's two fed marshals dead.
 
JOAN#7
...22:40 I was under a $100k bond and eight counts of murder. I don't
know how they do this so quick. because it was all planned before it happened.
 
 
23:20 they said it was failure to file income taxs, but it was selective
prosecution.
JOAN#7
Gordan , the more he studied and searched the more he found out who
these people were.
JOAN#7
...23/35...So consonsequently we had to quit going to every church we
went in, because the culprit was there. We didn't fit into society very
well because we could see all these things that weren't right. We were
trying to go by the bible and the constittion of the US and we could the
country was not. Trying to be left alone, we had been under heavy survellance
for a long time.
 
YOri was working at an oil rig at Minot ND. Yori had purchased an airplane.
 
JOAN#7
24:25 Labor day 1981. Gordan and my younger son, went out and they
had this plane crash. ...of course we knew then that they were after us.
****
JOAN#7
Gordan was put in the hospital, he had three broken ribs and several
stitches in his forehead. I got him out of the hospital. the next day and
took him some place far away until he recoperated.
25:18 By this time now he was learning more and more of what the system
was about. Our law enforcement and our governor of ND and his people were
in a big drug running thing. Gordan found out about that and was exposing
all of this.
they just finally decide that if they get rid of him everything would
just go away.
26:00 THE GOD FATHERS OF NORTH DAKOTA and it tells in there, this man
knew that the governor was running drugs.
 
 
REEL 7 (CONT)
 
26:30
They didn't have arrest warrants or anything, they were in unmarked
cars...the deputy from Bismark told Marshal Chesire take off your badge
before we get there. We didn't know who these people were. Sott and Yori
said the first thought they were hippies, cause that's the way they came
upon us.
27:10 At one time Gordan was the coordinator in the state of TX for the
Possee Comitatus. People should know that it is nothing more than the common
law of the county and obey the consitution that's all they need to do, that
goes for these lawyers and judges too. ...he was in different tax groups
and different organization. when he came home from Kansas he was not a member
of any group...right away he was labelled with everything that people didn't
know the definitions and they thought he was bviolent. Like the white supremists,
and all that...You'd ask these people what is this and they didn't know.
28:00 As far as I'm concerned everybody should be a racist and they should
be proud of it. And so we're proud of our race. I don't think there's anything
wrong with it. Jesse Jackson's proud of his race.
Gordan was very quiet, he would talk to people one on one. He wasn't
out there loud mouthing.
28:48 That's another thing, they don't even understand what the clan's
about. They get a label on something and then they right away they get
somebody who protests the system and he's this sort of person.
 
END TAPE #8
JOAN KAHL (ARK#14)
 
(Three women in yard @ Bucks)
 
JOAN KAHL===...21/26...well, I had a govt apponted attny, because I had
said if they wanted me to have one, they could get me one...
...Robert Ramlo was talking a lot with the prosecuting attny. Because
he had told me if I made a plea for gordon to surrender...I told him I couldn't
do that. ...
...22/24...I said I couldn't do that, because in the first place I woulnd't
know what to say , and in the second place I knew Gordon wouldn't surrender,
he would never surrender, succumb to those people and in the third place
gordon would know they put me up to this...22/40...
...but, I have to admit, in one of my weaker moments, I told him I would
think about it. And as I was thinking about it, at this time, being in jail
and gordon being a fugitive and my son in the hospital, not knowing whether
he was dead or alive, in thinking of all this, I thought I better do this...well
in the first place they wanted me to testify against my husband...
....23/14...and I said I wouldn't do that. Well, then my lawyer said,
well I think it'd be better if you didn't testify at all...And I said, but
I want to, I want to be on that witness stand...well, he said okay if you
insist...he said remember this, when you get on the stand don't mention
ambush or self defense23/40...
...because the govt does not recognize those two terms. Well, when I
got on the stand I told them that we were ambushed and it was self defense.
Just what he told me not to say...23/55...
...and course I was acquitted. But I wasn't out of the courtroom whten
I heard the prosecuting attny say she should have gotten 10 years at least...24/11...
...24/28...before all this happened in Medina, the IRS had attached
our land. They had come out to the different farmers out around there and
told them we have some good land for sale. Now the farmers are gullible
for land. But nobody would buy that land. They said, no that's GKs land,
we're not buying it...24/52...
...so they had their little sale at the courthouse. And of course all
these people came...I wasn't there, but I was told that the IRS agents were
really licking their chops, they really thought they were going to make
a big sale...25/11...
...and nobody would bid on it. So the IRS bought it...well then of course
Medina came along and the shootout. And I was put in jail and everything
happened. And after I got out of jail, I got a letter from the...25/25...
...IRS. And they told me that I could redeem my land in six months.
But I couldn't redeem anything because I didn't have any money. ...25/38...
...
...25/41...the second day. On the 15th of Feb., 1983, the Swat team
came out to our home with an armored tank and a 125 men...and they blocked
off for a mile square with their cars and they just totalled out our home.
With teargas bombs and, the people knew that this was taking place and the
neighbors came over and tried to talke to these people and they said, Gordon
is not in that house. And they said, well, how can you be sure?...26/15...
...and they said, well gordon would not jeoprodize his family or his
friends. And they said let us go in that house. And there was several neighbors
that offered to go in the house first. And they said, you go back to where
you came from, this is our day...26/29...
...and so they ordered them all back to their homes and the first thing
they did is shoot our dog in the voice box ...
...26/39...and yet the day before that there were two women from the
Minot daily news that came out there to, they were reporters, the dog walked
all over the place with them and never bothered them a bit. It wasn't a
vicsious dog...26/59...
...it was a nice dog. But this is what they do. When they went thru
other homes in ND and they made people go into a room and then after they
got thru going thru whatever they wanted in the house. They would call them
out. And the popel would find out that there were expensive things missing
and they had run up these telepone bills...27/35...
JOAN ON FARM
 
JOAN#17/23 (7/22/90)
 
...23/34... oh, I'm a better mother and housekeeper, that to be out
here talking like this...
 
...23/56....well, I've been asked to come to different places to tell,
what I call my story...they want to know just what happened with us in Medina
and all about my housband and how my life has really been and of course
all about Yori...24/15...in prison...this is basically what I've been talking
about...24/19...
 
...24/13...well, I been , recently I've been in colorado to Pete Peters
camp and there was almost 400 people, 396 people. Then I was asked to come
to Haven Lake to Pastor Butler's conference. Which I just recently came
back from...
...24/44...before that I was in Kansa City, to a Voters alliance group,
and that was back in March...now I'm supposed to be going to Montana, the
7th & 8th of Sept. to a Christian Constitutional meeting of some kind...25/06...
 
...25/10... well I met these people, I had never met these people before
until last year...they had called me on their way back from Baton Rouge
and they live in Saskatchwan ...and they asked me if they could stop and
spend a few days with me. Cause they had heard all about us and everything
and I told them they sure could...and we just had really a nice time, so
since then I have been in Nashville, TN with a daughter for a few months
and then we went to see Yori and of course I was in upstate NY last fall
for several days and then I came back to Nashville and then I went to Odessa
TX and lived with another daughter for some time and while I was in TX,
these people that I'm going to see in Canada tomorrow, sent me airline tickets
twice to come and see them this winter, so I was down there in Jan. and
then in April...we just got to know each other real well...26/18...
...and they're probably our ages and he's very much like my husband
and I feel real comfortable around them...26/28...
 
...26/37... No I was never on the radio show. I was in texas at the
time...but I did hear from a lot of people who heard the radio show and
they just weren't very satisfied with the way the writer had written the
book, so then I was asked be on a television news show from Minot, and they
asked me if I would talk about the book a little bit and I did... the book
is...27/09...
...there is some truths in it... as I was reading the book, they're
mostly untruths. now I don't know if the writer was misinformed or if he
just, you knowe thought this was the way these things went...but I would
like to say in defense of my husband, the writer of the book called him
a neo-nazi, a white supremist, KKK, posse comitauts, a hate monger and he
said he was a leader and a spokeman and a racist and he also said in the
book...27/52...
...that gordon's three famous documents were the holy bible, which is
true and the Constitution which is true but then he said and the holy book
of Hitler. Now I have never seen the holy book of hitler and gordon never
did either. I didn't even know there was such a book. Gordon's descendants
all came from Germany. There's a lot of people in this area that are germans.
A lot of them came from German. However whether you want to call him a racist
or not, it doesn't make a difference to me. That part doesn't make any difference...But
what...28/28...
...does make a difference to me. the writer of the book makes it sound
like something really terrible to be a racist. Now, I want to say, anybody
that isn't proud enough of their own race. Whether they're blacks or chinese
or whatever they are, to not want to mix with other races is not a very
, not worth very much...and we were very strict with this...28/54...
...now, and then I look at it this way...Jesse Jackson is a racist and
he's real proud of it and he should be. And all these leaders in these others
countries, China and Japan, they're very proud of their race...and I'm proud
that they are and I think that the white people should be more proud of
their own race and want to stay with em...29/17...I have no problem with
that...with the writer,
...except he said that day at Medina the meeting was strictly racial
and this isn't true, it had to do a little bit with races...29/29...
...it had to do with a lot of things. It had to do with all these farm
foreclosures and bankrupticies and income tax and home schooling. It had
to do with all the issues of the country that were going on that people
didn't seem to have any control over...but there was nothing singled out
that day about racists...29/49...
...and I resent the fact that he said gordon was a neonazi, a white
supremist, a KKK, a posse comitatus...now at one time he was a posse comitatus
coordinator....30/03...
...in the texas for a very short time ...but that's not a leader or
a spokeman, it was a coordinator, not for very long, but at the same time
that posse comitatus law is still in effect, it's never been banned...30/19...
...it only means that, it's a law of the common people of the county
whereby the judges and lawyers must obey the oath that they took when they
became judges and lawyers and that is the constitution of the US. And if
they violate that oath then they should be punished like a child...because
they haven't done right, that's all it amounts too...but gordon was not
a KKK. In fact...30/44...
...he resented the KKK very much. He was not a white supremist or a
neonazi. And I really resent those things because the people that read
about it that want to be halfway on the govt.s side, anyway, they'll pick
all these out, they'll say the book says Gordon was this and that and something
else and he wasn't...31/09...
...and I feel this way that I really need to take a stand on that and
defend him...31/17...
 
END TAPE 17:31/17
JOAN KAHL @ SCARLET'S
 
TAPE #13...(during color bars) ....Joan rambles on about throwing the
reporter out at the Fargo Meeting she spoke at...
 
00/40...PHOTO OF SCARLET AT WEDDING W/ HUBBY AND GREAT GRANDKIDS...
 
3/24...(DAMN SOFT FOCUS MS )
...I was asked to speak at fargo ND...the room was filled up, there
was hardly standing room...this man said you must be the guest speaker tonight...I
said, I guess I'm the only speaker...he said, I'm so and so from the local
TV station and I don't remember what his name was...and I said well is this
your camera beside you? He said it was. And I said, well, you and your
camera can leave...4/24...
...he said, well why? Why do I have to leave? And I said because I don't
like you. I don't trust you. And I don't want to have anything to do with
you...and he said, well why not? And I said, because you didn't do us any
good when our trial was going on seven years ago. And you're not going to
do us any good tonight...4/42...
(CUT W/FARGO FOOTAGE OF JOAN TALKING TO HIM)
...and he said oh yes, I will, and I'll let you edit it. and I said,
I've heard that before and I don't believe it , so I said, I want you to
leave right now...So he pointed across the room where this other person
had a camera ready to go...and he said who is that with that camera? I said,
that's my friend from CA, I said I gave him permission to use his camera...well
he said, I'll go, but I want to know what the purpose of your talk is here
tonight...5/16...
...I said, the purpose of my talk here, is to tell all these people
who have been lied to for seven years , about what happened at Medina, about
us, and on the news, the tv and the newspapers and I'm here tonight to tell
em the truth...and He said well, I'd love to have an interview with you.
And I said I'll bet you would. but I said, there's the door, now you leave,
cause I'm not going to say a word until you leave...5/42...
...he got up and left and the meeting started and they introduced me
and I looked thru the crowd and the door was open ...and I saw this camera
on me and I said to the people would you please excuse me for a minute I
said, who is that out there with that camera on me. It was that same TV
perosn and someone asked , would you like me to ask them to leave, I said
yes, so they did and they shut the door...6/15...
...and then they were telling me as I was talking, there was these little
windows in the doors, but he wa looking thru there as I was talking...the
meeting went really well, I was happy about it...
 
...6/43... because at the time this happpened in ND 7 years ago, there
were people who really believed that my husband really went after the marshals
that day ...and now thru the years they've come to find out that this was
not true, that these were lies told by the media...and when they gave me
a standing ovation that night, everybody stood and clapped except three
people that didn't stand, I was told, now I don't know the people, but they
told one was Mrs. Muir the marshals wife that my husband shot, and a US
Marshal from ND, from fargo and an FBI agent, and those three didn't stand...(clear
focus for last sentence) which doesn't hurt my feelings at all...7/40...
(CUT/FARGO FOOTAGE OF THOSE THREE NOT STANDING)
 
7/57...(CLEAR FOCUS CU)... IT WAS a national christian constitutional
women's conventions, and they asked me if I would come and tell about the
events that happened at Medina and thru the years that gordon was fighting
the system. That went very well there too...there were a lot of people there
from several states...it was a nice meeting and they awarded me with theire
Woman of the Year Award...8/31...
...which was really a nice suprise...
...
END JOAN @ SCARLET'S INTERVIEW @ 13:08/40
 
PHOTOS OF FAMILY FOLLOW:
CREDITS
with interviews of...
Joan Kahl
Yorie Kahl
Lynn Crooks
Toots Mathis
Dennis Fisher
John Noah
Irv Nodland
Bill Kennelly
Prof. Ed Gran
Jack McLamb
Delores Everts
Scarlet Skiftu
Herman Widicker
August Pankow
Victor Seil
Marlys Klimek
Ron Perleberg
Len Martin
Brad Kapp
Robert Holiday
Tom Lee
Ed Fitzpatrick
Gene Nail
Buford Terrell
Marlene Gaysek
Bob Ralston
Darrel Graf
Steve Schnabel
Jack Swan
Loreen Dyck
Lorna/Loreen
Mark Stagg
Sheriff Ray Weatherby
Jack Miller
cinematography
Tracy Adams
Allison Hoffman
Jeffrey F. Jackson
production design
Jim Haddon
Peter Lloyd
film editing
Tracy Adams
Martyn Hone
Jeffrey F. Jackson
original music by
Tracy Adams
sound department
Tracy Adams
Jeffrey F. Jackson
stunts
Rex Reddick
produced by
Jeffrey F. Jackson
Angela Kaye
writing by
Jeffrey F. Jackson
directed by
Jeffrey F. Jackson
CHRONOLOGY
A timeline of the life of Gordon Kahl, from early childhood interests, to his marriage to Joan Kahl, his decorated military experience, his outspoken tax protest, the Medina shootout, and his unusual death in Arkansas in 1983.
REVIEWS
VARIETY /   Indie documaker Jeffrey F. Jackson sticks it to the IRS and the Feds in "Death & Taxes," a hard-hitting reinvestigation of the 1983 Gordon Kahl case, about which questions still linger. Jackson's unfazed, investigative reporting-style approach and inventive handling of familiar material make this a controversial item for fests and progressive webs. Non-U.S. viewers will also get a charge out of its conspiracy theme. read more
CHRONICLES MAGAZINE /   Gordon Kahl was a simple farmer who became famous for not filing income tax returns. Imprisoned and hounded by IRS agents who never did prove he owed any amount of money, Kahl and his son were involved in a shootout with police. The son is still serving a prison sentence, but the father was surrounded and shot in Arkansas by police officers who mutilated and burned his body. read more
GUNS & AMMO /   A new video documentary, Death & Taxes, details a case of government murderously out of control that was briefly mentioned in the October 1994 Guns & Ammo article "The Ugly Truth About Gun Control." Death & Taxes is the story of Gordon Kahl, a North Dakota farmer and decorated World War II veteran, and his apparent death at the hands of federal agents. read more
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Death & Taxes (DVD)
First time on DVD (113 min)
$29.95
Death & Taxes (VHS)
This is a limited edition collector's VHS in the original unbroken packaging. (113 min)
$42.00
Death & Taxes Miniseries (DVD)
Set of 6 DVD's comprising the complete uncut footage from the documentary film project. (783 min)
$195.00
D&T MINISERIES
Gordon Kahl: Godfather of the militia movement
Now Available!
This set of 6 DVD's comprises over 13 hours of uncut footage, including a 2+ hour prison interview with Yorie Kahl, and candid interviews with wife Joan Kahl. In this rich stockpile of research, you'll find many more threads than could reasonably be pursued in the final feature.
The Death & Taxes Miniseries DVD Set Includes...
01: Gordon Kahl Meets With Head North Dakota U.S. Marshal Bud Warren (60 min)
02: The Beginning: Gordon Kahl's military experience and views on a variety of subjects (93 min)
03: Gordon's Texas Tax Trial (90 min)
04: Medina Shootout (60 min)
05: Gordon Kahl Was...: A montage of over 25 people describing who Gordon Kahl was in their eyes. (50 min)
06: Mysterious Death In Arkansas (90 min)
07: Media Circus: Chronological portrayal of Gordon Kahl in the media (70 min)
08: Yorie Kahl Prison Interview (150 min)
09: Joan Kahl Uncut Interviews (120 min)
OKLAHOMA CITY
The connection between Gordon Kahl, Timothy McVeigh, and the Oklahoma City Bombing
A little-known fact regarding Death & Taxes is the surprising connection to Timothy McVeigh and the ATF / Oklahoma City Bombing. Here's a clip of Jackson sharing the story during a director's commentary on his film Postal Worker.
MADE FOR TV
Manhunt in the Dakotas
The story of Gordon Kahl so captured the attention of mainstream America that it was turned into a highly-rated made-for-television movie titled In The Line of Duty - Manhunt In The Dakotas.

SYNOPSIS
DEATH & TAXES is the story of Gordon Kahl, a North Dakota farmer who became America's "most-wanted" fugitive. How had a WWII war hero become the target of one of the largest manhunts in FBI history? Gordon Kahl U.S. Marshalls Most Wanted Fugitive
Gordon Kahl's charred and burned remains were reexamined after his exhumation. The island of unburned skin shows that Kahl's body was likely positioned against the floor at the time he was set on fire.
The badly burned remains of Gordon Kahl, with an island of skin that shows he was in a prone position at the time of the fire.
Was Kahl a racist, gun-toting fanatic? Or a victim of an IRS policy of harassing vocal tax protestors into silence to keep the rest of us intimidated? Did Bill Clinton conspire to cover-up the torture and execution of Gordon Kahl in Arkansas? Did federal agents mutilate and burn the body to cover-up the murder of the wrong man?
DEATH & TAXES follows the trail of Gordon Kahl as his body is exhumed for a new autopsy. Building on newsreel clips covering two fiery shootouts and hundreds of interviews -- with IRS agents and federal prosecutors as well as Kahl's family and supporters -- D&T explores the myths and controversies surrounding a man who dared to challenge the federal income tax system. Some revile Kahl as a cop killer. Others revere him as an American patriot. Which was he?
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