Bill Kennelly Bill Kennelly was Scott Faul's defense attorney. He's now dead.   REEL 18   22:00 BACK IN THE LATE SEVENTIES, I was involved with the DRAFTin of THE ND CHARTER ON GAMBLING...and I spent a lot of time out in Bismarck which is my home area. At the same time on one of my trips out there, I met with some race horse owners...at some meeting, he (GK) made a presentation...he made a very reasonable pitch for whatever his presentation was...very well thought out...24/04...   24:15 TALKS ABOUT HIS BACKGROUND. 26/05...doctors found a brain tumor, then I didn't die. I always thought I wanted to go to law school...   27:00 I find it hard to find an inspiration in law...many times I felt I was being taken advantage of...I don't have any heroes, I think the legal profession has a lot of problems. KENNELLY#18/22 28:15...The day of the incident in medina it made the news... the tv and news was full of it. The second morning after the shooting when Faul turned himself in...he turned himself in in Harvey thru his attny, Ted Siebold...28/48... they immediately brought him down to Fargo... Scott wasn't talking to anybody...29/00... they didn't know if he could afford an attorney... Judge Bensen was recommending that I represent scott. ...29/25...I went down and met with Scott and he wasn't very anxious to talk with me, just walking off the street...29/37... The US Attny was convinced he knew where GK went. Because they had left the scene together, when they had split up they were convinced that Scott would know where he was...30/00... they tried to get me to find out where GK had gone... I had only met my client for two minutes and I was hustled out and asked to find out....30/23 *** Scott and I got to know each other and his attny Ted told him I was alright. ...30:45 the court discovered that scott had assets and I was let go and Scott asked me to represent him. And at that time I was relatively knew to the legal profession and I had never specialized in criminal law...31/15...and so I ... END OF THIS TAPE BILL KENNELLY INTERVIEW:   REEL 20   00:45 You can't fight the system, you don't fight city hall...the IRS has a reputation to protect...if you release this around tax time expect an audit. ...1/11...   2:00...I think part of that had to do with prosecution Overkill...you will find very few in the country that in a career have had a chance to prosecute a case of this magnitude... KEN20 2:35 The media was very fair... they gave us a couple of minutes every night and they gave the prosecution 10 or 15 minutes to explain who had done what that day...that was a little facetious you understand...it's fair to say that very few prosecutors have had a chance to prosecute a case like this...2/57...and I think, I think they just got to overkill. KEN20 3:15 the only evidence against Joan was she was married to Gordon. and she went for a ride with him to a meeting and yet she was jailed, large bond, had to go thru the entire trial...she had to be one of them... the wives and families of Yori and Scott...3/50...   4:20 (blow by blow description of that day) 4/28...I think what happened is they left the meeting, they got in their cars and they headed home from meeting... they only got half a mile out of town...Chesire was behind em...4/49...he was waiting in town. He called Muir and the city policeman, the young kid in from the north. Muir had Wigglesworth with him. and they came over the hill and stopped at the top of the hill...5/10...and when Gordon's car was leading and Broerer was driving the car behind him, at any rate they saw the two cars at the top of the hill. And, so they turned into the trailerhouse, into the driveway, and as they did, Chesire and the county deputy, the one that had his finger shot off, pulled up behind em, they all got out of their cars...5/45... KEN20 ...5:50 ***We did not find any evidence, and I don't believe that it was controverted, that not one of the police officers was identified. no uniforms. I take that back ...the only evidence they had uniforms was a baseball cap with US Marshal's Service. ...anyway they got out of the car...6/08... everybody got out of their cars. They all had guns. Scott took off running, he took off towards the trailerhouse. Wigglesworth supposedly was going to circle and then got caught in the weeds or something and couldn't get any further. They were all hollering at each other, a lot of swearing, both sides...6/40... ...and, the, Yori was behind the tele. pole.   KEN20 6/54... Ken Muir was exellent marksman especially with his service revolver. And, my impression of what happened was that, regardless of what finally touched it off, I think Ken shot the first shot and he hit...7/11...Yori. He hit Yori in the shoulder holster of his .45, he had the 45 in it. That's the gun that showed up at the end of the trial...7/25... and then, uh, Chesire didn't know where the shot came from. And the ballistics to me, I've been a hunter all my life, I've loaded shells all my life, I've shot every kind of weapon, both military and civilian life...7/49... KEN20 I think the next thing that happened before anybody else did any real shooting was Chesire thought that Gordon who was between he and Muir, had fired that shot and he shot at Gordon but he hit Muir!!!...8/11... *****^^^^^^^^I think the ballistics evidence is just simply overwhelming, that it was Chesire who shot, Muir only got hit with one shot. And I think it was very clear to me that it was Chesires bullet, cause he was the only one shooting that kind of bullet...then all hell broke loose...8/30... KEN20 People were shooting all over the place and when that died down, gordon went over because Gordon was convinced, I think was born out later, Gordon was convinced that Chesire had shot Yori...8/48... Because he heard those two shots so close together, and as he turned, Yori was going down and of course he thought Yori was dead...8/56... ... and he went over and finished off chesire, at literally point blank range...and then got out of there. I think that's the scenerio, I think that's what happened...9/10...   The judge knew what instructions he was going to give and he gave the instructions 10:40 if all the evidence had come out...someone testified that Yori shot first but he was already down 11:30 I think that those jury instructions would have been wired anyway. 12:20 CARRYING GUNS If they would have not had guns they wouldn't be on trial. You're in ND...I fought in the marine core and fought to protect that right... 13:50 ...A clear identification official has a tendency to intimidate anybody... I don't buy the story...originally they may have not known they were law enforcement, but they must have identified themselves pretty damn fast. What group might have been after them? DARREL GRAF? 15:45 I think in my opinion he made a concious decision and he backed out and said this isn't right...I think he made a wise decision... he may be dead if he hadn't. 17:30 if they start accumulating their good time... they'll get out...I think if they do the required time they'lll get out.   BUD WARREN TAPE: 18:25 This is a tape I got from Bud Warren...Bud had taken an interest in GK because he felt that Chesire was going to get somebody hurt...Chesire was too eager to take Gordon in... arranged a meeting at a neighbors farm and they tape-recored the meeting. ...What he testified to, that he declined to go along and he warned Muir that there could be trouble. ...He had met with Gordan and tried to convince him to give himself up...I think this sums up his attitude (on the tape) 21:20 Plays tape "that's Bud Warren" 22:25 I guess that about sums it up...if nothing else...he was a man of conviction, when his mind was made up, his mind was made up. ..22/49... 22/58...no, I just had one thing I was going to mention to you but not on tape...23/02...   23:23... "You do have that SOB on!" KEN20 24:00 I got an anonymous phone call of where Yori's gun was...the next day I disclosed to the judge...they called me and told me it was in the trash at the mall. If we would have had that before the trial who knows...there was very little said about it... the jury just saw it as confusing evidence. 25:45 It certainly showed that Muir hit Yori... I've been accused of a lot of things..   BILL KENNELLY INTERVIEW:   REEL #21 KENNELLY#21 00:35...A couple of weeks into the trial Bud called me and indicated he'd been watching the news reports... and I drove up to see him...the Marshal's service had ordered him not to go down to the trial. ...I called Bud back and called him as a witness...the second evening he gave me the tape...we supoened him...that made him very unpopular in the Marhsals service...in my mind Bud Warren was one of the finest Police officers in the history of this state...Testimonial for BUD WARRen...I was disappoint in the cloud he retired in.   (END KENNELLY NOTES) 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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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. 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. 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.

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?

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?