This is a continuing story and will be updated as new details develop. Keep checking back for the latest information available. Updates from previous days are at the end of this report. Live streaming of the trial is here. Other articles are also available here.
Monday, August 9 - LIVE BLOG Cont.
4:05 p.m.: Judge David Reich recesses the trial for today. The trial will resume Tuesday, August 10, at 8:30 a.m.
4:02 p.m.: Re-direct by prosecuting attorney Gabrielle Joy Goter. About the 40-second gap between the individual on video going from Indigo Signs to McDonald’s. Bernier explains while the individual disappears in a tree row briefly in the video, he says you do see the individual before and after the tree row in a short period of time.
3:49 p.m.: Cross-examination by defense attorney Jesse Walstad. Bernier explains the difference between a video analyst and a video technician.
Defense attorney
Jesse Walstad
Bernier testifies the video evidence indicated only 5 people in the building at the time of the killings at RJR on April 1, 2019.
Says, after extracting the videos, he passed them to another agent, Alex Droske, to examine.
Says the characteristics of the vehicle they were looking for included the snow on the rear license plate and a rust pattern.
Acknowledges that the videos tracking the suspect moving from Indigo Signs to McDonald’s is not uninterrupted, that there is a 40-second gap where the suspect disappears behind a tree row. Says not every video from different surveillance systems will be perfect or show the same quality, frame rate or aspect ratio, and that was the case in the multiple videos he reviewed.
3:13 p.m.: Witness called — Derek Bernier, Williams County Sheriff’s Office detective, Williston. Outlines his experience and training. He is trained in video forensics.
Witness
Derek Bernier
Bernier says he was contacted to assist with the RJR investigation on April 1, 2019. Arrived in Mandan between 12:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. His primary assignment was to extract data from a DVR surveillance system at the RJR Maintenance and Management building. Exported video from about 6:30 a.m. to 8:00 a.m., on April 1, 2019. Was looking for any evidence of the crime in that time period. Says there were 2 interior surveillance cameras, one in the warehouse area, one in the office area. There were 5 exterior cameras. Testifies there was no footage of the attacks on the victims. It’s not unusual for that to happen.
Bernier says, in reviewing the tapes, he found 5 people entering the building: The 4 victims and the suspect. The suspect arrived at 6:42 a.m., real time (6:47 a.m. on the DVR timestamp. testifies the DVR time was consistently off by 5 minutes from real time). Says the suspect left at 7:08 a.m., DVR time (7:03 a.m. real time). Bernier says the video showed an individual walking into the warehouse wearing an orange-toned coat and orange-toned ski mask and dark pants, shoes, orange gloves. Says the suspect appears to be carrying some kind of wire tool. As the suspect leaves, there appears to be a dark object in the suspect’s hands. He seems to be carrying it in a football style, that is, cradled in the upper chest. His jacket is also open more, revealing a darker tone clothing. The video changes from color to infrared video, based on the amount of light. Says the suspect is still masked.
Testifies there were five who went in that morning and one who came out before police arrived. Says there was no indication of a second person coming in or leaving.
Bernier says he and another officer canvassed Memorial Highway for potential video evidence from businesses along the road. A tip told of a white pickup truck at McDonald’s. Using that tip, they were able to follow the white Ford pickup as it left McDonald’s and left town by matching the vehicle to surveillance video of businesses along Memorial Highway.
Looked for a specific white pickup with a white substance, or snow, on the rear license plate. In the videos he reviewed, did not see a similar snow characteristic on the backs of similar-looking vehicles.
Reviewed surveillance video from McDonald’s. Next, Loman Motors video showed the vehicle pulled into their parking lot and turned around and exited onto the Memorial Highway and then west on Main Street. Reviewed other businesses that had surveillance video to, essentially, follow the vehicle through Main Street and out of town. Saw it on Flying J surveillance video on Old Highway 10. Then north on Highway 25.
Next view of the vehicle was in Center, ND on Security First Bank surveillance video. Saw the white pickup with snow on the rear license plate. Used an image from that video to put out a “Be On The Lookout” bulletin to law enforcement.
Estimated it took about half an hour to go from the Flying J to Center. Looked for evidence that could have been thrown away on the road to Center, ND. They found nothing.
In addition to the snow, there were some specific rust patterns on the truck and identifiable objects in the back of the vehicle and cab. These items helped them follow the specific vehicle they were following.
A gas station surveillance camera captured the vehicle crossing a bridge near Washburn.
Reviewed additional surveillance video. Were able to see an individual in the vehicle. From Big O Tires video, an individual is seen walking around a vehicle at Indigo Signs and then walk to McDonald’s.
Testifies he believes they successfully tracked the suspect vehicle through the surveillance videos.
3:11 p.m.: Re-direct by Gabrielle Joy Goter. Davis says she is “100 percent sure” it was a white Ford-150 and the man was wearing a black coat and brown camouflage. Says his height was a guess on her part.
3:09 p.m.: Cross-examination by defense attorney Luke Heck. Davis says she was interviewed several times by law enforcement. Doesn’t remember saying the vehicle was a Ford F-250. Told officers the man was 5’9″ and skinny. Reiterates the face mask was a brown camouflage. Told officers the person was wearing boots.
2:54 p.m.: Witness called — Angela Davis, Mandan McDonald’s employee. Direct examination by prosecuting attorney Gabrielle Joy Goter. Testifies worked a 6:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. shift at McDonald’s. Davis noted a person walking across the street around 7:30 a.m., wearing a ski mask on April 1, 2019. Says she noticed this because it was a warm morning, about 40 degrees and it seemed there was no need for a mask. She was taking an order out to a customer when she saw the man. He appeared to be coming from the Northland Insurance area along Memorial Highway. The man was wearing a plain black coat, black jeans, what appeared to be black footwear. She says the mask was a brown camouflage with green leaves. Says he walked to a white pickup truck parked in the McDonald’s parking lot. Says she thought he looked 5′ 9”, “kind of tall,” she testifies. Noticed the snow covering the back license plate. Thought it was odd to have snow since it was a 40-degree day. Says it was a Ford F-150, 4-door, “a cab and a half.” Says she knows her vehicles which is why she can be so specific.
Witness
Angela Davis
Testifies he was trying to get into the pickup. Tried to get in the passenger side which was locked. Walked to the driver’s side which was locked. Went back to the passenger side, opened the front passenger side and then the back passenger door. Spent about 3-5 minutes before the person got into the pickup and left. Says he was still masked as he drove past her. Says he drove along a frontage road from McDonald’s and then onto Memorial Highway.
Testifies the vehicle got her attention because it seemed out of place. Says she probably watched the masked individual for 3 to 5 minutes.
2:53 p.m.: The Chad Isaak trial resumes, Judge David Reich presiding.
2:29 p.m.: Judge David Reich calls a recess. The trial will resume at 2:50 p.m.
2:27 p.m.: Re-direct by prosecuting attorney Karlie Neufeld. Arenz says investigated upset tenants and lawsuits, considered them as possibilities, but says none were related to the RJR murders. Testifies there is no evidence in the RJR surveillance video of a second suspect arriving or leaving the scene. Testifies they interviewed Mitch Kessel. Says Mitch Kessel was on scene at RJR at the time the suspect RJR vehicle was found at Indigo Signs.
2:20 p.m.: Cross-examination by defense attorney Bruce Quick. Arenz testifies there were about 21 BCI agents between April 1 and April 4 working the case. Says were focusing on any direction they could go in the investigation. Looked at lawsuits, evictions, terminated and present employees for potential leads. Testifies investigators found reports of some former tenants that were upset. Testifies when an arrest was made, the investigations took a different turn. Testifies didn’t believe a second person was already in the building at the time of the killings. Says if there was a second person, they would have been seen leaving on the surveillance video. Testifies there was a report of an investigation into Mitch Kessel. Testifies can’t say if there was an investigation into Mitch Kessel owning a white Ford pickup. Says learned about the Robert Fakler affair on April 2 or April 3. Lisa Nelson was interviewed on April 4.
1:52 p.m.: Witness recalled — Bureau of Criminal Investigation special agent Joe Arenz. Arenz previously testified on August 5. Testifies to what information investigators hope to learn from an autopsy. Said they were looking for a knife and a handgun both before and after the autopsies. Says the autopsies did not change anything in their belief one person was involved in the killings. Says investigators tried to put together an order in which the victims were killed. Since none of the murders were captured on video, they couldn’t determine the order in which they were killed. Says the surveillance video at RJR indicated William Cobb and Lois Cobb arrived at RJR on April 1, 2019 around 6:30 a.m. and 6:40 a.m. Then the suspect arrived around 6:47 a.m. At 7:01, Adam Fuehrer arrived and at 7:06 a.m., Robert Fakler arrived. Within a few minutes after that, the suspect left the building.
Witness
Joe Arenz
Investigators theorized that the attacker could have gone back and forth between various victims. Another possibility was the victims were killed in a particular order: William and Lois Cobb, then Adam Frueher, then Robert Fakler.
Arenz says investigators also considered the possibility that one or more of the four victims were specific targets of the assailant and the others were killed to prevent any potential witnesses.
On April 1, 2019, Arenz testifies interviews were being done of employees at and arriving at the scene. About 50 interviews were conducted on April 1 and 2, 2019 alone. Mandan Police did interviews and BCI agents later conducted interviews. On April 1, investigators considered all RJR employees suspects since the crime was at RJR and involved RJR people. Arenz testifies they interviewed all RJR employees. They also interviewed some RJR employees multiple times, including Jackie Fakler.
Arenz testifies they had “persons of interest” at the start of the case. One was RJR employee Mitch Kessel, who was at the scene and left the scene and returned when requested. As law enforcement was trying to gather the RJR staff, Mitch left in a vehicle some described as similar to the suspect vehicle — a white Ford pickup — and later returned to the RJR scene. Mitch was then interviewed. Arenz testifies nothing came of the interview to link to the RJR killings.
On April 1, 2019, Jackie Fakler was also considered a person of interest. Arenz testifies he interviewed Jackie multiple times. She was a suspect because she worked at RJR and her husband was killed and the fact that, later, investigators discovered Robert Fakler was having an affair. Investigators also looked into her financial records and RJR’s financial records. Jackie received a life insurance payout following the death of her husband. But Arenz testifies they were able to rule out financial gain as a motive for Jackie Fakler in Robert’s death. They also investigated the affair since that was a possible motive. Lisa Nelson, the person with whom Robert Fakler was having an affair, was interviewed. Arenz testifies nothing came from the interviews. They found nothing significant related to the RJR killings. Arenz testifies he and other investigators told Jackie Fakler about the affair on April 30. Based on that interview, investigators determined she was not aware of the affair until agents told her about it on April 30.
Testifies investigators received a tip from Michelle Palin. She said she once worked at RJR and said she overheard Jackie say she would never divorce Robert and that she would have him “taken care of.” Following an interview with Jackie, determined if she did say that, she did so jokingly. Testifies they ruled out the affair as a motive or link to the RJR killings.
Testifies they were able to rule out Jackie Fakler as having any involvement in the RJR murders.
Other tips: Received information about Lois Cobb’s son, Todd Miller. Testifies he had a rocky relationship with William and Lois. They excluded Todd Miller as a person of interest and were able to determine Todd Miller was out of North Dakota on April 1, 2019 at the time of the killings.
Arenz says investigators received hundreds of tips. Nothing came from those tips relating to the killings.
He testifies investigators received a tip from a McDonald’s employee about a possible suspect wearing a ski mask walking along Memorial Highway and got into a white Ford pickup. The tip came from Angela Davis.
1:50 p.m.: Re-cross-examination by defense attorney Luke Heck. Wilmeth says he didn’t specifically follow up on every tip. Testifies with the tips he had, he followed up to see if there was any connection to the RJR killings.
1:49 p.m.: Re-direct by Karlei Neufeld. Testifies the weapon found in Jackie Fakler’s vehicle was not determined to be connected to the RJR killings. Testifies investigators determined the weapon in Jackie Fakler’s vehicle was not linked to RJR. Followed up on the gun tips. Says investigators did not find any connection between those guns in the tips and the RJR killings. Testifies tips about drugs or drug paraphernalia did not have anything to connect with RJR. Testifies there were hundreds of tips in the case, all followed up.
1:43 p.m.: Cross-examination by defense attorney Luke Heck. Wilmeth testifies he arrived at RJR around 7:45 a.m., on April 1, 2019. Doesn’t recall all the people who were on the scene when he arrived. Testifies a gun was found in Jackie Fakler’s vehicle. Testifies he followed up on a tip on April 1 that an employee at RJR who had been fired had been involved in drugs and was involved in a recent fight involving drugs. Testifies he also followed up on a tip that there was a shop party at RJR over the weekend before the murders. Supposedly, members of a group showed up and were mad at getting kicked out. Another tip involved two tenants of properties managed by RJR who had allegedly stolen two 9 millimeter firearms from properties managed by RJR. Followed up on a tip that on March 30, Robert Fakler tried to buy a vehicle at Puklich Chevrolet and was upset.
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