Thirty years for a brutal murder

Werner Kunkel was convicted in nineteen ninety-five of the nineteen eighty-six murder of Gilbert Fassett, whose body had over one hundred stab wounds. He received a life sentence.

Prosecutors hid evidence of innocence

The Great North Innocence Project found that prosecutors had not disclosed evidence supporting Kunkel's innocence. A district court judge threw out his conviction in February and ordered a new trial.

Kunkel came to America at seven

Kunkel, now sixty-five, was brought from Germany by his mother at age seven. He never became a US citizen, doesn't speak German, and has no connection to Germany.

ICE arrests him hours after release

A district court ordered Kunkel's release from state prison last month. Hours later, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents took him into federal custody where he remains.

Government resurrects old charges

The Department of Homeland Security cited forgery, assault on a peace officer and other decades-old convictions to justify deportation. Kunkel's lawyer says the government is grasping at straws.

“Only now when you're afraid that he might get out and we won the case for the murder is when you bring it up.”

State wants conviction reinstated

North Dakota prosecutors asked the state supreme court to reinstate Kunkel's conviction, arguing the withheld evidence does not establish innocence and other guilt evidence is overwhelming.

Three possible futures await

If North Dakota's high court reinstates his conviction, Kunkel returns to prison. If it rules the conviction unjust, he gets a new trial. If ICE wins, he faces deportation to Germany.

Rulings expected within weeks

A federal immigration judge is expected to rule within the month on deportation. The state supreme court will separately decide whether to reinstate the murder conviction.