Judge Orders New Trial For Man in Jail Over 30 Years For The Murder Of a Devils Lake Man

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(KNOX) – A judge has ordered a new trial for a man who has spent more than 30 years in prison for a murder. Werner Kunkel was convicted in 1995 in the 1986 stabbing death of Gilbert Fassett. Fassett’s body was found on the Fort Reservation, now known as the Spirit Lake Reservation.

The decision comes after a two-day hearing last week where several people testified that they saw Fassett alive days after he died.

There were also claims that the prosecutor at the time of the trial, who is now a judge in Devils Lake, didn’t turn over evidence to the defense as required and some critical evidence could not be located.

Kunkel, now 65, had always maintained his innocence.