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Kunkel Moved to County Jail

By Ryan Cunningham Jun 1, 2026 | 7:11 AM

(KNOX) – State prosecutors have had their efforts to hold a man whose murder conviction was vacated in prison denied.

District Judge Daniel Narum has ordered that his ruling take effect immediately, moving Werner Kunkel, once convicted for killing Gilbert Fassett, to county jail.  Prosecutors had appealed to keep Kunkel in prison.

Kunkel was convicted in 1995.  Fassett was killed in 1986, but was not convicted for nearly a decade after jailhouse informants stated Kunkel had confessed.

Narum overturned the conviction based on evidence presented by the defense team that Fassett was alive after August 1st, 1986.  That was the date prosecutors claimed Fassett was last seen alive after drinking with Kunkel.

Kunkel will be held in county jail and reverts to pre-trial detainee status.

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