Gordon Kahl

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Gordon Wendell Kahl (1920 - June 3, 1983) is best known for his involvement in two fatal shootouts with law enforcement officers in the United States in 1983.[1]

Raised on a North Dakota farm,[2] Kahl was a highly decorated turret gunner during World War II.[3] After the war, "he had a 400-acre farm near Heaton, ND, [but] bounced around the Texas oilfields in later life as a mechanic and general worker."[4]

In 1967, Kahl wrote a letter to the Internal Revenue Service[citation needed] stating that he would no longer pay taxes to the, in his words, "Synagogue of Satan under the 2nd plank of the Communist Manifesto." During the 1970s, Kahl organized the first Texas chapter of the Posse Comitatus, although he later left the group and was not a member at the time of the 1983 shootouts. In 1976 he appeared on a Texas television program stating that the income tax was illegal and encouraging others not to pay their income taxes.[citation needed] A 1991 movie based on these events was called In the Line of Duty: Manhunt in the Dakotas, starring actor Rod Steiger.[5][6]

Contents

[edit] Criminal conviction and prison

On November 16, 1976, Kahl was charged with willful failure to file Federal income tax returns for the years 1973 and 1974, under 26 U.S.C. ยง 7203. He was found guilty, and was sentenced to two years in prison and a fine of $2,000. One year of the sentence was suspended, as was the fine, and the court placed Kahl on a five year probation. Kahl appealed his conviction, but the conviction was affirmed in 1978 by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit,[7] after Kahl's release from prison on probation. Kahl served eight months in prison in 1977.

[edit] Activity after prison

Following his parole from prison, Kahl become active in the "township" movement, an early version of the "sovereign citizenship" belief which later became well known because of the Montana Freemen standoff. This movement sought to form parallel courts and governments purportedly based on English Common Law, and to withdraw recognition of the U.S. federal government. Township movement supporters as well as the Posse Comitatus attempted to organize among farmers in the American Midwest during the early 1980s farm crisis.

[edit] Medina, North Dakota killings

On February 13, 1983, because of an alleged parole violation, U.S. Marshals attempted to arrest Kahl as he was leaving a meeting of township supporters in Medina, North Dakota. In the car with Kahl were his wife Joan, his son Yori, and three others who had been at the meeting. The conflict began when federal marshals created a road block. During the ensuing shootout, Kahl shot and killed U.S. Marshal Kenneth Muir and Deputy Marshal Bob Cheshire.[8] Kahl then took the vehicle of a Medina law enforcement officer and fled to Arkansas.

[edit] Smithville, Arkansas killings

A tip was received by authorities from the youngest daughter of the owner of the 'Bunker' home of Leonard Ginter and his wife Norma Ginter, where Kahl was hiding in Smithville, Arkansas. Another shootout ensued on June 3, 1983, in which Kahl and Lawrence County Sheriff Gene Matthews were killed.

[edit] Aftermath

Leonard and Norma Ginter were arrested on charges of harboring a fugitive for hiding Kahl. Leonard was convicted and sentenced to a federal prison, while Norma's sentence was suspended. Leonard was released in February of 1987.[9] Leonard and Norma Ginter were each additionally charged with the capital murder of Sheriff Gene Matthews in relation to the federal harbouring trial in state court.[10] The capital murder charge was later dropped.[11]

Edwin and Irene Udey were also arrested on charges of harboring a fugitive, and while Edwin was convicted and the conviction was upheld, Irene Udey was found not guilty based upon a lack of evidence.[12]

Yori Kahl and Scott Faul received prison sentences on charges in regard to the Medina shootout; Joan Kahl was acquitted. Yori Kahl is imprisoned at the United States Penitentiary at Terre Haute, Indiana, and is scheduled for release in February of 2023.[13]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Tony Spilde, "Changing lives in 30 seconds," Bismarck Tribune, at [1].
  2. ^ Don L. Richards, "Death and Taxes," New York FLP News, No. 6, April 1984, at [2].
  3. ^ Wayne King, Aug. 21, 1990, "A Farmer's Fatal Obsession With Jews and Taxes," The New York Times, at [3].
  4. ^ Don L. Richards, "Death and Taxes," New York FLP News, No. 6, April 1984, at [4].
  5. ^ http://wm03.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=1:126475
  6. ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102112/
  7. ^ United States v. Kahl, 583 F.2d 1351, 78-2 U.S. Tax Cas. (CCH) paragr. 9842 (5th Cir. 1978).
  8. ^ "Officials Remember Medina Shootout 25 Years Ago Today," Feb. 13, 2008, KFYR-TV, Bismarck, N.D., at [5].
  9. ^ Federal Bureau of Prisons, United States Department of Justice, Leonard G. Ginter, prisoner number 03063-010, at [6].
  10. ^ UPI, "AROUND THE NATION; Bail Denied for Couple Accused in Fugitive Case", New York Times, Jun 7 1983, at [7].
  11. ^ See generally Ginter v. Stallcup, 869 F.2d 384 (8th Cir. 1989), at [8]/
  12. ^ [9]
  13. ^ Federal Bureau of Prisons, United States Department of Justice, Yori Von Kahl, prisoner number 04565-059, at [10].

[edit] References