Yorie Kahl Appeal Letter POLITICAL PRISONERS IN AMERICA (by Jeff Jackson) The following contains excerpts from a letter by Yorie Von Kahl requesting letters on his behalf to his parole commission. Hopefully, many of you have viewed the documentary DEATH & TAXES by now and will know the details of the federal governments persecution of Gordon Kahl and his family. For those who don't know, Yorie Kahl and Scott Faul, were involved in a roadblock shoot-out with federal officers on February 13th, 1983. They did not shoot any of the officers who were killed or wounded that day, but they were put on trial, and many believe, railroaded into two 25 year to life sentences because they didn't put their guns down when being shot at by plain clothes agents. Yorie was the first person shot and was hit with a total of four shotgun blasts in the stomach. He miraculously lived, although he lost his right kidney and gall bladder, part of his liver and they cut out several feet of his intestines. Agents testified in court that he woke up at 3 A.M. (coming off of heavy anesthesia) following this surgery and confessed to having fired the first shot. The judge allowed this contrived confession (Yorie wouldn't have known if there was a herd of cattle in his hospital room at that time) as evidence in the trial. The judge (a personal friend of one of the dead marshals) also excluded a written confession from Gordon Kahl, who admitted he had done all of the killing and wounding of officers, while protecting his family and friends from what he thought was a death squad attack. Yorie and Scott are "Political Prisoners" because they have both served far in excess of the normal time limits set within the federal prison guidelines for prisoners serving similar sentences. According to those guidelines Yorie and Scott should have been paroled over two years ago. Yorie Kahl states in an open letter to concerned citizens: "Some of you know that I will be going to the parole board again in early 1995. This will be my sixth time...To date there has been no indication that there exists any intention among the rulers of 'wickedness in high places' EVER to release me, although the last hearing I had was 'interesting'----to say the least. At my parole hearing of 1990, Jack McLamb (the retired training officer of the Phoenix Police Department) attended and attempted to explain the extraordinary circumstances surrounding our case. As a professional police officer, he attempted to show that the fault of the deaths and injuries had to be laid predominantly, if not exclusively, upon the U.S. Marshals, who violated every rule of arrest procedure taught in police academies throughout the U.S. To say the parole board members were uninterested is a gross understatement.... "What I am asking you to do is to write a letter on my behalf to the U.S. Parole Commission...I urge you to write vigorous letters --- nothing 'wimpy.' A former counsel for the parole commission recently told me: 'Guys like you who are really not criminals rarely get paroled, while rapists and the lowest scum are paroled regularly.' In your letters to the Parole Commission, I suggest you complain about the obvious unfairness of the trial; the fact that so many government personnel were friends and/or fraternal brothers to the deceased marshals; raise the issue of the wide-spread slander by the news media that influenced the jury. [The Chief Judge of the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals, in his dissenting opinion on our appeal, stated: 'The record amply demonstrates the defendants did not and could not receive a fair trial in the District of North Dakota.' -U.S. v. Faul, 748 F.2d 1204 (1984.] Please appeal to the Parole Commission, if not on my behalf, then on your behalf. Be firm. Let them know enough is enough. Theoretically, this is YOUR COUNTRY and they are YOUR EMPLOYEES. You can write to them at: Mr. Edward Reilly, Chairman, U.S. Parole Commission, 5550 Friendship Blvd., Chevy Chase, MD 20815 [Re: Yorie Von Kahl, Prisoner #04565-059 (A-3)] Send a duplicate and ask them to put it in my file. Also send a letter to your congressmen and insist on his doing SOMETHING---at least put him 'on notice.'" Yorie is in the position where his parole board demands in exchange for his freedom that he betray the memory of his father and confess to his keepers that the government had the right to harass, hunt down and kill his father. To gain his freedom Yorie needs the help of an informed public. To order DEATH & TAXES (on VHS/113 minutes) send $29.95 + $3 S&H to COUNTRY PEOPLE PRODUCTIONS, 2554 Lincoln Blvd., Box 456, Venice, CA 90291 or to order with MC/VISA call 1-800--BURY-IRS (287-9477) CREDITS with interviews of... Joan Kahl Yorie Kahl Lynn Crooks Toots Mathis Dennis Fisher John Noah Irv Nodland Bill Kennelly Prof. Ed Gran Jack McLamb Delores Everts Scarlet Skiftu Herman Widicker August Pankow Victor Seil Marlys Klimek Ron Perleberg Len Martin Brad Kapp Robert Holiday Tom Lee Ed Fitzpatrick Gene Nail Buford Terrell Marlene Gaysek Bob Ralston Darrel Graf Steve Schnabel Jack Swan Loreen Dyck Lorna/Loreen Mark Stagg Sheriff Ray Weatherby Jack Miller cinematography Tracy Adams Allison Hoffman Jeffrey F. Jackson production design Jim Haddon Peter Lloyd film editing Tracy Adams Martyn Hone Jeffrey F. Jackson original music by Tracy Adams sound department Tracy Adams Jeffrey F. Jackson stunts Rex Reddick produced by Jeffrey F. Jackson Angela Kaye writing by Jeffrey F. Jackson directed by Jeffrey F. Jackson CHRONOLOGY A timeline of the life of Gordon Kahl, from early childhood interests, to his marriage to Joan Kahl, his decorated military experience, his outspoken tax protest, the Medina shootout, and his unusual death in Arkansas in 1983. REVIEWS VARIETY /   Indie documaker Jeffrey F. Jackson sticks it to the IRS and the Feds in "Death & Taxes," a hard-hitting reinvestigation of the 1983 Gordon Kahl case, about which questions still linger. Jackson's unfazed, investigative reporting-style approach and inventive handling of familiar material make this a controversial item for fests and progressive webs. Non-U.S. viewers will also get a charge out of its conspiracy theme. read more CHRONICLES MAGAZINE /   Gordon Kahl was a simple farmer who became famous for not filing income tax returns. Imprisoned and hounded by IRS agents who never did prove he owed any amount of money, Kahl and his son were involved in a shootout with police. The son is still serving a prison sentence, but the father was surrounded and shot in Arkansas by police officers who mutilated and burned his body. read more GUNS & AMMO /   A new video documentary, Death & Taxes, details a case of government murderously out of control that was briefly mentioned in the October 1994 Guns & Ammo article "The Ugly Truth About Gun Control." Death & Taxes is the story of Gordon Kahl, a North Dakota farmer and decorated World War II veteran, and his apparent death at the hands of federal agents. read more

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This set of 6 DVD's comprises over 13 hours of uncut footage, including a 2+ hour prison interview with Yorie Kahl, and candid interviews with wife Joan Kahl. In this rich stockpile of research, you'll find many more threads than could reasonably be pursued in the final feature. A little-known fact regarding Death & Taxes is the surprising connection to Timothy McVeigh and the infamous Oklahoma City Bombing. Here's a clip of Jackson sharing the story during a director's commentary on his film Postal Worker. The story of Gordon Kahl so captured the attention of mainstream America that it was turned into a highly-rated made-for-television movie titled In The Line of Duty - Manhunt In The Dakotas.

DEATH & TAXES is the story of Gordon Kahl, a North Dakota farmer who became America's "most-wanted" fugitive. How had a WWII war hero become the target of one of the largest manhunts in FBI history?

Was Kahl a racist, gun-toting fanatic? Or a victim of an IRS policy of harassing vocal tax protestors into silence to keep the rest of us intimidated? Did Bill Clinton conspire to cover-up the torture and execution of Gordon Kahl in Arkansas? Did federal agents mutilate and burn the body to cover-up the murder of the wrong man? DEATH & TAXES follows the trail of Gordon Kahl as his body is exhumed for a new autopsy. Building on newsreel clips covering two fiery shoot-outs and hundreds of interviews -- with IRS agents and federal prosecutors as well as Kahl's family and supporters -- D&T explores the myths and controversies surrounding a man who dared to challenge the federal income tax system. Some revile Kahl as a cop killer. Others revere him as an American patriot. Which was he?