BISMARCK, N.D. (KFGO) – North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley is calling on State Sen. Jeff Magrum to withdraw a proposed legislative resolution seeking presidential clemency for two men convicted in the 1983 shootout that killed two U.S. marshals near Medina.
Wrigley issued a statement Friday criticizing Magrum’s proposal on behalf of 73-year-old Scott Faul and 66-year-old Yorie Kahl.
“State Senator Jeff Magrum’s proposed resolution seeking clemency for convicted double murderers Yorie Kahl and Scott Faul completely ignores the brutality of their vicious crimes—and the fact that, all these decades later, they remain entirely unrepentant,” Wrigley said. “Someone has seriously misguided Senator Magrum on this matter, and it is not too late for him to withdraw his resolution.”
The pushback from the state’s top law enforcement official came as Magrum, R-Hazelton, defended his proposal Friday afternoon during an interview on KFGO’s Afternoons Live with host Joel Heitkamp.
Magrum Defends Proposal on Talk Radio
Despite opposition from legal officials, lawmakers, and talk radio callers, Magrum maintained that Faul and Kahl have paid their debt to society after serving more than 43 years in federal prison.
“I’m not trying to make people mad or sad, I’m just trying to do what’s right, bring justice,” Magrum said during the radio broadcast. “After talking to some of the people at the Department of Justice, I don’t think they’re ever going to get paroled. Their only chance is for clemency.”
Faul and Kahl were convicted following the Feb. 13, 1983 confrontation outside Medina, which resulted in the deaths of Deputy U.S. Marshals Kenneth Muir of Fargo and Robert Cheshire of Bismarck. Three other law enforcement officers were wounded. A federal jury convicted both men of two counts of second-degree murder, four counts of assaulting federal officers, one count of conspiracy, and one count of harboring a fugitive, resulting in sentences of life imprisonment plus 15 consecutive years.
Magrum noted that federal parole requests for both men were denied in 2021, 2023, and 2025. He argued that introducing the resolution is a way to gauge public opinion and bring the issue before elected representatives.
“The only way you know is to put it out there and find out,” Magrum said. “My job is to do something, not to do nothing.”
Broad Opposition From Top Legal Officials
Wrigley’s call to withdraw the measure follows criticism from other former federal prosecutors. Former U.S. Attorney Tim Purdon condemned the proposal during a separate radio appearance on KFGO’s News and Views with host Tyler Axness Friday morning, calling it a “punch in the stomach for the people of North Dakota” and urging lawmakers from both political parties to publicly reject the measure.
Wrigley emphasized that neither inmate has accepted responsibility for the deaths of the officers.
“I ask Senator Magrum to reconsider his advocacy on behalf of two convicted murderers who still refuse even to acknowledge the wrongfulness of their crimes,” Wrigley wrote in his statement.
Monday Panel Decision Ahead
Magrum plans to present the draft concurrent resolution on Monday to Legislative Management, the panel of lawmakers responsible for determining which measures will be considered during an upcoming special legislative session.
If approved and passed by the full Legislative Assembly, the resolution would formally request that President Donald Trump grant executive clemency to both men and direct North Dakota’s Secretary of State to forward copies to the White House and the state’s congressional delegation.
However, legislative leaders—including House Judiciary Committee Chairman Larry Klemin, R-Bismarck—have expressed strong opposition to the measure, making its passage unlikely.
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