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Editor's note: This is Part 3 article of The Mandan Murders, season 9 of the Dakota Spotlight podcast. Go here for Part 1, here for Part 2

MANDAN, North Dakota — Police knew one thing for sure: The murderer had been inside the building.

There in RJR Maintenance & Management in Mandan, North Dakota, is where someone had killed four people who worked there, the morning of April 1, 2019.

So that's where they started that day, as investigators from the Mandan Police Department and North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation worked through the crime scene and tried to make sense of what happened, and what clues they could find to start hunting the killer.

They quickly noticed security cameras, both inside and outside the business. The footage they quickly recovered from the camera showed the workers arriving that morning, then chilling images of what appeared to be the murder, and then, after the murders, a pickup leaving the scene.

That had to be the killer.

The hunt was on.

Listen to Episode 3 of The Mandan Murders

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In this episode of Dakota Spotlight, host James Wolner interviews investigators as they piece together what happened that day. As family mourn and a community reels in shock, police gather clues, cast a wide dragnet. The quick police work and an incredible coincidence leads them to a startling discovery.

On April 1, 2019, police responded to a suspicious incident at RJR Maintenance and Management in Mandan, North Dakota. There, they found four people viciously murdered, and the murderer at large. The crimes stunned and astounded the community and sent shock waves of terror across the prairie.

Gallery - Browse with arrow on right

1/7: Security video footage from BIG O TIRES in Mandan captured the suspect walking back to McDonald's and his vehicle. Contributed / Mandan Police Dept

2/7: Security video footage from McDonald's recorded the suspect leaving in his white pickup. Contributed / Mandan Police Dept

3/7: Security video footage in Center, North Dakota recorded the suspect traveling north. Contributed / Mandan Police Dept

4/7: Security video footage from Flying J truckstop captured the suspect traveling north. Contributed / Mandan Police Dept

5/7: Security video footage in Center, North Dakota captured the suspect traveling north. Contributed / Mandan Police Dept

6/7: Security video cameras at Bill Barth Ford on 'the strip' in Mandan captured the suspect walking towards McDonald's Contributed / Mandan Police Dept

7/7: A still image from the RJR surveillance camera. Contributed / Morton County Clerk of Courts

Authorities soon arrested a local chiropractor named Chad Isaak, who was later sentenced to life in prison for the cold-blooded killings. Isaak refused to admit guilt or provide any motive. He took his own life at the North Dakota State Penitentiary on July 31, 2022.

In Season 9 of the Dakota Spotlight true crime investigative podcast, host James Wolner will re-examine this recent case. His exploration is a personal one: He was working in Mandan at the time of the murders and joined the first police press conference, his first step into true-crime podcasting journalism.

Follow along as Wolner re-examines the morning of the murders, the hunt for the killer, his arrest and trial. He’ll seek to better understand the case and the killer’s motive, and remember the lives of those slain.

• Melissa Fuehrer: Widow of RJR Maintenance & Management victim Adam Fuehrer. Adam and Melissa had two sons together.
• Joe Arenz: Special agent with the North Dakota Bureau of Investigations. Arens was the lead investigator and worked on the case for two years.
• Pat Haug: Lieutenant at Mandan Police department who investigated the RJR homicides alongside the North Dakota Bureau of investigations.
• John Henry: Second Mandan patrol officer to arrive at RJR. He noted blood droplets that seemed out of place and then searched the building. He discovered the bodies of Lois Cobb and William Cobb in an office area and Adam Fuehrer behind a workbench in the shop.

• Tanner Arthaud: Along with Kylan Williams, a Metro Area Ambulance paramedic who received a call for a possible cardiac arrest at RJR. They soon discovered multiple puncture wounds on Robert Fakler's chest and asked police on scene to see if the scene was safe.
• Jamie Binstock: Robert Fakler's daughter. A resident of South Heart, North Dakota at the time, she received a call from her mother Jackie Fakler who said she thought Robert had had a heart attack at RJR. Jamie and her husband packed up their kids and headed to Mandan where later that evening they all learned that Robert had been murdered. Also killed were Lois Cobb, William Cobb and Adam Fuehrer.
• Amy Cobb: William Cobb's adult daughter of Springfield, Illinois. Amy was at work when she received a call from her step-sister, Briann Miller – Lois Cobb's daughter – wondering if she'd heard from their parents. Social media and friends were contacting Briann about something going on at RJR where their parents both worked.
• Lois Cobb: An employee at RJR and wife of William Cobb, she was killed on April 1, 2019.
• William Cobb: An employee at RJR and husband of Lois Cobb, he was killed on April 1, 2019.
• Jackie Fakler: Robert Fakler's wife and co-owner of RJR. Jackie arrived at RJR to discover ambulance personnel tending to Robert and police officers ushering people out of the building. She called her daughter Jamie and told her she thought Robert was having a heart attack.
• Robert Fakler: Co-owner of RJR with wife Jackie Fakler, he was killed on April 1, 2019.
• Adam Fuehrer: A technician at RJR, killed on April 1, 2019.
• Melissa Fuehrer: Widow of RJR Maintenance & Management victim Adam Fuehrer. Adam and Melissa had two sons together.
• Gabriel Goter: Morton County assistant state's attorney and lead prosecutor in the trial of Chad Isaak.
• John Henry: Second Mandan patrol officer to arrive at RJR. He noted blood droplets that seemed out of place and then searched the building. He discovered the bodies of Lois Cobb and Bill Cobb in an office area and Adam Fuehrer behind a workbench in the shop.
• Chad Isaak: A 44-year old chiropractor from Washburn, North Dakota, who was found guilty of all four murders at RJR. He hanged himself in prison on July 31, 2022.
• Briann Miller: Lois Cobb's adult daughter of Springfield, Illinois. Briann received a phone call from a friend in North Dakota who said social media and news outlets were reporting something happening at RJR where Brian's mother and step-father worked. She immediately called her step-sister Amy Cobb (Bill Cobb's daughter).
• Garrett Stepp: Third police officer to arrive on scene. He helped officers Henry and Tessness search and secure the building. Later he secured Bill Cobb's missing vehicle when it was discovered parked at a nearby business. There appeared to be blood smears on the door handle.
• Bruce Tessness: Mandan Police patrol officer. First police officer to arrive on scene. He immediately began assisting paramedics tending to Robert Fakler. Later he searched the building alongside officers John Henry and Garrett Stepp. Three more bodies were discovered.
• Andrew Tryhus: Morton County sheriff's deputy. Responded to the scene at RJR where he assisted the Mandan Police Department with several duties.
• Chief of Police Jason Ziegler: Chief of the Mandan Police Department, who fielded questions in the wake of the April 1, 2019 murders at RJR Maintenance and Management.
• Kylan Williams: Along with Tanner Arthaud, a Metro Area Ambulance paramedic who received a call for a possible cardiac arrest at RJR. They soon discovered multiple puncture wounds on Robert Fakler's chest and asked police on scene to see if the scene was safe.