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MANDAN, North Dakota 鈥� Adam Fuehrer was a service technician at RJR Maintenance & Management. His employer, Robert Fakler owned and ran the business.

Both men were resourceful, early risers. Both had families. One was shy, the other was stern.

On April 1, 2019, they were both murdered in cold blood. They died 20 feet apart inside the RJR facilities. Minutes earlier, killer Chad Isaak had also killed two of their friends and co-workers, Bill and Lois Cobb .

In episode 7 of Dakota Spotlight's podcast series 鈥淭he Mandan Murders,鈥� family and friends offer a personal and inside look at Adam Fuehrer and Robert Fakler.

Adam Fuehrer came across a shy man. He was "someone you had to get to know," according to his sister Natasha Towne. A father of two teenage sons, Adam was known to be thrifty and resourceful. He didn't waste food or money and if something broke, he felt he could fix it himself.

As a young child, Adam and his sister were placed in several foster homes. "Our parents weren't really around," Towne said. Sometimes food was scarce.

As an adult, family and togetherness were very important to Adam. He enjoyed providing for his family and cooking at extended family gatherings. And when the food was done, he wanted everyone to join in. "He always wanted everyone together," his brother-in-law Scott Towne said.

When Adam wasn't working or cooking, he might be found fishing or in front of the television watching his favorite show, 鈥淢*A*S*H.鈥�

Robert Fakler was a businessman and an avid outdoorsman. Described by his daughter Jamie Binstock as an "entrepreneur," Robert Fakler was a problem-solver in constant motion, always working towards his future goals.

As young adults, Robert and his wife, Jackie, saved for years working toward their dream of someday operating a small farm. "They worked as a team," Binstock says. The hard work paid off. In 2005 the Faklers bought land near Baldwin, North Dakota, just north of Bismarck, where they raised cattle, chickens and horses.

Fakler was known to be stern and direct with people and he let people know if he was disappointed with them. His anger was short-lived, however. Robert preferred a world where nobody held a grudge. He often circled back and checked in with those he had been curt with. "You got the phone call afterwards explaining that he believes in you," recalls long-time RJR employee Ben Pace.

Binstock first witnessed a softer side of her father's personality during the last two years of his life, possibly sparked by health issues and thoughts of his own mortality. His seven grandchildren and a strong friendship with his son-in-law likely also contributed to the change.

Binstock and her mother, Jackie Fakler, still operate RJR to this day. She says her father would have wanted them to. "You have to live the life they would have wanted you to."

On April 1, 2019, police responded to a suspicious incident at RJR Maintenance & 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.

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鈥檒l seek to better understand the case and the killer鈥檚 motive, and remember the lives of those slain.

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1/8: As a child, with no money available to him, Adam Fuehrer constructed this simple Mother's Day gift 鈥� a missel launcher 鈥� for his step-mother Shirley. His friends and loved-ones describe Adam as a quiet, private man who loved his family and cared for others. Contributed / Family of Adam Fuehrer

2/8: Adam Fuehrer was born in Sunnyvale, CA, October 13, 1976. He married Melissa Peterson July 3, 2003, and two children were born to this union, James Allan and Jared Anton John. He loved working on cars, cooking, camping, and fishing. He loved watching Clint Eastwood movies, and enjoyed a cold beer. He also loved music, especially Pink Floyd. He often attended get-togethers with his family and friends WDAY TV

3/8: William Cobb, Robert Fakler, Lois Cobb and Adam Fuehrer, all employees of RJR Maintanence and Management, were murdered on April 1, 2019. WDAY TV

4/8: Adam Fuehrer (left) and Robert Fakler were both murdered on April 1, 2019. In episode 7 of Dakota Spotlight's podcast The Mandan Murders, friends and loved-ones share their memories of Adam and Robert. Contributed / State Historical Society of North Dakota

5/8: Jamie Binstock, left, consoles her mother, Jackie Fakler, during a press conference at RJR Maintenance and Management in Mandan on Friday afternoon. Fakler, the RJR owner, spoke about a jury earlier in the day convicting Chad Isaak of killing her husband, Robert Fakler, along with three RJR employees, Adam Fuehrer and Bill and Lois Cobb, on April 1, 2019. In the background are RJR employees who Jackie Fakler said were her "family." The photographs in the back are of, clockwise from top left, Bill Cobb, Robert Fakler, Lois Cobb and Fuehrer. Tom Stromme / The Bismarck Tribune.

6/8: As seen in this still image from RJR surveillance video, Chad Isaak went to great lengths to hide his identity donning a ski mask, gloves and hooded sweatshirt. Investigators found an orange sweatshirt, a skimask as well as a knife in his washing machine when they searched his home three days later. Investigators reported a strong smell of bleach when they entered the home. WDAY TV

7/8: Morton County prosecutor Gabrielle Goter, center, speaks with reporters following the conviction of Chad Isaak on Friday in the April 1, 2019, quadruple homicides at RJR Maintenance and Management in Mandan. Others are, from left, lead investigator Joe Arenz, with prosecutors Austin Gunderson and Karlei Neufeld. Tom Stromme / The Bismarck Tribune

8/8: Jackie Fakler fights back tears as she talks about the slaying of her husband, Robert Fakler during her testimony at the murder trial of Chad Isaak on Wednesday at the Morton County Courthouse in Mandan. Isaak is on trial in the killing of four people on April 1, 2019, at the RJR Maintenance and Management building in Mandan. Mike McCleary / The Bismarck Tribune.

• 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.
• 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.
• Ben Pace: Long-time employee at RJR and friend of all four victims.
• Natasha Towne: Adam Fuehrer's sister.
• Scott Towne: Adam Fuehrer's brother-in-law.

• Joe Arenz: Special agent with the North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation. Arens was the lead investigator and worked on the case for two years.
• 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.
• 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 鈥� Lois Cobb's daughter 鈥� 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.
• Gabriel Goter: Morton County assistant state's attorney and lead prosecutor in the trial of Chad Isaak.
• Pat Haug: Lieutenant at Mandan Police Department who investigated the RJR homicides alongside the North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.