RJR Maintenance Murders

Case background and investigation

On April 1, 2019, four people were killed at the offices of RJR Maintenance and Management, a property management company in Mandan, North Dakota. The victims were co-owner Robert Fakler, 52, Adam Fuehrer, 42, and married couple William 'Bill' Cobb, 50, and Lois Cobb, 45, according to Forum News Service. Three of them were shot, and together the four had more than 100 stab wounds, KFYR reported.

Chad Isaak, a chiropractor from Washburn, North Dakota, was charged with the killings. Forum News Service reported that Isaak's mobile home was on a property managed by RJR. At trial, prosecutors presented surveillance video from RJR and nearby businesses that they said showed he had planned the attack at least a week in advance, along with DNA and fiber evidence and items found at his home, including spent ammunition, a knife and gun parts that smelled of bleach. Prosecutors also said he left the scene in an RJR pickup. According to KFYR, no clear motive was presented at trial, although prosecutors pointed to his past as a Navy medic as relevant to his ability to carry out the attack.

On August 20, 2021, a jury found Isaak guilty of four counts of murder, along with burglary and offenses related to the RJR vehicle. On December 28, 2021, South Central District Judge David Reich sentenced him to four consecutive terms of life without the possibility of parole, calling the killings senseless and noting that Isaak had shown no remorse. Isaak told the court he was not a murderer.

Isaak appealed to the North Dakota Supreme Court. On July 31, 2022, before the appeal was decided, he was found dead in his cell at the North Dakota State Penitentiary; prison officials said his death was self-inflicted. A sergeant on duty was later fired after an internal review found he had not carried out required checks, KFYR reported.

On March 16, 2023, the North Dakota Supreme Court dismissed the appeal as moot and declined to vacate the conviction, reasoning that the statutory rights of a deceased defendant could not override the constitutional rights of the living victims' families, according to Valley News Live. Isaak's convictions therefore remain in place.