By Updated March 01, 2017 at 8:08 PM
Defense lawyers have urged a federal judge to issue an arrest warrant for William R. Kullman, a man they suspect was an FBI informant who played a role in security and defense training during the takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.
Attorney Jesse Merrithew said Kullman, who lives in northern Washington, was served last month with a subpoena to testify in the second Oregon standoff trial but failed to show for court. The federal government also has indicated it won’t assist in compelling Kullman’s testimony, Merrithew noted in a court filing.
U.S. District Judge Anna J. Brown said she is prepared to issue the warrant, ordering Kullman to testify in court Monday. But she also encouraged Merrithew to reach out to Kullman again to see if he’d show up Monday voluntarily.
Kullman, according to a defense investigator, owns a business that provides weapons training near Lake Stevens, Washington. A “Kullman Combat Organization” was listed as based in Lake Stevens in 2014 and 2015, according to Washington state business records.
Kullman told a defense investigator in December that he had gone to the refuge during the occupation and wrote his name in a sign-in book at the federal wildlife sanctuary on Jan. 7, 2016. Below his name was written: “Donated food, medical supplies. Help train militia in whatever needs possible,” according to a court filing.
Kullman told Merrithew’s defense investigator that he worked to ensure the safe handling of firearms by protesters at the refuge and did so along with Mark McConnell, who already has been identified as a government informant, according to court papers.
“Mr. Kullman told me that he was the one who gave the protesters the idea to set up a rifle range off the refuge with the aim of providing firearms training,” wrote defense investigator Mark Robertson in a declaration filed with the U.S. District Court in Portland.
Defense lawyers in this trial and the first trial against Ammon Bundy and other occupation leaders have worked to discredit Gov. Exhibit No. 23, a video played for jurors that shows refuge occupiers firing rifles from the refuge boat launch, across a small body of water, in late January.In the first trial, defense lawyers identified another one of the FBI informants as Fabio Minoggio, who went by the alias “John Killman,” who testified that he assisted in weapons training at the refuge.
Defense lawyers suspect Kullman is one of the 15 confidential informants who provided information to the government during the course of the refuge occupation. Of the 15, nine went to the refuge, according to court testimony.
Merrithew’s investigator handed Kullman in early December a subpoena to appear in court on Feb. 14 to provide testimony on behalf of his client, defendant Jason Patrick. Since Dec. 6, the investigator hasn’t been able to contact Kullman.
“His previous cellphone number has been disconnected. I attempted to contact Mr. Kullman via Facebook. He has not responded, despite the fact that he continues to be active on Facebook both before and after my message was sent. On February 27, 2017, I called the person I know to be Mr. Kullman’s girlfriend to ask her to either provide a new number for Mr. Kullman or have him call me back. She told me that they were no longer together, despite the fact that she had posted a photo of them kissing only 14 days prior. When I confronted her with this fact, she took my number, then terminated the call,” Robertson wrote.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Barrow pointed out in court Wednesday that the subpoena for Kullman listed the wrong year, ordering him to come to court on Feb. 14, 2016.
Kullman is one of three people the defense has subpoenaed to testify who have not shown for court, according to another defense lawyer Michele Kohler, who represents Duane Ehmer. Another is Allen Varner, nicknamed “Wolf,” also a suspected informant, according to the defense.
Oregonian researcher Lynne Palombo contributed to this story.
— Maxine Bernstein
[email protected]
503-221-8212
@maxoregonian
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