‘Who is John Killman?’ Defense lawyers believe he was an FBI confidential source

By Maxine Bernstein, The Oregonian, Portland, Ore. (TNS)

Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2016 | 2 a.m.

Defense lawyers in the Oregon standoff case want to call a man who goes by the alias "John Killman," believing he's one of the FBI's 15 confidential informants who had contact with occupiers at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.

Killman, they argue, was a participant in the firearms and military-style maneuvers training during the occupation and helped train one of the defendants, Jeff Banta, in hand-to-hand combat techniques, according to court testimony.

He spoke with a French or South African accent to people at the refuge and his Facebook profile includes a majority of friends who occupied the refuge, according to defense lawyers.

"We are dealing here with a situation of a confidential informant who is participating in the commission of the alleged offense," defense lawyer Marcus Mumford said in court.

Prosecutors wouldn't confirm whether or not the man identified as Killman was working for the government.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Barrow said prosecutors aren't obligated to disclose any information identifying informants. If a person takes the witness stand and isn't truthful about their role, then the government would be responsible to come forward and correct any misinformation, he said.

Lawyer Tiffany Harris, who represents defendant Shawna Cox, said Killman has been adamant that he wasn't an FBI informant, yet the unredacted records that defense lawyers have from the government on the 15 confidential sources provides supporting material to suggest that he was acting in that capacity. They believe he is "confidential source No. 2."

U.S. District Judge Anna J. Brown directed defense lawyers to find a court-appointed attorney for this so-called Mr. Killman because he could be opening himself up to exposure for potential criminal liability if he testified on the witness stand.

By lunch hour, court-appointed lawyer Norman Sepenuk informed the judge that Killman does intend to testify and isn't interested in pleading Fifth Amendment, but the lawyer asked to speak to the judge in chambers.

"I'm not sure about the wisdom of his testimony," Sepenuk said. "He has certain ideas about the impact of his testimony."

The judge asked defense lawyers to meet with Killman's newly appointed lawyer to determine if his testimony is needed or sought.

"In his judgment, what his client may have to offer may not be helpful," Brown told lawyers after emerging from her chambers.

According to the defense lawyers' investigation, Killman arrived at the refuge on Jan. 23. He lives in Las Vegas and has admitted to traveling to the refuge, staying in the refuge bunkhouse one night and at a hotel in the area for two nights and leaving on Jan. 26 after the arrests of Ammon Bundy and other leaders involved.

He admitted to defense lawyers that he offered firearms "safety" classes to refuge occupiers and was present during the firing of assault rifles from the refuge boat launch, which was captured on a video and presented to jurors by the government.

The judge described the circumstances surrounding Killman's testimony and the defense desire to have the government confirm that he's the FBI's "confidential human source No. 2" as a "very unique scenario."

Brown ruled that she wouldn't order the government to identify any of its 15 confidential sources, although two others already have been named: Mark McConnell, who drove the Jeep that Ammon Bundy was riding in when he was arrested on Jan. 26, and Terri Linnell, a California woman who testified for the defense that she provided information to the FBI from the refuge.

However, if a witness testifies in a way that the government knows is false, "then we have a different story," Brown added.

Defense lawyer Matthew Schindler, who represents defendant Kenneth Medenbach, argued that the defense team has the right to know who these "mystery people" are who brought all the 22 long guns and 12 handguns to the refuge that prosecutors had FBI agents parade before jurors.

The judge directed defense lawyers and prosecutors to come to an agreement on a stipulation that could be read to jurors noting the number of government confidential sources and the number of FBI sources that were present at the refuge during the occupation.

In other developments Monday, the judge limited the government's proposed rebuttal case. Prosecutors can't call a government lawyer to discuss the court orders that were in place regarding Cliven Bundy's cattle that led to the standoff with protesters in April 2014 outside his ranch in Bunkerville, Nevada. They also can't call U.S. Bureau of Land Management agent Jason Curry to discuss the armed standoff in Bunkerville. The judge reminded the government there's already a stipulation before jurors on what occurred in Bunkerville.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Barrow had sought to call those witnesses to rebut what he characterized as Ammon Bundy's "distorted" testimony about what precipitated the Bunkerville standoff.

Prosecutors offered their first witness in their rebuttal case, FBI Special Agent Benjamin Jones, who was called to challenge defense witness rancher Duane Schrock's testimony last week that he was intimidated by Jones before he was called to the stand as a defense witness.

Jones said he did show up unannounced to Schrock's ranch outside Crane on Sept. 21 at the request of Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig Gabriel after prosecutors learned Schrock would be called as a witness.

During direct examination, Jones admitted he pressed Schrock about what guns he saw on the refuge. When Schrock told him he had seen a handful of guns, the agent said he continued to ask him further about the guns he had seen, surprised that during the number of visits Schrock had made to the refuge he hadn't seen more. Schrock then told him that he was surprised to see a man walk into a meeting he was having with Ammon Bundy, holding a long gun.

During cross-examination by Ryan Bundy and Marcus Mumford, Jones acknowledged that he was armed and accompanied by another agent when he visited with Schrock.