A North Dakota tribal leader's oil deal with a convicted criminal leads to murder, betrayal, and a web of deceit that reaches from the Bakken oil fields to a Washington courtroom. Jodi Rave Spotted Bear. A motley crew of court witnesses ranging from heroin dealers, thieves and oil investors, were among dozens of witnesses that helped unravel the story of two murders tied to a Fort Berthold Reservation tribal oil business and land deal.
A prosecuting U. On Thursday, Feb. Henrikson will likely be sentenced in May. The trial in Richland, Wash. Henrikson, now 36, arrived in North Dakota in already a five-time convicted criminal. Leading up to his recent conviction, he also used the alias names of Cole Johnson, James Hendrickson and James Vanderbilt. Like many, he arrived in North Dakota hoping to cash in on the oil boom.
Oil has catapulted the national ranking of millionaires in North Dakota from No. Relevant information and reported material comes from court testimony in Richland, Wash. Hall was asked about the competition with Kelly to work in the oil-related Bakken business boom during the Henrikson trial. Prosecuting U. Hall said he met Henrikson and Creveling in November The seemingly affable couple arrived in North Dakota from Texas and quickly won Hall over.
The month after the two men met, their families spent Christmas together. On Jan. The chairman agreed to lease his shop at a junction between Mandaree and Watford City, N. By the end of January, Hall had gotten sick from a burst gall bladder. He was in a hospital in Rapid City, S. A second contract was signed Feb. Hall acknowledged the couple visited him the hospital where Creveling brought him a quart of whiskey, not a contract.
Hall said he did provide a verbal agreement to make a technical change in the contract he signed before he got sick. As the Blackstone-Maheshu business grew so did casual relations between the Hall and Henrikson families. Hall, Tiffany Johnson, Henrikson, Creveling and other family members vacationed together in Hawaii in October after Hall recuperated from his hospitalization. Creveling had been operating Maheshu Energy for Hall by February He created the company in after he lost his bid for what would have been a third consecutive term as tribal chairman.
