The death certificate of a man killed in a U.S. Marshals Service raid on his family's house on the Yankton Sioux Reservation last year sheds light on the fatal injuries he suffered, while leaving other questions unanswered.
Zander Zephier, 23, died primarily of a "gunshot wound to the head" with a pistol on Nov. 27 when law enforcement entered the basement to extract him as a fugitive on federal and state warrants.
Zephier also suffered gunshot wounds to the back, chest and arm, according to the death certificate issued by Charles Mix County Coroner Chad Peters and obtained by News Watch.
A retired chief inspector with the U.S. Marshals Service reviewed the document for News Watch and said that the wounds "are consistent with training" for when lethal force is required.
"When using lethal force we are trained 'two to the chest, one to the head,'" said Jason Wojdylo, who worked for the Marshals Service for nearly 25 years and now lives in Tampa, Florida. "In a live situation, shooting at a moving target is often difficult, so the arm or the back isn't unusual, though I wonder if the back is an exit wound."
Peters, the coroner, said that his findings didn't specify whether the back wound was a direct hit or an exit wound, leaving open the possibility that Zephier had his back turned when one of the bullets struck.
"Those are the type of details that go in the actual autopsy," said Peters, who is based in Wagner. "That type of detail isn't necessary to complete the death certificate."
Stu Whitney
Peters listed the manner of death as homicide, which he said is standard in these circumstances. In using the phrase "legal intervention by U.S. Marshal with a pistol" under cause of death, he said the word "legal" refers to "law enforcement" and should not be construed as "justified."
"That's not my role in the investigation," he said.
90-year-old great-grandmother was in house
The Zephier family still has many questions about the raid, including the use of pepper spray by law enforcement and the decision to enter the house without more attempts at negotiation, possibly involving tribal police.
They want to see body cam footage from inside the house to see if Zephier was armed or threatening the officers at the time he was shot.
An FBI agent left behind a list of items seized from the home, including a knife, 9 mm shell casings, a bullet, spent gas grenades and clothing.
"Tactically, it gives the impression of deputy marshals operating in the wild, wild West," Wojdylo told News Watch of the operation when first contacted in December. "If the fugitive is holed up in the house, our procedures were always to back out, set up a perimeter and contain the fugitive in the residence, not just lob munitions into the house."
Deputy marshals attempted to force Zephier out by lobbing gas grenades into the basement while he was brushing his teeth, which can be heard on a livestreamed video he made of himself that morning.
It's not clear from the video feed or security footage outside the house why marshals raided the house about 40 minutes after they arrived, with Zephier's wheelchair-bound, 90-year-old great-grandmother still in the residence.
Based on text messages from neighbors and interviews with family members, the law enforcement team arrived at the residence at 8:37 a.m. the day before Thanksgiving and began using pepper gas at 9:11 a.m.
Shots were fired five minutes later, after at least one deputy marshal entered the basement. At 9:46 a.m., Zephier was pronounced dead at Community Memorial Hospital in Wagner.
The U.S. Attorney's Office in Rapid City issued a "no comment" to News Watch inquiries about the timing of the operation and what circumstances led to Zephier being shot and killed, citing an ongoing investigation.
News Watch filed a Freedom of Information Act request to the Marshals Service through the Department of Justice to obtain body cam footage from the operation. That request is still pending.
Zane Zephier, a University of South Dakota employee and Zander's older brother, said his family is frustrated by the lack of information provided by federal authorities in the aftermath of Zander's death.
The family is considering a civil lawsuit against the DOJ and U.S. Marshals Service and has retained the counsel of Nicole Griese of Griese Law Firm in Sioux Falls.
"While we cannot comment on specific next steps of the case, we remain steadfast in the pursuit of justice for Zander and his family," Griese told News Watch in a statement. "No family should have to fight this hard for basic answers about what happened to their loved one. We will not stop until the truth is brought to light and there is justice for Zander."
Yankton Sioux Tribe lends support to family
The Zephier family does not dispute Zander's lengthy criminal record and fugitive status.
At the time of his death, he was considered an escaped inmate from Charles Mix County Jail in Lake Andes because he was granted furlough in July to attend a family funeral and never returned.
Zander was also on the federal sex offender registry after pleading guilty in 2023 to abusive sexual contact with a minor, for which he was sentenced to 21 months in prison.
Despite his checkered past, family members are calling for an independent investigation into the 23-year-old's death. They said they don’t trust law enforcement to conduct an impartial inquiry, especially when it comes to operations on tribal land.
Yankton Sioux Tribe chairman Robert Flying Hawk sent a letter to the family on Jan. 31 pledging tribal support in seeking accountability from law enforcement and questioning why more cooperation from tribal authorities didn't take place.
"In addition to looking into what the U.S. Marshals Service did, we have requested with haste information as to why and how Marshals assume such authority on our lands," the letter read. "We are also looking into what can be done to hold those involved responsible and protect our Oyate (people) from such violence at the hands of (law enforcement agencies)."
Raid caught on livestream, security video
The U.S. Marshals Service, an enforcement arm of the federal judiciary, is primarily responsible for locating and arresting federal suspects and carrying out fugitive operations.
The sound of canisters crashing into the basement through windows is heard on a livestreamed video that Zephier made of himself that morning in the tribal housing community just north of Wagner.
Much of the law enforcement activity and conversation outside the house was also captured on motion-activated security footage that was obtained and analyzed by News Watch, shaping a basic timeline of events.
In the livestreamed video, Zephier brushes his teeth as officers outside call for him to give himself up. The sound of breaking glass is heard, after which Zephier says "Oh s—!" and eventually begins coughing and holding a rag to his nose and mouth.
"Come out with your hands up, Zander!" an officer calls out in the video. "We have all day. I have 10 more of these (gas grenades)."
Autopsy results not released
Minutes later, at least one deputy marshal enters the front door with a protective shield, gas mask and firearm. The remaining officers complain about how long it's taking the family to get Zephier's great-grandmother, Conceta, out of the house.
Then one of the deputy marshals in the driveway says, "Shots fired!" to a fellow officer. The other officer replies, "Good guys or bad guys?"
"We've got to get him out of there," an officer says later.
Video footage shows Zephier being wheeled down the driveway on a gurney, shirtless and in jeans with bandages on his chest.
He was pronounced dead at the hospital by Peters, the Charles Mix coroner, who said that he transported the body to Sioux Falls for an autopsy to be performed by forensic pathologist and Minnehaha County medical examiner Kenneth Snell.
That autopsy is not being released due to an active investigation. The U.S. Attorney's office in Rapid City won't respond to questions about the scope or timeline of that inquiry.
"The only type of outreach I've had was from an FBI agent who wanted to get some of the (home security) videos that we had," said Zane Zephier, who declined to hand them over, citing distrust of the authorities.
"I've given up on expecting anything from the law enforcement side," he added. "We're going to try to get things through the court to find out what really happened."
This story was produced by South Dakota News Watch, an independent, nonprofit organization. Read more stories and donate at sdnewswatch.org and sign up for an email every few days to get stories as soon as they're published. Contact Stu Whitney at stu.whitney@sdnewswatch.org.
