A South Dakota man whose life sentence was commuted by then-Governor Kristi Noem in 2021 now faces a second-degree murder charge in the death of his 28-year-old niece, a case that has turned a quiet political act of clemency into a full-blown crisis for the current Secretary of Homeland Security.
Briley Milk vanished from the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in August 2023. Her remains were found in October 2024 in a remote area of Pennington County. Her uncle, Marvin Wendel, 51, was indicted by a federal grand jury and arrested May 14, 2025, on charges of second-degree murder, the Associated Press reported.
Wendel had been serving a life sentence without parole for a 1997 first-degree manslaughter conviction in the beating death of his infant son. Noem commuted that sentence in December 2021, and Wendel walked out of the South Dakota State Penitentiary. Less than two years later, prosecutors allege, he killed again.
In 1997, Wendel was convicted of first-degree manslaughter for beating his infant son to death. A South Dakota court sentenced him to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Wendel spent roughly 24 years behind bars before Noem granted the commutation. The AP reported that the South Dakota Board of Pardons and Paroles had recommended the commutation. Noem's office at the time said the decision followed standard review procedures, though the specifics of those procedures have not been detailed publicly.
The commutation did not erase the conviction. It reduced the sentence, allowing Wendel's release. He returned to the Pine Ridge area. Executive clemency decisions by governors have drawn scrutiny across the political spectrum in recent years, including an Oregon audit that slammed former Gov. Kate Brown over the early release of thousands of inmates.
Briley Milk, 28, was last seen in August 2023 on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Her family reported her missing. The FBI, which has jurisdiction over major crimes on tribal land, opened an investigation.
For more than a year, Milk's whereabouts remained unknown. Her family pushed publicly for answers. The case drew attention in part because of the broader national crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women, a problem that has plagued reservations for decades and often receives limited media coverage.
In October 2024, investigators located human remains in a rural part of Pennington County, outside the reservation's boundaries. Authorities identified the remains as Milk's.
A federal grand jury in South Dakota indicted Wendel on a charge of second-degree murder. FBI agents arrested him on May 14, 2025. Second-degree murder under federal law means prosecutors allege Wendel killed Milk with malice but without premeditation. If convicted, he faces up to life in federal prison.
Wendel made an initial court appearance in federal court. The AP reported that he is being held in custody. Investigators have not publicly disclosed the evidence that led to the indictment, including how Milk died or what connected Wendel to her death. Those details may emerge in future court filings or at trial.
The case carries echoes of other politically charged criminal proceedings that have tested public trust in the justice system, from presidential pardons of convicted officials to battles over sentencing policy at every level of government.
Noem, who left the South Dakota governor's office in January 2023 and now serves as President Trump's Secretary of Homeland Security, has faced sharp questions about the commutation since Wendel's arrest.
A DHS spokesperson told the AP that Noem was "prior to being at DHS" when the commutation occurred and that the decision followed the recommendation of the South Dakota Board of Pardons and Paroles. The spokesperson did not address whether Noem had any regrets about the decision.
Critics have seized on the timeline. Wendel served 24 years of a life sentence for killing a child. Within roughly 20 months of his release, authorities allege he killed his own niece. For Noem's political opponents, the case raises uncomfortable questions about the vetting process behind the commutation and whether warning signs were missed.
Noem's allies have pointed out that she followed the parole board's recommendation, a standard practice for governors reviewing clemency petitions. Commutations and pardons are inherently discretionary acts, and governors of both parties have faced backlash when released individuals reoffend. The question of how much personal responsibility a governor bears for a parolee's or commutee's later conduct remains legally and politically unresolved.
The FBI's lead role in the investigation reflects the complex jurisdictional landscape of crimes involving tribal land. Under the Major Crimes Act, the federal government prosecutes serious felonies committed on reservations, including murder. State authorities generally lack jurisdiction.
Milk's remains were found in Pennington County, which sits adjacent to the Pine Ridge Reservation. Investigators have not publicly clarified whether the alleged crime occurred on reservation land or off it, a distinction that could affect jurisdictional questions as the case proceeds. The federal indictment suggests prosecutors believe they have proper jurisdiction.
The crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women on reservations has been a persistent law enforcement challenge. Families and advocates have long argued that cases involving Native women receive slower investigative attention and less media coverage than cases involving non-Native victims. Milk's case, which went more than a year before her remains were identified, fits a pattern that tribal communities know well.
Several critical questions remain unanswered in the public record. Authorities have not disclosed Milk's cause of death or the manner in which she died. The indictment charges second-degree murder, but the factual basis for that charge has not been laid out in publicly available court documents as of the AP's reporting.
Investigators will need to establish the circumstances of Milk's last known movements in August 2023, how her remains ended up in Pennington County, and what physical or testimonial evidence ties Wendel to her death. Whether additional charges could follow, or whether other individuals may face scrutiny, has not been addressed publicly by the FBI or the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Wendel is presumed innocent unless proven guilty at trial. He has not entered a public plea. His defense attorney, if one has been appointed or retained, has not made public statements about the case.
The broader debate over executive clemency decisions and their consequences has resurfaced in multiple contexts recently. A Colorado elections clerk walked free after a governor commuted her nine-year sentence, drawing similar questions about accountability and the limits of gubernatorial mercy.
For Noem, the Wendel case arrives at a sensitive moment. As DHS Secretary, she oversees immigration enforcement and border security, two of the Trump administration's top priorities. Her credibility on law-and-order issues is central to her public profile.
The commutation was one of several Noem granted during her time as governor, but none of the others have produced anything close to this level of scrutiny. A man she freed from a life sentence for killing a baby now stands accused of killing a young woman in his own family. That sequence, regardless of the legal merits of the original commutation, is politically devastating in its simplicity.
Noem's political opponents will press the case as evidence of poor judgment. Her defenders will note the parole board's role and the impossibility of predicting future conduct with certainty. Both arguments have merit. Neither erases the fact that Briley Milk is dead and the man accused of killing her was, until Noem intervened, locked away for life.
The case also intersects with ongoing national debates about how the justice system handles high-profile criminal matters, from the Justice Department's moves to revisit seditious conspiracy convictions to fights over sentencing reform at the state and federal level.
Wendel's federal case will proceed through the District of South Dakota. A preliminary hearing or arraignment date has not been publicly announced. If the case goes to trial, it could take months to reach a courtroom, and the evidence underlying the indictment will become public through discovery and pretrial filings.
Milk's family has not made extensive public statements since the indictment, though their years-long push for answers played a role in keeping the case visible. For the Pine Ridge community, the resolution of the disappearance brings a measure of clarity but no comfort.
Clemency exists because justice sometimes demands a second look. But when a second chance ends in a second killing, the system owes an honest accounting of how it got there.
