After an agonizingly difficult search I finally managed to get my hands on three VHS tapes, totaling 16 episodes, I also had to buy a used VHS player.
The story was obviously fragmented because 21 episodes were missing, but if you've seen the anime or read the manga that ripped off this show you know the gist of it, of course, certain things don't play out exactly the same, but it's close enough Japanese are known for stealing from the western art and pop culture and adding their own spin. Death Note is no different. In this show there is no Ryuk, however, there is a high school student with a magical notebook that can kill anyone whose name is written on it, and his name is Lance Morrison.
A fun little tidbit: in one scene in episode 7 (order of watch, not sure if it's actually the 7th episode), there is an extra buying a hotdog, he's standing behind Lance who is talking to the wife of an FBI agent, I thought to myself "this young man looks familiar", so I paused the tape, stood up and approached the TV and whaddayaknow it's an 18 year old Jared Leto in his very first uncredited role, it's a small role, just being there in the background with the hotdog in his hand for a couple of shots, you gotta start somewhere and he's come a long way since then.
Overall, a pretty good show from Gary Nelson, the director of The Black Hole.
