At the start of the game when the sorceress that had committed the murder cast her spell all the magisters on the ship with the exception of Magister Siwan are supposed to die.
Well... Sometimes one, or two survive and you have to kill them to loot them.
It's a silly bug and I really do not mind it, it's an extra 100-200 XP, but still.. It's a BUG with a game that has so many bugs, most of them came out of the DE patch.