KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Garland Joseph Nelson, the man charged in the deaths of two Wisconsin men in rural Missouri, is now facing federal cattle fraud charges.
The Department of Justice announced Tuesday that a federal grand jury in Kansas City, Missouri, returned one count of mail fraud in connection to the 2019 murder of Wisconsin brothers Nicholas and Justin Diemel.
According to a news release about the grand jury charges, Nelson entered into a business relationship with the Diemel brothers to care for cattle. While Nelson cared for some of the Diemels' cattle, he is alleged to have sold, traded or killed some cattle without paying the Diemels any of the proceeds, and continued to bill the Diemels for the cattle.
When the Diemels became suspicious of the scheme, they stopped sending cattle to Nelson and demanded payment for the cattle.
Nelson eventually sent the Diemels a check for nearly $216,000, but the check was tied to a bank account with just .21 cents.
Court documents allege that, as Nicholas Diemel became frustrated with Nelson’s lack of payment, he traveled to Missouri to retrieve his money.
It was during that trip in July 2019 where Nelson allegedly killed the brothers and attempted to dispose of their bodies.
The double murder case against Nelson is set for trial in June 2022.
