KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Braymer, Missouri, man responsible for the 2019 murder of two Wisconsin brothers, has pleaded guilty to cattle fraud, which led to the homicide.
Garland Nelson appeared in federal court late Tuesday morning to plea guilty for one count of mail fraud and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm. He previously pleaded not guilty to the charges.
On Sept. 30, 2022, he pleaded guilty to two counts of first degree murder in Cass County, Missouri, court
Nelson admitted to defrauding Wisconsin-based cattle company, Diemel's Livestock, of at least $215,936.
According to a news release, Nelson, an employee of his mother's business, J4s Farm Enterprises, entered an agreement with brothers Nicholas and Justin Diemel to feed, pasture and resell their cattle, and to send Diemel's Livestock the proceeds. The brothers sent Nelson several loads of cattle.
Nelson admitted to killing many of the cattle due to incompetence, neglect or maltreatment, and feeding the cattle inadequately.
In one instance Nelson dropped feed bale for calves, but did not remove the plastic. The calves ate the plastic and died, the release says.
Without informing the Diemels of the deaths, Nelson fraudulently billed them for feed and yardage of the lost cattle.
The release detailed that the brothers became suspicious of Nelson and stopped sending him cattle, and demanded payment during the spring of 2019. Nelson sent a check for $216,000, tied to a bank account with $.21 cents, and admitted to tearing and damaging the check so it could not be submitted for payment.
Court documents say the brothers then traveled from Milwaukee to Kansas City, where they then drove a rental truck to Nelson's mother's farm in Braymer, Missouri, to retrieve the money owed to them. Nelson shot the brothers and buried their bodies in a barrel. The remains of one of the men were burned and placed in a pile of cow manure on Nelson's property, while the remains of the other were found over a year later in Lincoln County, Nebraska.
The news release details that Nelson illegally possessed a 30-30 rifle and ammunition while being convicted of a felony. In 2015, Nelson was convicted of a separate cattle scheme where he cost his victims over $262,000.
Nelson was sentenced to two consecutive terms of life imprisonment for the murder charges in his September hearing. He is not eligible for parole.
He is eligible to be sentenced to up to 30 years in federal prison for the cattle fraud charges, and two additional years for violating the supervised release of the 2015 fraud case.
He owes the government at least $215,936 to repay earnings from the fraud scheme, according to a release from the United States Department of Justice.
Nelson is set to be sentenced for the federal cattle fraud charges on March 23, 2023.
