Remains of 2 brothers found 4 months after Missouri farmer killed them when they came to collect $25,000 debt
CALDWELL COUNTY, MISSOURI: Police have confirmed the deaths of two brothers, 35-year-old Nick Diemel and 24-year-old Justin Diemel, who went missing in July. The brothers were allegedly shot dead by 25-year-old Garland "Joey" Nelson of Braymer, Missouri, who owed the Diemel brothers $25,000.
Nick Diemel's remains were found on a farm in Caldwell County, Missouri. The brothers had reportedly gone over to Nelson's place to collect the $25,000 debt that they were owed when they were shot and killed.
The Caldwell County, Missouri, Sheriff's Office announced on November 22 that the corpses had been identified as those of the Diemel brothers. According to a WDAF-TV report, the farm in Caldwell County where Nick Diemel's remains were found belonged to the suspect.
Justin's remains were found by a rancher who discovered them in a livestock trailer in Lincoln County, Nebraska. The rancher had recently bought the trailer through an online ad, according to the Daily Mail.
According to a probable cause statement, Nelson shot the brothers and put their bodies in 55-gallon metal barrels. He then used a skid loader to move them one at a time from a barn to a pasture where he allegedly burned their corpses using diesel fuel and an unknown liquid before hiding the barrels elsewhere on his property.
Authorities reportedly had to use dental records to confirm the identities of the brothers' charred bodies. Nelson now faces two counts of first-degree murder and he has also been charged with two counts of abandonment of a corpse and evidence tampering.
The brothers, owners of Diemel's Livestock in Navarino, Wisconsin, were reported missing by their father, Jack Diemel on July 21 after they failed to show up for a flight home to Milwaukee and did not answer their phones.
Earlier, when Justin's remains were discovered, Nick's wife, Lisa Diemel, took to Facebook to share an angry post criticizing Lincoln County Sheriff Jerome Kramer for revealing certain details about the discovery to the media on November 17 that were not known to the family.
Lisa Diemel claimed that the sheriff had "failed in protecting the integrity of Justin's case."