Trial for Missouri man accused of killing Shawano County brothers delayed to February 2023
WARRENSBURG, Mo. - Over 3½ years after two Shawano County brothers were first reported missing, a Missouri livestock rancher accused of killing the men will be heading to trial next year.
Garland J. Nelson, 27, is charged with shooting Nicholas Diemel, 35, and Justin Diemel, 24, and burning and burying their bodies. The brothers' remains were found in Missouri and Nebraska.
Nelson's trial was initially set to start this month and was later pushed back to start in June.
But on Monday, Nelson's attorneys asked for more time, and the trial will now be in February 2023, online Missouri court records show.
If convicted, Nelson faces the death penalty.
The brothers were the owners of Diemel's Livestock in Navarino. They went to Nelson's property to collect a $250,000 check from him for cattle he was taking care of, according to court documents.
They were reported missing in July 2019, after they didn't get on the flight back to Wisconsin. Nicholas Diemel's remains were found on Nelson's farm over a week after the brothers' disappearance. Justin Diemel's remains were discovered Nov. 15, 2019, near Hershey, Nebraska.
Nelson's court hearings have been postponed many times since the brothers were killed.
In addition to the two homicide charges, Nelson faces two counts of abandoning their corpses, two counts of tampering with physical evidence, two armed criminal action counts, a first-degree tampering with a vehicle charge and unlawful possession of a firearm.
Nelson also faces a charge of mail fraud in federal court for trying to cover up $215,000 worth of the cattle fraud scheme for the cattle he was supposed to take care of, according to court documents.
RELATED: Missouri man accused of killing Shawano County brothers headed to trial in 2022
Contact Benita Mathew at bmathew@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @benita_mathew.
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Trial for Missouri man accused of killing Shawano County brothers delayed to February 2023
