Man jailed in missing Wisconsin brothers case hires lawyer; is held without bond
A Missouri farmer jailed in connection with the disappearance of two Wisconsin brothers continues to be held without bond after appearing in court Thursday morning.
Garland Joseph Nelson is charged with tampering with a rental truck used by the brothers when they visited northwest Missouri on a business trip.
After Nicholas Diemel, 35, and Justin Diemel, 24, were reported missing July 21 the truck was found abandoned, and Nelson is accused of removing it from the farm where the brothers were last known to have visited.
Law enforcement officials who have been searching that farm for days said Wednesday they have found human remains that have not yet been identified. The search for the brothers has been labeled a death investigation.
Nelson, appearing in Caldwell County Circuit Court via video for the Thursday morning bond hearing, told the court he has hired an attorney. The lawyer was not in the courtroom Thursday morning, and a judge scheduled a new hearing for Aug. 8.
Nelson remains in custody at the Caldwell County jail with no bond set.
A Caldwell County sheriff’s deputy said in court records that Nelson, who has spent time in prison for cattle fraud, was a danger to the community and that he had tried to mislead law enforcement. The probable cause statement filed in support of his arrest did not explain how.
The Diemel brothers were reportedly visiting the area on business related to a livestock company they ran in Shawano County, near Green Bay in Wisconsin. They vanished the day they went to the Braymer farm for a cattle deal that law enforcement officials said may have been in the works for months.
According to court documents Nelson admitted to moving Nicholas and Justin Diemel’s rental truck from the farm where he worked in Braymer, Missouri to a commuter lot in Holt, Missouri without permission.
More than two hours after GPS information from their rental truck’s black box showed they arrived there, the vehicle left and was later seen on video near a Casey’s General Store in Polo, according to charging documents. There appeared to be no passenger in the front seat of the truck, a deputy wrote in the records.
The truck was left running. It was found in the commuter lot with the keys in the ignition and the lights on.
Asked at a press conference Wednesday if detectives thought there was foul play in relation to the remains found, Clinton County Sheriff Larry Fish said: “Correct, and we’re still investigating that right now to find out.” He then said that was undetermined as of Wednesday.
Two years ago Nelson was sentenced to two years in federal prison for selling more than 600 head of cattle that didn’t belong to him, according to court records.
Nelson is the only person charged in the death investigation.
