Utah man sentenced for killing missing teen and burying him in remote area

BRIGHAM CITY, Utah (TCN) -- A 60-year-old man will spend a maximum of 30 years in prison for killing a 19-year-old whose farm he lived and worked on.

KSL-TV reports a judge sentenced James Brenner to one to 15 years in prison for two counts of murder, which will be served consecutively, for killing Dylan Rounds in 2022. His sentencing also relates to charges of two counts of possession of a firearm by a restricted person.

Rounds disappeared May 26, 2022, after he ate at a restaurant in Montello, Nevada, before returning to Utah. He reportedly made a phone call on May 28, 2022, but was not heard from after that. He was then reported missing to the Box Elder County Sheriff's Office. Several months after his disappearance, the FBI released a statement saying investigators were "focused on the possibility of Dylan being the victim of a crime," while also naming Brenner as a suspect in his disappearance. He was taken into custody on unrelated federal gun charges.

Brenner was arrested March 3, 2023, in Box Elder County on charges of aggravated murder and abuse or desecration of a corpse, though the teen's remains had not yet been found. KSL reports Brenner revealed to law enforcement in April where he buried Rounds' body.

Brenner ended up taking a plea deal with prosecutors in May 2024, and as part of it, he was required to reveal where he buried Rounds' body. His remains were located and positively identified in April 2024. According to the Box Elder County Attorney's Office, prosecutors reduced Brenner's aggravated murder charge to second-degree murder and dismissed the count of desecration of human remains. In addition, he pleaded guilty to the gun charges.

One of the family's advocates from the Missing in America Network spoke at Brenner's sentencing and called Rounds a "dreamer, a builder, a visionary."

She said, "His spirit was as vibrant and enduring as the sunflowers he loved."

The judge told Brenner that when he is up for parole, he will tell the parole board "that they keep you as long as they can."