James Brenner, in the courtroom photo, was sentenced for murdering Dylan Rounds, inset. (Courtroom screenshot from East Idaho News; photo of Rounds from Box Elder County Sheriff’s Office)
A Utah squatter who admitted to murdering a young farmer after agreeing to lead authorities to the location where he buried the body learned his fate this week.
James Brenner, 60, was sentenced on Monday to three to 30 years imprisonment in the death of Dylan Rounds, 19. He pleaded guilty in May to charges of second-degree murder and possession of a firearm by a restricted person.
Addressing the defendant, District Court Judge Brandon J. Maynard said the punishment didn’t fit the crime, but he was bound by the plea deal.
“I am going to recommend to the parole board that they keep you as long as they legally can,” he said, local Fox affiliate KSTU reported.
Dylan Rounds’ father, Justin Rounds, tore into the defendant when he refused to look at the victim’s family in the gallery, according to East Idaho News reporter Kaitlyn Hart.
“I hope that you, for the rest of your life, think about this,” Justin Rounds said. “If 3 to 30 years comes around and you get out, it will probably be the worst thing to ever happen to you.”
“You don’t have the balls to look anyone in the eye. Turn around and look at these other people you’ve affected.”
Brenner didn’t speak, but his defense attorney reminded the court that his client led investigators to the body.
“It was something that my client had asked me about from almost the first day that I was brought into this case,” lawyer Gregory Ferbrache said, the East Idaho News reported. “One of the issues that was continually brought up was that my client did want to bring Dylan home.”
As Law&Crime reported, Rounds last spoke to his grandmother on May 28, 2022. The next day, after no one heard from him, his family drove from Idaho to his property in Lucin to check on him, according to his parents.
He was gone and there was no activity on his phone or bank account.
What they did find, however, were his boots. The footwear was yards away from his grain truck in the opposite direction of his RV camper. It had a spot of blood in it.
Rounds’ mother Candice Cooley called this “bizarre” because her son was always particular about the kinds of boots he wore from a young age.
“At that point, it should have been treated as foul play,” she told NewsNation at the time. “You just don’t see someone’s boots in the desert that’s missing.”
She also said that his key fob was missing.
Authorities were led to Brenner, described as a squatter living on property near Rounds’ trailer, after finding Rounds’ cellphone in a pond. The phone had a time-lapse video of Brenner bloodied and cleaning a gun, Rounds’ mother told Fox News Digital.
“That phone told us a lot, besides having the video on it and the data,” Cooley told the network. “Amazing they got the video off of it.”
In April Brenner led deputies to the body, nearly two years after the young man was reported missing. With the help of the FBI, Rounds’ skeletal remains were recovered in Lucin on April 9.
Rounds, an Idaho native, moved to Lucin after purchasing cheap land to pursue his dream of becoming a farmer.
Law&Crime’s Alberto Luperon contributed to this report.
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