BOX ELDER COUNTY — A 59-year-old squatter has appeared in court on charges of allegedly murdering Dylan Rounds, a 19-year-old man how went missing in May 2022.
According to court records, James A. Brenner was in 1st District Court in Brigham City for a brief hearing Monday. He was previously charged with aggravated murder, a first-degree felony; abuse or desecration of a dead body and three counts of possession or use of a firearm, all third-degree felonies.
Rounds was originally reported missing on May 30, 2022. Multiple agencies, along with search and rescue crews began searching but were never able to locate him. However, deputies discovered a pair of his boots that matched his DNA.
Cell phone footage obtained showed movements on the day of Rounds disappearance on a property in Lucin where officials determined Brenner was squatting at a nearby trailer.
According to a probable cause statement, Rounds last signal to his phone was pinged to a Lucin pond not far from where Brenner was staying.
Charging documents described, “A digital forensic download of the phone was conducted and led to the discovery of a time-lapse video with a time stamp taken at the time of the victim’s disappearance.”
The documents released stated that there was blood stains on Brenner’s arms and shirt as he was cleaning a gun in the video footage found.
“The shirt which Defendant [Brenner] is wearing in the video was analyzed and the victim’s DNA was found on the shirt,” court documents said.
Box Elder County officials said evidence supports that Brenner is the only suspect in connection to the killing of Rounds, whose remains have yet to be found.
Brenner was arrested and charged in June 2022 with a federal weapons offense. The FBI had alleged Brenner had possession of firearms, despite his status as a convicted felon.
During Monday’s hearing, Brenner’s defense attorney, Michael Studebaker asked Judge Brandon Maynard to appoint co-counsel to assist in the defense. He also requested time to work through the evidence in the case and determine whether or not to request a preliminary hearing, when prosecutors would present their evidence in the case.
Brenner was ordered to remain in federal custody and appear again in court July 31.