Family Of Slain Brothers File Wrongful Death Lawsuit
The lawsuit was filed last month in northwest Missouri’s Caldwell County against Garland Nelson, who is jailed without bond on two counts of first-degree murder and other charges in the deaths of 24-year-old Justin Diemel and 35-year-old Nicholas Diemel.
The suit also names Nelson’s mother, Tomme Feil, and the family cattle company, J4S Farm Enterprise. No attorney is listed for Nelson, Feil or J4S in online court records in the civil case. Nelson’s attorney in the criminal case didn’t immediately return a phone message.
The brothers, from Shawano County, Wisconsin, were reported missing July 21.
Their mother, Pamela Diemel, and Nicholas Diemel’s wife, Lisa Diemel, allege in the suit that J4S “failed to exercise reasonable care to supervise the activities of Nelson.”
Nelson was convicted in October 2016 of cattle and insurance fraud and served 17 months in federal prison. The suit says J4S failed to disclose that to the Diemel brothers when agreeing to care for Diemel Livestock’s cattle, putting them at risk.
Nelson violated the terms of his parole in his business dealings with the Diemel brothers and by possessing a firearm, according to the lawsuit.
Court documents also indicate that the J4S Farm Enterprises owed the Diemel brothers $250,000 for cattle, some of which Nelson sold without paying for and others of which died in his care.
The brothers were killed when they went to Braymer, Missouri, to receive payment for the cattle, prompting a missing persons search.
“Due to their knowledge of Nelson’s dangerous propensities, prior fraudulent cattle transactions, and his possession of a firearm, Defendants J4s and Feil knew or should have known that allowing Nelson to return to the cattle business created an unreasonable risk of harm to others, including” the Diemel brothers, the lawsuit contends.