KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The family of two Wisconsin brothers who were killed during a business trip to the Kansas City area in July have filed a wrongful death lawsuit in Caldwell County Circuit Court.
Pamela Diemel, the mother of Nicholas and Justin Diemel, and Nicholas’ wife, Lisa Diemel, filed suit Nov. 26 against the brothers’ accused murderer Garland Nelson along with his mother, Tomme Feil, and J4S Farm Enterprises, which is the Feil-owner farm company that also employed Nelson.
According the lawsuit, the Diemel family alleges that J4S “failed to exercise reasonable care to supervise the activities of Nelson.”
Nelson convicted in October 2016 of cattle and insurance fraud and served 17 months in federal prison, a fact that J4S knew — and that made him potentially dangerous — yet did not disclose to the Diemel brothers when agreeing to care for Diemel Livestock’s cattle.
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 lawsuit alleges that j4S provided a water-damaged check drawn on an account with insufficient funds to Diemel Livestock in June 2019.
The Diemel brothers subsequently were invited to Braymer, Missouri, to receive payment for the cattle a month later.
It was during a meeting with Nelson at the farm to receive that payment and discuss business that the Diemel brothers were killed, prompting a missing persons search, according to the lawsuit.
“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.
A specific dollar amount is requested in the lawsuit, but the Diemel brothers’ family seeks monetary damages to compensate for the brothers’ death, the loss of future wages, funeral expenses as well as his pain and suffering among other losses.
J4S and Feil are accused of negligence in the Diemel brothers’ death and the company is accused of fraud, while Nelson is being sued for causing the deaths.
“The Defendants’ conduct was outrageous because of Defendants’ evil motive or reckless indifference to the rights of others, justifying the imposition of damages for aggravating circumstances in an amount sufficient to punish Defendants and to deter them and others from like conduct,” the lawsuit concludes.
After a weeklong search for the missing brothers, Caldwell County authorities announced July that human remains were found on a 74-acre farm owned by Nelson’s family. It is believed the remains belonged to Nicholas Diemel.
Justin Diemel’s remains were found last month in Nebraska, inside a tub on a livestock trailer Nelson sold.
Nelson initially was charged with tampering with the vehicle the Diemel brothers rented after flying to Kansas City for the July meeting.
