Chilling video released in Dylan Rounds murder investigation is the ‘convicting piece of evidence’
Published at
IDAHO FALLS — A cell phone video has been released showing James Brenner cleaning a gun with blood on his shirt moments after he shot and killed 19-year-old Dylan Rounds in May 2022.
The video was “the convicting piece of evidence” that led to the recovery of Rounds’ body and Brenner being charged, according to his mother, Candice Cooley.
“It’s a haunting video,” Cooley tells EastIdahoNews.com. “What was (Brenner) thinking? He was so nonchalant, like, ‘No big deal, I just shot a 19-year-old twice in the head, and I need to go clean myself up.’ … What the hell was he thinking?”
Rounds was farming in Lucin, Utah, when he vanished nearly three years ago. His remains were discovered April 9, 2024, and James Brenner, 61, is serving time in a Utah prison after pleading guilty to second-degree murder.
The 1-minute, 16-second video was released by the Box Elder County Sheriff’s Office this month. Cooley did not know it would become public and saw it for the first time on Thursday.
There is no audio and it appears her son’s phone was placed on a surface with the camera lens facing upward. Brenner is seen on and off in the camera’s view as he works to clean the weapon. There appears to be blood on his shirt sleeve, arm and the gun.
Cooley believes after Brenner shot her son, he picked up his phone, and it started recording.
“It’s one of those miraculous things. James Brenner had no clue it was recording,” Cooley says. “There would have never been a conviction without that video. Dylan’s blood was on the shirt, and they found the shirt because of the video.”
After the video stops recording, data collected from Rounds’ phone shows the device went to his farm before going back to the shed near where he was shot and killed. The phone then drops in elevation and is stationary for six hours. Cooley believes Brenner left Rounds’ body in a trench at that point.
The device then moves to a pond, where it was later discovered.
“This phone tells the whole story of James Brenner’s movements that day,” Cooley explains.
Cooley plans to use the video in an upcoming training for law enforcement. Through Dylan’s Legacy, a non-profit organization created in her son’s honor, she is hosting a workshop with Texas detective Aaron Benzick in Utah next weekend. Benzick created Badge Apps, a data tracking system for law enforcement, and the training will focus on using location data from cell phones and other devices during police investigations.
“While I wish we would have known ahead of time that the video was coming out, I also look at it that this couldn’t have come out at a better time with the training we have going on next week,” she says.
Cooley still has many questions about her son’s death and hopes Brenner will one day explain everything that happened on that tragic day.
“What he did with Dylan, we don’t know. We wish he would talk to us. We wish he would just tell us because you always have those nagging questions in the back of your mind. You don’t have the answers, but you need the answers. You need to know what happened,” she says.
EastIdahoNews.com comment boards are a place for open, honest, and civil communication between readers regarding the news of the day and issues facing our communities. We encourage commenters to stay on topic, use positive and constructive language, and be empathetic to the feelings of other commenters. THINK BEFORE YOU POST. Click here for more details on our commenting rules.