Bradley Allen Weyaus (Mille Lacs County Sheriff’s Office).
A man has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for killing another who he believed was dealing fatal drugs.
Bradley Allen Weyaus has confessed to the killing of Rodney Pendegayosh Jr., aged 25, as stated by prosecutors in Mille Lacs County, Minnesota. His sentencing is slated for July 24, with his fate mostly dependent on the terms of his plea deal.
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Under the agreement, Weyaus faces a sentence ranging from 25 years and six months to 30 years and seven months in prison. Meanwhile, his partner in the crime, Alexis Marion Elling, who pleaded guilty in February 2024 to aiding the offender, will have her sentencing delayed until Weyaus’ case is resolved. Elling agreed to testify against Weyaus in return for a deferral of her sentence for five years imprisonment and up to five years of supervised probation.
Authorities have said that the defendants, a couple, believed that Pendegayosh dealt Elling’s brother a fatal mixture of fentanyl and meth.
Their crime was anything but typical.
Mille Lacs County Sheriff Kyle Burton described the situation as strange during a news briefing when charges were brought by the authorities. He mentioned, “This entire scenario is truly unusual. The body was relocated multiple times over a period, potentially up to a week, before its discovery.”
