Northern Minnesota man sentenced to 25+ years in prison for killing man, hiding remains in tote
A judge on Thursday sentenced a 23-year-old northern Minnesota man to more than 25 years in prison for his role in the murder of another man whose partial remains were found in a tote on the Mille Lacs Lake shoreline in 2023.
Bradley Weyaus, of Isle, was convicted of second-degree murder in May for the death of 25-year-old Rodney Pendegayosh Jr. Through a plea deal, charges of fleeing a peace officer and interference with a dead body were dropped.
Pendegayosh's parents had reported him missing the day before highway maintenance workers found his body inside a tote bound with bungee cords and industrial tape near the 14200 block of Twilight Road in Kathio Township on March 21, 2023.
Charges say shortly after the tote was discovered, an investigator driving to the scene observed a white Saturn, similar to one associated with Weyaus, heading in the same direction. The driver refused to pull over for the investigator and allegedly accelerated away at a high rate of speed.
Law enforcement later located the vehicle at a rural property with several buildings near Southport Road in Mille Lacs County, according to charges. Police say a resident of the property told officers the car had been driven by Weyaus.
Officers arrested Weyaus, who had been hiding in one of the buildings on the property, charges say, and recovered two duffel bags containing items, including a hammer, a hacksaw and industrial tape consistent with the tape on the tote.
Investigators allegedly found several items in the trash of a residence Weyaus had been staying at, including pieces of carpet with what appeared to be blood stains on them and Pendegayosh's identification card cut into two pieces.
Inside the Weyaus' vehicle, police say they discovered a spent shotgun shell. Pendegayosh's throat area contained "several pellets of a type found in buckshot shotgun shells."
Weyaus' girlfriend, Alexis Elling, was also charged in connection with the murder. Charges say Elling was present while the tote was moved. When contacted by police, Elling allegedly admitted that, while she did not help place Pendegayosh's body in the container, she did help move it, knowing that his body was inside.
Authorities said that they believe the motive for the murder had to do with Elling's brother and the victim's alleged involvement in his fentanyl overdose earlier in the year.
Elling was convicted of felony aiding an offender and is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 15.
The video above originally aired on March 28, 2023.
