A Central Idaho man was reported missing. Now it’s a murder case

Days after a Challis man went missing in a remote part of Central Idaho, emergency personnel’s search for him was called off. That’s because it became a homicide investigation.

The Custer County Sheriff’s Office arrested Alan Bruce, 70, of Challis, after he admitted to law enforcement that he shot and killed 47-year-old Patrick Shelton, who was reported missing over the weekend, according to an affidavit of probable cause obtained by the Idaho Statesman.

Bruce said he then dismembered and burned Shelton’s body.

Custer County Prosecutor N. Paul Rogers charged Bruce with first-degree murder, along with four other felonies: destruction of evidence, failure to report a death to law enforcement, unlawful possession of a firearm and a persistent violator enhancement, court records showed.

He was booked into the Custer County Jail and appeared in court Tuesday, where 7th District Magistrate Judge James Barrett set Bruce’s bond at $1 million. His next hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. May 27.

The investigation is ongoing, and the Sheriff’s Office didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking additional information on the homicide, including a question about whether the two men knew each other.

“The Custer County Sheriff’s Office offers our sincere condolences to the family and friends of Patrick,” according to a news release from the agency.

‘Shoot, shovel and shut up:’ Authorities say Bruce confessed

Shelton was supposed to return home last Thursday, May 8, after he left to gather wood.

Deputies were notified on Saturday and pinged Shelton’s cellphone, and then searched the area where he was known to go, the Sheriff’s Office said. They located his red 2001 Dodge pickup and his dog inside the truck in the Big Hill area, which is west of the town, at around 8:30 p.m. Saturday.

Search teams began looking for Shelton on Sunday morning, but called off the investigation Monday after law enforcement began investigating it as a killing. Shelton’s truck was taken back to the Sheriff’s Office, where law enforcement searched the inside and found blood and “possible brain tissue,” according to the affidavit, which was written by Custer County Sgt. Josh Tuttle.

He wrote in the affidavit that the passenger-side window was smashed, and he found small glass fragments inside the vehicle. Tuttle said he believed, based on the lack of glass shards, the window was broken from inside the truck. He also found the copper jacket of a bullet on the passenger side of the windowsill.

Tuttle and Idaho State Police Detective Beau Godfrey interviewed Shelton’s parents. His mother told them that she went out to the area where her son’s truck was found, and found a piece of mail addressed to Bruce on the road, according to the affidavit. The Sheriff’s Office said it confirmed that Shelton’s cellphone was in the area of Bruce’s home on May 8, and that Bruce had a black rifle.

Deputies searched Bruce’s property on Monday. He was interviewed by the Sheriff’s Office at the same time, but Bruce was informed that law enforcement had obtained a warrant, and he provided them with the keys and combinations to his camper, the affidavit said.

In his interview with Tuttle, Bruce initially denied killing Shelton and said he didn’t own any firearms. But once law enforcement began searching his property, he admitted to the killing, according to the affidavit.

Deputies located bone fragments and specks of human flesh on the property, and a police dog detected the scent of human remains.

Bruce said he was going to be incarcerated for a “long time,” and detailed how Shelton — whose RV was parked right off of Bruce’s land — arrived at the property and ran into the side of Bruce’s truck on May 7, causing Bruce to leave in another one of his vehicles and return with a rifle he got from an unidentified friend, the affidavit said.

His friend dropped him back at his property, and Bruce said he hid in the trees that night and watched Shelton with binoculars for hours as he moved back and forth between his own RV and Bruce’s property.

Shelton eventually left but came back in the morning. While he was sitting in his truck, Bruce approached him and asked him, “Do you want some of this?” while pointing the rifle at Shelton, the affidavit said. Shelton responded, “You better pull the trigger (expletive),” and pulled up his pistol as Bruce shot him, according to the affidavit.

Bruce said that when Shelton pulled out his pistol, it was “me or him,” the affidavit said. Bruce said he shot Shelton, removed his body from the truck, dismembered his remains and burned them in a barrel, later taking the barrel to the bridge at Deer Gulch and dumping it in the Salmon River, according to the affidavit.

Bruce also showed deputies a picture of Shelton after he had been shot, the affidavit said, taken at 6:25 a.m. May 8.

The affidavit indicated that Bruce threw his rifle and Shelton’s pistol out of the window while he was driving on U.S. 93.

The Sheriff’s Office said Shelton’s remains have not been recovered.

When asked why he didn’t contact law enforcement, Bruce responded that you “shoot, shovel and shut up,” according to the affidavit.