Man who put murder victim’s body in container, dumped it near Minnesota lake is sentenced

A man has received a 25-year term for putting his victim’s body in a storage container and dumping it near the southern shore of Lake Mille Lacs.

Bradley A. Weyaus, 23, of Isle, Minn., was sentenced Thursday in Mille Lacs County District Court after pleading guilty to second-degree murder in the death of Rodney Pendegayosh Jr., 25, who lived in the Isle area.

With credit for time in jail since his arrest, Weyaus is expected to serve the first 15½ years of his 25½-year term in prison and the balance on supervised release.

The charges did not suggest a possible motive for the killing, nor did they specify when or how Pendegayosh was killed.

According to the criminal complaint:

Law enforcement received a report on March 20, 2023, that Pendegayosh was missing and Weyaus may have been responsible. Weyaus had been seen days before with an “unusually heavy storage container” that was bound with bungee cords and industrial tape.

The investigation later revealed that Weyaus had been staying recently at a woman’s home on Main Street in Isle, and was seen there with a storage container. Several areas of carpet in the home had been removed.

Law enforcement found Pendegayosh’s body and the detached foot in the container. Buckshot from shotgun shells were found in his neck. The container also held rubber gloves and portions of carpet that matched the type seen in the Main Street home and in the adjacent trash bin.

An investigator who was driving to the scene of the discovery saw a white Saturn associated with Weyaus and pursued it as the driver accelerated. The investigator soon broke off the pursuit and continued to the container’s location.