A man has been given a term topping 37 years for fatally shooting his older brother inside a camper and towing it to a wooded trail in northern Minnesota, where the body went undetected for many months.

James R. Hess, 49, of Hill City, Minn., was sentenced Monday in Aitkin County District Court after a jury convicted him of second-degree murder in connection with the death in October 2021 of William H. Hess Jr., 52, also of Hill City.

With credit for time in jail since his arrest, James Hess is expected to serve nearly 24 years of his term in prison and the balance on supervised release.

According to the criminal complaint:

On the night of May 12, 2022, a sheriff's sergeant and two deputies went to the trailer sitting on a trail about a mile west of 380th Avenue in Hill Lake Township. One of the deputies climbed on top and saw a body inside. An autopsy found that William Hess Jr. had been shot in the head.

The sheriff's sergeant knew that William Hess lived in the camper parked outside his brother's home in the 200 block of N. Pine Street. He also had heard rumors that James Hess "had grown irritated" with his older brother.

A confidential source shared with investigators text messages he had exchanged with James Hess in October that revealed the younger brother's anger about William Hess breaking into his home, stealing items and causing damage. "I'm just waiting to catch him breaking in," one of several angry texts read. "I'm going to end this once and for all, one way or another."

James Hess told law enforcement he came home and found his brother yelling on the roof of his house one day in October. James Hess said he followed his brother into the camper and shot him. He hooked up the camper to his SUV, pulled it more than 4 miles to the trail and left his brother's body inside.