‘Shoot, shovel and shut up:’ Central Idaho killer receives prison sentence
A 70-year-old Idaho man who dismembered and burned another man after shooting him will spend at least the next decade in prison after he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.
Alan Bruce, of Challis, was sentenced to a maximum of 20 years in prison for shooting and killing 47-year-old Patrick Shelton, who’d been reported missing in May after he didn’t come home from gathering wood.
Deputies with the Custer County Sheriff’s Office called off the search for Shelton within days and began investigating it as a homicide after finding blood and “possible brain tissue” inside his truck, according to an affidavit of probable cause obtained by the Idaho Statesman.
Evidence, including cellphone data, led deputies to Bruce, who initially denied any involvement in Shelton’s death but then confessed to the killing after law enforcement began searching his property, the affidavit said. Deputies located bone fragments and specks of human flesh on the property, and a police dog detected the scent of human remains.
Shelton, who had parked his RV near Bruce’s land, had run into the side of Bruce’s truck, 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.
Shelton eventually left but came back in the morning. While Shelton was sitting in his truck, Bruce approached him and asked him, “Do you want some of this?” while pointing the rifle at the victim, the affidavit said. Shelton responded, “You better pull the trigger (expletive),” and pulled up a 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 body and burned the human remains in a barrel — later taking the barrel to the bridge at Deer Gulch and dumping it in the Salmon River, according to the affidavit.
When asked why he didn’t contact law enforcement, Bruce responded that you “shoot, shovel and shut up,” according to the affidavit.
The Custer County Prosecutor’s Office initially 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 pleaded guilty in October to two felonies, second-degree murder and destruction of evidence, as part of a plea deal. Stevan Thompson, the presiding judge, sentenced Bruce to 20 years in prison with the possibility of parole after 10 years, court records showed. He also ordered him to pay a $5,000 civil penalty.
He’ll be eligible for parole in April 2035, according to online prison records.
This story was originally published December 22, 2025 at 4:46 PM.
