Defendant sentenced in death of man in Nye County

The Nye County District Attorney’s Office announced that on July 16, Jeremmy Burch was sentenced pursuant to a plea agreement in Tonopah District Court for the murder of James Remster, whose body was found in an abandoned mine shaft earlier this year, the DA’s office said in a news release.

Burch was also convicted of accessory to murder in connection with the December 2018 slaying of Remster, his father-in-law, the release stated.

“I am grateful that we were able to hold Burch accountable for this brutal murder and bring some sense of closure to James Remster’s friends and family without dragging the case through the court system for years,” Deputy District Attorney Patrick Ferguson, lead prosecutor on the case, said in a statement. “I hope their healing can begin.”

For second-degree murder, Burch received a sentence of life imprisonment with the possibility of parole after 10 years, and for accessory to murder, he received a sentence of two to five years imprisonment, the DA’s office said. The two sentences must be served back to back.

“A tragedy like this can never be undone, but we have at least seen justice done for James Remster and seen the removal of a very dangerous man from society,” District Attorney Chris Arabia said in a statement. “I am thankful for the efforts of Deputy D.A. Patrick Ferguson, who even traveled to Amarillo, Texas to assist the Nye County Sheriff’s Office prior to Burch’s extradition to Nevada.”

Burch will serve his sentence at a facility to be determined by the Nevada Department of Corrections.

This past March, the Nye County Sheriff’s Office announced that an arrest had been made in the death of a missing Tonopah man whose body was discovered in an abandoned mine shaft about 30 miles east of Tonopah.

As stated in a sheriff’s office news release at the time, authorities in Texas had arrested James Dean Remster’s son-in-law, identified as Tonopah resident Burch, 46.

Remster, 62, was first reported missing on Dec. 19.

“As part of the investigation, detectives went to Mr. Remster’s son-in-law’s residence, where Mr. Remster had frequently stayed with his daughter and son-in-law,” the release noted at the time. “Mr. Burch told detectives that he had last seen Mr. Remster on Dec. 3 of 2018. Mr. Burch also stated that he believed that Mr. Remster could be catching a bus to Tennessee.”

Local authorities, according to that release, said detectives received additional information after they initially interviewed Burch on Dec. 21, 2018.

“He and his wife hastily left Tonopah and traveled to Amarillo, Texas,” the release stated. “After numerous interviews, detectives identified that in early of January 2019, that (Jeremmy) Burch had told people that he killed Mr. Remster and threw him in a mine shaft. Burch allegedly told people that after killing Mr. Remster, he went to the bank and withdrew cash from Mr. Remster’s bank account. He was also allegedly in possession of Mr. Remster’s identification and food stamp card.”

Through follow-up investigation and interviews, local detectives were able to identify the mine shaft where Remster’s body was located, according to the news release.

On March 16, Nye County Sheriff’s Office deputies and detectives, assisted by the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office Hasty Rescue Mine Recovery team, located several blood-stained items of clothing in the mine, and the body of Mr. Remster,” the release noted.

On March 17, 2019, Burch was arrested in Amarillo, Texas, according to the release.