The adopted son who shot his father and disposed of him in Mirror Lake Recreation Area, Wyoming, two years ago was sentenced Friday to 24 years in prison, the Albany County Sheriff’s Office reports.

Someone found a body wrapped in a tarp July 4, 2024, near Mirror Lake off Highway 130. The area was closed to visitors that weekend as law enforcement investigated.

Authorities soon identified the dead man as James Bitner, 56, of Colorado, and reported that he had a bullet hole in the back of his skull.

The Albany County Sheriff’s Office teamed up with the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation, Gilpin County Sheriff’s Office, Colorado Bureau of Investigation, Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, and the Colorado 1st Judicial District Attorney’s Office.

Nearly one year later on July 28, 2

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