Chase Massner: Man Pleads Guilty To Concealing Veteran's Death

MARIETTA, GA — The man who was arrested and charged in connection to the death of a Cherokee County veteran reported missing by his family has pleaded guilty to concealing the victim's body.

James Bradshaw Clement pleaded guilty on Monday to one count each of concealing a death of another and making a false statement. Cobb County District Attorney's Office spokesperson Kim Isaza said Superior Court Judge Steve Schuster sentenced Clement to 15 years, eight of which he will serve in prison and the rest on probation. He's also imposed a $1,000 fine.

According to the DA's office, Clement lied to police when denied knowing the whereabouts of Massner and gave conflicting stories about the veteran's disappearance. Massner was employed with QuikTrip after leaving the Army.

In March 2014, Massner and his wife, Amanda, had an argument, and she left him at a QuikTrip near Clement's former home in the 500 block of Farmbrook Lane. Massner and Clement were "acquaintances," so Massner went to the defendant's home, the DA's office said. Massner's wife reported him missing when she was unable to make contact with him.

Clement moved out of the house several months after Massner's disappearance. In summer 2017, cadaver dogs searching the area alerted on a concrete slab under a deck at the home and on Aug. 1, 2017, investigators brought in a backhoe and dug up the area.

Massner’s skeletonized remains — which were adorned in the same red top his wife said he was wearing when she last saw him — were found wrapped in plastic that was secured with duct tape, the DA's office said.

"The remains were so decomposed that even extensive forensic testing, including an examination by a forensic anthropologist at the Mayo Clinic, was unable to discern a cause and manner of death," the office said.

Clement was charged in August 2017 after Cobb police recovered Massner's remains. Cobb investigators initially offered Clement a chance to turn himself in, but he failed to do so at an arranged time, police said. He even told police he had been set up to take the fall for Massner's death, the office noted.

He was later captured and arrested Aug. 10, 2017, outside a Publix parking lot in the North Druid Hills community of DeKalb County. He appeared before a judge the following day and was denied bond. A Cobb grand jury in October 2017 indicted Clement on the charges levied by police investigators.

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Massner’s mother was in the courtroom this afternoon, and Chief ADA Jesse Evans read her written impact statement, lamenting the loss of her only son, who “would not have left his two little girls.”

“Words cannot begin to explain the torment me and my family and Chase’s friends have been put through at the hands of Brad Clement,” she wrote.

Evans added that this has "been a heart-wrenching process for Massner's family" and for those who are in the law enforcement profession.

Massner, 26, was last seen on March 28, 2014, at the home, which is located off Hawkins Store Road east of Interstate 575. Attorneys Alexander Susor of Decatur and David Wolfe of Atlanta represented Clement, who told Massner’s family, “I’m very sorry for your loss,” before he was led from the courtroom.

According to his obituary, Massner is survived by his wife and children, Sydney Massner and Adalynn Massner, all of Mediapolis, Iowa; mother, Stephanie Cadena and stepfather, Javier Cadena, both of Woodstock; siblings, Karen & JC Cunningham of Canton; Monica Cadena of Woodstock; and Javier Cadena Jr. of Woodstock; father, Corbin Massner and stepmother, Diane Massner of Mediapolis, Iowa; siblings, TA Morgan, Brandon Morgan, and Tara Morgan; and grandparents, Harold and Annette Massner of Burlington, Iowa. He was preceded in death by grandparents, William and Lorna Piper of Burlington, Iowa.

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