ELKO COUNTY, NEVADA: A Nevada man is facing open murder charges after he killed his childhood friend. Bryce Dickey had allegedly slashed his friend Britney Ujlaky’s throat, raped and suffocated her, before inventing an imaginary suspect.



The 18-year-old appeared at Elko Justice Court on Tuesday, April 7, with his attorneys to face charges of the alleged murder of Ujlaky whom he reportedly last saw on March 8. Dickey had previously claimed that he saw the victim alive before she was kidnapped by a tall man wearing a cowboy hat who drove a green Ford pickup truck at around 4.30 pm on March 8.



He had also mourned the death of 16-year-old by sharing a post on Facebook. He wrote, “Yesterday, we all received news that made us hit the floor. Around 8 in the morning we all started meeting up at my house to grieve and to mourn Britney’s life. Which was taken far too soon. That day I had tears of pain and joy. I wish she could have seen the amount of us that came together to honor you, sis.



“We love you so much. Just know you won't ever be forgotten. Also thank you to everyone at muleys who were so understanding and helpful to us. We appreciate you.”

Not only this, but he also attended vigils and memorials for the teen, who wanted to become a 'Rodeo Queen' someday.



However, later it was discovered that he was lying and the ‘tall man’ was an imaginary person that he invented to save himself. A used condom that was found beside Ujlaky's partially clothed body led investigators to Dickey. The victim's body was found on March 11 alongside a remote desert road, three days after she went missing. Almost a week after his online mourning of the teen’s death, Dickey was arrested.



A knife inside a pair of red-stained hiking boots was also found inside Dickey’s closet as stated by Monica Siewertsen, of the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office Forensic Science Division. They also discovered a red-stained shirt hidden in a toolbox in Dickey's truck. Investigators said that all the discovered items have been sent for DNA testing.



On April 7, the victim's father James Ujlaky testified during the court hearing. He recalled his final moments with his daughter and said that the accused and his daughter had attended a band rehearsal together before she left with Dickey, a longtime friend who had offered to drive her home.



The girl had also told her father that she would ‘beat him home’, but James became restless after returning home several hours later only to find that his daughter was still not at home. “I was repeatedly calling her and I sent a text, ‘Why aren’t you answering my calls?’” James said, as he added that he found it strange that his daughter's phone kept going to voicemail each time he called.



James also said that though he had not met the accused many times, he knew that his daughter was friends with him. Cheyenne Fry, Britney Ujlaky's friend, who also testified against Dickey in the court on Tuesday, stated that the suspect was like a 'big brother' for the victim, who had no romantic feelings for him.



Fry said that Dickey wanted to be more than friends with Ujlaky, but she had turned him down. “I think he didn’t want to take no for an answer and he was going to get his way whether she liked it or not. He violated her in no way that any woman should be violated. I just can’t imagine how scared she was at the moment. It kills me because no one should die the way that she did. Talking about it makes me so sick to my stomach,” she added.



Alisha Ujlaky, Britney's mother, mentioned that her daughter was a virgin. Talking about the crime, she said: “My daughter was a damn virgin — there was not a consensual thing about it."



During the Tuesday hearing, Dickey did not say anything as he sat silently between his attorneys. He has been put behind bars without bail and district Attorney Tyler Ingram has the option to seek the death penalty for him.

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