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British Columbia

Grisly northern murder mystery ends with 2 guilty pleas

Four years after Fribjon Bjornson, 28, disappeared in northern B.C., two men have pleaded guilty to his murder.

Severed head of young father Fribjon Bjornson found weeks after he disappeared in 2012

Fribjon Bjornson was 28 and a father of two when he was murdered. (RCMP)

A grislymurder case involving the dismemberment of a northern B.C. logger and father has ended in two guilty pleas.

DarrenJesse Bird and Wesley Dennis Duncan pleaded guilty in B.C. Supreme Court in Prince George, Wednesday,to thesecond-degree murder of Fribjon Bjornson,acrime RCMPhadcalled "horrific".

Thevictim, a 28-year-old father of two,was last seen at a 7-Elevenin Vanderhoof, B.C., in February2012.

Severed head found in vacant house

Three weeks later, Bjornson's severed head was discovered in an empty house on the Nak'azdli Reserve near Fort St James.

The rest of his body has never been found.

The severed head of Fribjon Bjornson, 28, was found in 2012 in this abandoned, now demolished, house on the Nak'azdli reserve near Fort St. James. (CBC News)

Four years ago, Bjornson's parents issued an appeal for hunters and people in the backcountry to keep an eye out for any signs of their son.

"Please. Help me. Help me find my baby. Bring my son home," said Eileen Bjornson in 2012.

What happened to Bjornson has always been a mystery.

In 2012, Bjornson'sparents told CBCtheir son struggled with a cocaine addiction.

Killers known to police

The truth may finally be revealedwhenthe men who pleaded guilty toBjornson'smurderreturn to court for sentencing.

Both men are known to police.

Bjornson's parents put out an appeal to "bring my son home," before his remains were discovered. (Submitted)

Duncan had previous convictions for impaired driving, theftand assault.

Bird hadbeen convicted of possession of stolen property and theft.

Bird was one of three men charged but later acquitted after a2008 gunfight in which 40shots were fired in broad daylight on a downtown street corner inPrince George.

A man and a woman are still facing charges,including indignity to human remains and accessory after the factin the Bjornson murder case,

'It haunts me'

"We never let it rest,"Bjornson'sfather, FredBjornson,told CBC in 2012.

"There's never been a day with any happiness since. Every day, every morning, you wake up with it.You live with it all day long.It haunts you in the middle of the night. It's constant. It's hard."