Young Nev. Man Found Guilty of Raping, Murdering Teen Family Friend: 'She Called Him Her Big Brother'

Bryce Dickey was convicted Thursday of killing his longtime friend, 16-year-old Britney Ujlaky

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A Nevada man has been found guilty of first-degree murder and sexual assault with a deadly weapon in the 2020 death of 16-year-old Gabrielle "Britney" Ujlaky.

Bryce Dickey, 20, was found guilty by a jury on Thursday in Elko District Court. After four hours of deliberation, the jurors unanimously voted to convict him of all charges.

Dickey was 18 years old when he picked Ujlaky up from Angel Park in Elko on March 8, 2020. She was never seen again.

After she vanished, Dickey — who was so close to Ujlaky that she considered him her "big brother" — allegedly told deputies differing stories about what had happened. At one point, police say he claimed that he had seen her get into a green Ford F-150 pickup trick with a tall man wearing a cowboy hat. The man and the truck were never found, and prosecutors believed that he didn't exist.

Three days after her disappearance, Ujlaky's body was found wrapped in a blue tarp. She had been raped and stabbed to death.

Bryce Dickey. Elko County Sheriff's Office

Authorities soon closed in on Dickey, citing his inconsistent stories and physical evidence found at the scene. Dickey's blood-stained boots and a used condom containing his DNA were found by Ujlaky's body. Dickey eventually admitted to having sex with Ujlaky on the day she vanished, but claimed that it was consensual.

The defense maintained that Dickey hadn't killed Ujlaky. "You will not hear any evidence that anybody anywhere saw Bryce Dickey kill Britney Ujlaky," defense attorney Gary Woodbury told the jury.

But prosecutors presented a witness who testified that she had previously dated Dickey, and that he had repeatedly gotten violent with her, choking her at least four times.

During closing arguments, prosecutors said that they were not required to provide an eyewitness to the crime, the Elko Daily reports.

"I want you to think about whether crimes like murder and sexual assault are crimes often committed in front of other people," prosecutor Tyler Ingram told the jury. "That wouldn't be very smart."

In the end, jurors agreed with the prosecution and convicted Dickey. They will reconvene on Monday to deliberate his sentence. He faces up to life in prison without the possibility of parole.