A hiker's grim discovery off a San Jacinto mountain trail in 2004 is finally reaching a jury more than two decades later. Testimony is scheduled to begin Monday in the Banning trial of James Robert Landi, 44, who is charged with first-degree murder in the death of 18-year-old Hemet resident Reynaldo Nino Burts.
The case traces back to March 21, 2004, when a hiker found decomposed human remains near Southfork Trail and Highway 74 in Idyllwild and summoned sheriff's deputies, according to KTLA. An autopsy confirmed the remains belonged to Burts and that he had died from multiple gunshot wounds, per a trial brief cited by MyNewsLA.com. The Riverside Sheriff's Central Homicide Unit took over the investigation after the initial response, as reported by CBS News.
Central Homicide Unit detectives identified Landi as a person of interest early in the investigation, but investigators at the time lacked sufficient evidence to arrest him, CBS News reports. The case went cold until the Sheriff's Department revisited stalled homicide investigations in August 2025, when the cold case unit identified new investigative leads, per the same account. That renewed push led investigators, with assistance from the Riverside County District Attorney's Gang Impact Team, to locate Landi in San Mateo, where they arrested him without incident on December 5, 2025.
What Prosecutors Say Happened on the Trail
According to the trial brief described by MyNewsLA.com, Landi and Burts had been friends for a time before the killing, along with a mutual acquaintance named Oscar Celaya. Landi allegedly believed Burts had taken unspecified items from his father's property and had failed to repay money he had borrowed. Prosecutors allege Landi plotted to kill Burts during a mountain hike and invited both Burts and Celaya to walk the Southfork Trail, which sits near Highway 74 south of Idyllwild and west of Mountain Center in the San Bernardino National Forest.
The hike was allegedly planned for the first week of October 2003, though the prosecution could not establish a specific date, the outlet's report states. Landi reportedly told Celaya beforehand about his intentions to kill Burts. He allegedly said he would bring a .22-caliber pistol that he might sell to Burts after some target shooting, and Burts had expressed interest in buying the gun.
Allegations of a Dry Creek Bed Shooting
Once on the trail, Landi allegedly persuaded Burts to leave the path for recreational shooting, according to the trial brief. Prosecutors allege Landi then shot Burts multiple times in the face, head and chest at a dry creek bed, and that Burts died at the scene. Oscar Celaya allegedly assisted in moving Burts's body a short distance to a less visible location, and prosecutors reported that the remains were never buried, per MyNewsLA.com's account of the filing.
Landi allegedly discarded the firearm and the clothes he wore during the hike along a highway afterward; neither the gun nor the clothing was ever recovered, the outlet reports. People who knew both Landi and Burts reportedly learned of the alleged killing within a month or two but did not report it to authorities, according to the same filing.
Charges, Custody Status and What Comes Next
Landi is charged with first-degree murder and faces a special-circumstance allegation of lying in wait, along with sentence-enhancing gun and great-bodily-injury allegations, per MyNewsLA.com's reporting on the case. He has no documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County and is being held without bail at the Byrd Detention Center. Burts was 18 and Landi was 21 at the time of the killing, which the outlet dates to October 2003 — though the remains were not found until the following March, and investigators have not established the precise date of Burts's death.
Judge Mark Singerton seated the jury Thursday and ordered jurors to return Monday to the Banning Justice Center for opening statements and the first witnesses. KTLA reported on social media
that new leads uncovered during the cold case review led to Landi's arrest, closing a gap that had stretched for nearly 22 years. The Riverside County Sheriff's Department has said the broader investigation into Burts's killing remains ongoing.
