The man whose body was dragged from his car and then partially eaten by a bear after he died this week has been identified as a 53-year-old convicted murderer.

Fingerprints were used to confirm Rory Nelson Wagner as the person whose dismembered body was discovered beneath a pile of leaves and dirt off Long Lake Road near Kamloops on Wednesday, according to the BC Coroners Service. An autopsy and toxicology tests will be done to determine how he died.

Wagner was one of three men who pleaded guilty in 1996 to second-degree murder in the death of 30-year-old Andy Kohlman, according to National Parole Board documents. He was serving a life sentence at the time of his death but was out on day parole.

Wagner, his brother and another accomplice abducted Kohlman in 1993, took him to a wooded area and beat him to death because they believed he had sexually assaulted Wagner's nieces, according to parole documents. Kohlman had recently been acquitted on sex charges involving the girls.

Wagner was arrested for the murder after confessing during a Mr. Big sting, in which he promised he would deal drugs, collect debts and even kill people if ordered to do so by an undercover officer posing as a crime boss.

The parole documents describe Wagner as "considerate and respectful" but say he has struggled with substance abuse. Before the murder arrest, he had racked up 10 criminal convictions for alcohol-related offences and obstruction.

Wagner was reported missing after he failed to show up at his Kamloops halfway house on May 23. A group of hunters discovered his abandoned 1986 Volkswagen Jetta along a logging road Wednesday night, and then found his remains in a bushy area nearby.

When Mounties examined the car, they discovered that the driver's side window was fully down and there were muddy paw prints and scratches on the left side of the vehicle. The driver's side mirror had been bent forward and the moulding around the window was ripped off.

Investigators believe Wagner was dead for some time before the scavenging black bear found him. Police say the death is not suspicious, and hard drugs and liquor were found during a search of the dead man's car.

A suspect bear was caught in a trap Friday and conservation officers plan to destroy the animal once they confirm it's the same one that fed on Wagner's body. The location where the bear was found is within a few kilometres of homes and campsites, and the officers believe killing the bear is necessary to protect public safety.