Michael Braae

Case information

Michael Braae was also known as “Cowboy Mike” and was described as a former country singer.

Timeline

• July 7, 2001 — Lori Jones was last seen with Braae at a bar in Olympia.
• July 13, 2001 — Authorities found evidence that Braae was linked to a Yakima case after a woman left a Yakima bar with Braae on the night of July 13 and was nearly killed.
• July 14, 2001 — Marchelle Morgan was found shot in the head just south of Yakima after being left for dead on Parker Bridge Road; Braae was accused of attempted murder for the shooting.
• July 20, 2001 — Braae was apprehended by boat on July 20, 2001, about two weeks after Lori Jones’ body was discovered.
• January 1998 — The skeletal remains of Valina Larson were found in a field near Oregon City.
• May 11, 2006 — A judge declared a mistrial in the attempted-murder trial of Michael “Cowboy Mike” Braae after the jury deadlocked.
• May 13, 2006 — Yakima County prosecutors announced they would not seek a new trial on the attempted-murder charge.
• May 22, 2008 — Braae was found guilty by a jury in Thurston County Superior Court for the 2001 killing of Lori Jones.
• July 23, 2008 — Braae was sentenced in Washington to 47 years in prison.
• July 24, 2008 — A report described the sentencing as more than 47 years and stated that the judge sentenced him to the high end of the range.

Background

Braae was an aspiring country singer-songwriter and was known for his “Cowboy Mike” persona. He was arrested in Idaho in 2001 after leading police on a 40-mile car chase that ended when he jumped from a 40-foot-high bridge into the Snake River. An Idaho sheriff’s deputy testified that Braae was picked up by a police boat after trying to drown a police dog sent into the water to catch him.

Braae had a history of attempted escapes. In 1997, he escaped from the Thurston County jail while serving time for a drug conviction. After he was picked up in Idaho, he fashioned a chicken bone into a lock pick and used it to get out of his cell at the Payette County Jail; he beat up the guard, but other inmates subdued him before he could slip out. He also plotted an escape from Idaho’s maximum-security state prison, where guards found rope woven from a laundry bag and a crude pair of mittens, presumably to help him scale razor wire. At the Yakima County Jail, he attempted escape through the heating duct, but it ended at an interior brick wall.

Braae was described as having a history of domestic violence in a relationship with his ex-wife, Brenda. Reinhold said Brenda separated from him in 1993, lived in Yelm, and remained terrified of him. Reinhold also said Braae controlled what makeup and clothes his ex-wife wore. Reinhold further described Braae as having a heavy drinking habit and said that alcohol combined with bad temper was a “bad combination.”

Braae was described as having hatred for women and as being controlling in relationships where he could not “call the shots.” Reinhold said Braae likely learned from Valina Larson that the more time passed before a body was discovered, the less chance there was for damning evidence.

The case involved multiple women where authorities believed Braae might have been linked, including Susan Ault and other missing or deceased women named in the material.

People and participants

• Michael John Braae — defendant; also known as “Cowboy Mike.”
• Lori Jones (44) — victim; body found under her bed at her apartment in Lacey; rape and first-degree murder convictions.
• Marchelle Morgan (50) — shooting victim; alleged attempted murder; survived shooting but was ruled unable to testify due to brain injury.
• Susan Ault (39) — missing woman last seen arguing with Braae; “body was never found.”
• Valina Larson (37) — homeless woman; disappeared in September 1997 from Clackamas County, Oregon; skeletal remains found in January 1998.
• Debra Van Luven (45) — woman who disappeared in March 1997 from Douglas County, Oregon; described as having been dating Braae.
• Elisa Jones (11) — Lori Jones’ daughter at the time; mentioned in relation to events after the bar encounter.
• David Bowman — described as a man Lori Jones intended to go out with.
• Elisa’s family friend — described as accompanying Elisa fishing near Hoquiam.
• Ward Cleaver–era relic Schwan’s man — mentioned as delivering frozen dinners in Lacey.
• Detective Bev Reinhold — Lacey Police Department detective who led aspects of investigation.
• Chief Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Jon Tunheim — prosecutor called to the scene.
• Juror Daniel Farber — juror quoted on the trial and testimony.
• Judge James Lust — Yakima County Superior Court judge who declared mistrial in attempted-murder case.
• Judge James C. Lust — Yakima County Superior Court judge referenced in the attempted-murder mistrial report.
• Deputy Prosecutor Kenneth Ramm — prosecutor quoted about the decision not to seek a new trial.
• Deputy Prosecutor Kenneth Ramm — referenced as acknowledging weaknesses in the attempted-murder case.
• Superior Court Judge Jim Lust — referenced in the November 01, 2005 report as granting continuance.
• Cheryl Baker-Rivers — Washington State Patrol latent print examiner who matched the scene fingerprints; later living in rural British Columbia.
• Bartender Michael Dekluyver — Bailey’s Lounge bartender who identified Braae as leaving with Lori Jones.
• Rick and Jim Talley — long-haul truckers described as brothers; regulars at Bailey’s Lounge.
• George — Bailey’s regular referenced by first name only.
• Karen Peterson — mentioned as a woman Braae introduced himself to after the shooting.
• Veronica Culp (14) — Peterson’s daughter.
• Jeremy Clouse (19) — Culp’s boyfriend.
• Brenda Keen — woman Braae followed to the Road House Tavern and spent the night with.
• Malheur County Sheriff Andrew Bentz — quoted about the capture.
• Malheur County Sheriff’s Detective Rich Harriman — described as being in the jet boat and quoted.
• Idaho State Police Sgt. Mike Lusk — quoted about the chase and the jump.
• Lt. Dan Garcia — Yakima County Sheriff’s lieutenant quoted about the arrest warrant.
• Lt. Tom Nelson — Lacey police lieutenant quoted about the “person of interest” status in the homicide.
• U.S. Attorney Jeff Sullivan — described as helping with witness release for trial scheduling.
• Phil Lynch — head of the Justice Department’s operations in Baghdad; mentioned in relation to witness travel.
• Christen Anton Peters — co-council quoted about trial timing.
• Jim Shackleton — Braae’s attorney referenced regarding appeal plans.
• Yakima-based attorney Bryan Smith — quoted about civil lawsuits.
• Washington Department of Corrections spokesman Chad Lewis — quoted about the civil cases.

The offence

Lori Jones: rape and first-degree murder

Lori Jones (44) was last seen with Braae at a bar in Olympia on July 7, 2001, and her body was found under her bed in her Lacey home. Authorities said Braae’s DNA was found on Jones’ body, and his fingerprint was on a window blind at her apartment.

Braae testified that he had sex with Jones but denied having anything to do with her death. The jury convicted him of first-degree rape and second-degree murder.

Marchelle Morgan: attempted murder by shooting

Marchelle Morgan (50) was left for dead on a country road south of Union Gap on July 14, 2001, and was found shot in the head. The shooting left her with brain damage, and she was unable to testify during the attempted-murder trial due to brain injury.

Authorities linked Braae to the shooting, and the trial resulted in a mistrial after jury deadlock.

Investigation

Detective Bev Reinhold described receiving a call before dawn when Jones’ body was found. She said investigators determined it could not be an accidental death because people did not just die under their own bed, naked.

Reinhold said the bed was taken apart to get to Jones’ body. She said bedding had been removed, but the quilt had been draped over the top of the mattress. Reinhold described there being blood by Jones’ ear, a small screwdriver about four inches long on the bedside table, and small cuts on her hand that seemed consistent with the screwdriver.

Chief Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Jon Tunheim described how clean the place was, and said a drinking glass by the computer looked like it had been used and some laundry was stacked on the dryer still damp. Tunheim said there was marijuana residue and a pipe by the bed, and a cigarette in the toilet with a brown filter. Prosecutors learned Jones smoked white-filtered Marlboro Lights, and brown-filtered Camels were later found in Braae’s blue Nissan pickup.

Tunheim said there were no obvious signs of struggle and that it was unique she was under the bed, which seemed like an attempt to hide her that took deliberate effort. Reinhold said she noticed wet laundry on top of the dryer and bedding in the wash as evidence of cleaning.

Investigators found a fingerprint on the inside of the bedroom door and matched it with Braae. Reinhold said Braae had been in the system since a 1979 shoplifting arrest in Pierce County. Reinhold also said Braae’s DNA was later found on Jones’ body.

Police found a receipt in Jones’ purse from Bailey’s Lounge, where they identified Braae as having left with Jones that night.

Reinhold said police turned up a clue identifying Braae as having left with Jones and that they flewered bars in Pierce, Thurston, and south King counties. A tip line yielded information about how Braae liked to ride horses and drink snakebites.

During the capture in Idaho, the material described a police dog being sent into the water at the end of a tether. The suspect attempted to hold the dog under first, and investigators described both being taken into the boat afterward.

Attempted murder investigation details

In the attempted-murder case, the material described that Marchelle Morgan knew her attacker but fell into a coma before she could say his name. The trial did not include testimony from Morgan because she was ruled incompetent to testify due to brain injury affecting her memory and speech.

Arrest and custody

Braae was apprehended by boat on July 20, 2001, about two weeks after the discovery of Lori Jones’ body.

On July 21, 2001, an Associated Press report described Braae’s capture after a shootout and a desperate attempt to swim to freedom in the Snake River. The report said he was captured after being exhausted and putting up no more resistance, and it described the involvement of a police dog.

Braae was described as being held in an intensive management unit at the state prison in Shelton due to being considered a flight risk.

Trial

Yakima attempted-murder trial: mistrial and refusal to seek retrial

The attempted-murder trial ended in a mistrial after jury deadlock. The material described:

• The trial focus on shooting of Marchelle Morgan, left for dead on July 14, 2001.
• The jury deadlocked 11-1, and Judge James Lust declared a mistrial.
• The material described that prosecutors acknowledged significant weaknesses, including proving Braae had time to attack Morgan and witness testimony that Morgan left a bar with a man known only as “Pedro” before she was attacked.
• The material said Yakima County prosecutors announced they would not seek a new trial on the attempted-murder charge.

Thurston County trial: rape and murder conviction

In Thurston County Superior Court, Braae was found guilty of first-degree rape and second-degree murder of Lori Jones after trial proceedings lasting three weeks with deliberations after two and a half hours.

Braae testified and said he and Jones had been dating for weeks, and that they had sex in the parking lot of Bailey’s, in Jones’ Toyota Tercel, before Jones was picked up by someone driving a dark SUV.

Juror Daniel Farber commented on the testimony and the jury’s deliberation experience.

“He eliminated any doubts that jurors had just by his own presentation. Every aspect of what he said had this ring of incredibleness to it.” “The three-week trial was emotionally draining, Farber says. ‘It’s not the kind of life I’m exposed to. This guy preyed on people who are vulnerable and prone to bad choices. The absolutely most chilling thing is that rape in the throes of death was something that turned him on.’” “The way the criminal justice system discovered and prepared evidence was phenomenal, to see all of those procedures and see them followed,” “At the end of it, you couldn’t help but think of the people who’d been there all of those many years, like Bev Reinhold—you couldn’t help but imagine her emotions. That was the heart of it for me, to see evil, but to see the capacity of a good society and the functionality of a capable society to put this guy away.”

Sentencing

On July 23, 2008, Braae was sentenced in Washington to 47 years in prison.

The material said the judge sentenced him to the top end of the range and that it would have been an abuse of discretion to not sentence him to the high end of the range.

Appeals

Braae said he planned to appeal the conviction. His attorney, Jim Shackleton, said he could not talk about any details of the appeal until his client had been sentenced.

Outcome

Braae was convicted of:

• first-degree rape; and
• second-degree murder

in Thurston County Superior Court for the July 2001 killing of Lori Jones.

Aftermath

Prosecutors indicated they would ask for close to the maximum at sentencing.

The material also described civil litigation filed by survivors and relatives:

• They filed three civil suits in Thurston County against the state corrections department for letting Braae out on lenient parole in the late 1990s.
• Yakima-based attorney Bryan Smith said the state was negligent in putting Braae on legal financial obligations only, described as a level of supervision typically reserved for the least dangerous offenders requiring only that former prisoners pay a fine each month.
• Washington Department of Corrections spokesman Chad Lewis said the investigation was still in progress and that with the resolution of criminal trials, the civil cases could move forward.

Other details

Evidence and forensic links in the Lori Jones case

The material described:

• DNA found on Jones’ body.
• Fingerprint on a window blind at her apartment.
• A fingerprint match to Braae from the inside of the bedroom door.
• A receipt in Jones’ purse from Bailey’s Lounge.

Bailey’s Lounge and identification

A bartender, Michael Dekluyver (the son of the owners, 21 at the time), identified Braae as having left with Jones on the night Jones’ body was later found.

The material stated that Dekluyver was deployed in Iraq at some point and that prosecutors arranged for his testimony via live video feed; it also described coordination that allowed him to come home to testify.

Prior and other alleged criminal links mentioned

The material said Braae had been serving time for aggravated assault and eluding an officer in a high-speed chase in July 2001 that ended with him jumping off a 40-foot bridge into the Snake River, with the conviction described as making him eligible for release in 2011.

The material also described Braae as having:

• been in and out of jail on many crimes dating back to the 1970s,
• an extensive Washington record including six gross misdemeanors (including multiple DUIs), fourth-degree assault, reckless driving, felonies for drug possession, and a 1997 escape from the Thurston County Jail.

The material also described other jurisdictions and additional allegations, including the material’s statements about possible links to deaths or disappearances of women in Douglas and Wahkiakum counties and in Portland, and suspected link to deaths or disappearances of four women in the Pacific Northwest at various times.

Quoted statements from authorities

“We thought we had taken our best shot at getting a conviction,” Deputy Prosecutor Kenneth Ramm said Wednesday. “The jury we had selected was probably one of the best we could have hoped for -- a very mature, well-educated group of people.” “But prosecutors acknowledged significant weaknesses in their case.” “Proving that Braae had time to attack Morgan, and witness testimony that Morgan left a bar with a man known only as ‘Pedro’ before she was attacked, were believed to have played a role in splitting the jury,” Ramm said. “We determined pretty quickly that it couldn’t be an accidental death,” Detective Bev Reinhold said. “People don’t just die under their own bed, naked.” “I think he did some clean-up,” Reinhold said. “There wasn’t any obvious signs of struggle,” Tunheim said. “It was unique that she was under the bed. Seemed an attempt to hide her that took some deliberate effort.” “I didn’t try to drown that damn dog! Lyin’ cops! I saved him!” Braae wrote in a letter. “He hollered, ‘My name isn’t Cowboy,’ but that’s the only thing he said,” Malheur County Sheriff’s Detective Rich Harriman said. “That’s a hell of a jump, and the water’s not very deep,” Idaho State Police Sgt. Mike Lusk said. “It was two states, three counties and three cities really working on this hard to make sure he didn’t get out of the river and endanger the public,” Malheur County Sheriff Andrew Bentz said. “This is a dangerous individual, and you just cannot allow someone like that to get in among the citizenry.” “In Washington, Yakima County Sheriff’s Lt. Dan Garcia said sheriff’s detectives did the paperwork on Thursday for an arrest warrant for Braae, ‘probably for attempted murder,’” “We don’t think she had a relationship with him. It was the first night they met,” Lt. Tom Nelson said. “We thought we had taken our best shot at getting a conviction,” Ramm said. “He’s done some things that he hasn’t been caught for yet,” Reinhold said. “He has a typical serial-killer profile,” Tunheim added. “He became convinced he couldn’t be caught, that he was invincible. I kept thinking during the trial that if we don’t convict this guy, somebody else is going to get killed.”

Reading glasses and jail restrictions

The material described Braae’s reading-glass restriction in Yakima County jail after he allegedly filed down or sharpened lenses. It also said he told the judge the alteration was because the glasses looked “too girlish” and that the judge decided he could have glasses during the day but would lose that privilege if he tried to modify or alter them again.