Shooting case ends in mistrial

Wed., May 10, 2006

Associated Press The Spokesman-Review

YAKIMA – A judge declared a mistrial Tuesday after a jury deadlocked in the attempted-murder trial of Michael “Cowboy Mike” Braae, accused of shooting his girlfriend in the head.

After three days of deliberations, jurors told Yakima County Superior Court Judge James C. Lust they were unable to reach a verdict in the much-delayed trial.

Yakima County prosecutors planned to announce a decision today on whether they would seek a retrial or send Braae to another county for prosecution.

Since his arrest in 2001, investigators have linked Braae, 47, to the deaths or disappearances of at least four women in the Pacific Northwest.

The trial in Yakima focused on the shooting of Marchelle Morgan, who was left for dead on a country road south of Union Gap on July 14, 2001. A passer-by found her, her head drenched in blood.

Jurors did not hear from Morgan, who was ruled incompetent to testify because of a brain injury from the shooting that has affected her memory and speech. Days after Morgan was found, police spotted Braae in Idaho. He was caught after a high-speed chase along Interstate 84 and an unsuccessful leap for freedom off a 40-foot bridge into the Snake River.

He was given a 9 1/2 -year sentence in Idaho for aggravated assault and eluding in that pursuit.

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