‘Cowboy Mike’ moving to Thurston County trial

Thu., May 11, 2006

Associated Press The Spokesman-Review

YAKIMA – The next stop for “Cowboy Mike” will be Thurston County.

Prosecutors in Yakima County announced Wednesday they will not seek a new trial on an attempted-murder charge for Michael Braae, an aspiring country western singer and songwriter known as “Cowboy Mike,” who investigators believe may be linked to the deaths or disappearances of four women in the Pacific Northwest.

Yakima County Superior Court Judge James C. Lust declared a mistrial Tuesday after a jury split 11-1 in favor of conviction on the attempted-murder charge.

Braae, 46, was accused of the 2001 shooting of 50-year-old Marchelle Morgan. Morgan was left for dead on a country road south of Union Gap on July 14, 2001, but survived. She was unable to testify during the trial because of brain damage from the shooting.

“We thought we had taken our best shot at getting a conviction,” Deputy Prosecutor Kenneth L. Ramm Jr. 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 mystery man known only as “Pedro” before she was attacked, were believed to have played a role in splitting the jury, Ramm said.

Braae was arrested following a wild chase through eastern Oregon in 2001.

He has been caught in at least five escape attempts, according to law enforcement officials.

Since his arrest, he has been charged with murder and rape in Thurston County in the death of Lori Jones, 44, of Lacey. Investigators also have indicated he may be linked to the deaths or disappearances of women in Douglas and Wahkiakum counties in Washington state and in Portland.

Braae will be transferred to Olympia in Thurston County for trial there next, Ramm said.

“We don’t want to delay Thurston County’s case. As time goes on, memories fade, and that’s what we were presented with in this case,” he said. “They need to be able to prosecute their case as soon as they can. We’ve had him long enough.”

Days after Morgan was found, Braae was spotted in Oregon and caught after a high-speed chase along Interstate 84 that ended with his leap off a 40-foot bridge into the Snake River, which forms the border between Oregon and Idaho.

Braae was sentenced to 9 1/2 years in prison in Idaho for aggravated assault and eluding an officer in his unsuccessful attempt to avoid capture.

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