Officials have charged an Idaho prisoner who escaped from custody following an ambush at a Boise hospital, as well as his accomplice, in connection with the death of a man from North Idaho. A Nez Perce grand jury indicted Nicholas Umphenour, 28, and Skylar Meade, 31, on Tuesday and charged them with first-degree murder in the death of Juliaetta resident James Mauney, 83, according to a news release from the Nez Perce County Prosecutor’s Office.
If prosecutors identify aggravating factors, they may pursue the death penalty in the men’s cases. Mauney failed to return home from a morning walk with his dogs, prompting the Nez Perce County Sheriff’s Office to issue a missing person alert.
Police later discovered his dead in a “desolate area” near Leland, around 10 miles east of Juliaetta and north of Lewiston. Police suspect Umphenour and Meade of involvement in two homicides after discovering Mauney and another North Idaho man slain while the two suspects were at large.
Authorities alleged Umphenour and Meade planned an attack on correction officers at Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center, where Meade had been taken to heal self-inflicted injuries. The two guys fled in a vehicle and drove through North Idaho, where the two homicides happened, before being apprehended in the Twin Falls region, according to authorities.
“These indictments are the first step in the process of seeking justice for James Mauney,” Nez Perce Prosecutor Justin Coleman stated in a press statement. “We have a long way to go to reach the conclusion we want and will continue to work diligently with law enforcement agencies throughout the state to ensure we have the strongest case possible to present.”
On the evening of March 19, three Idaho Department of Correction officers transported Meade to the Boise hospital. By 2 a.m. the next morning, the officers were returning Meade to the prison van when Umphenour approached and opened fire, killing two of them, according to Boise Police Violent Crimes Detective Matthew Canfield during a preliminary hearing.
According to the Boise Police Department, a 12-year veteran fired and injured a third prison officer. The three officers have already been released from the hospital and are healing.
Police searched for Umphenour and Meade for 36 hours as they drove nearly 1,000 miles in an almost full circle around the state, then through Missoula, Montana, before discovering them in Twin Falls County by surveilling a residential area in Filer, about 15 minutes west, according to prior reporting and an affidavit of probable cause filed by the Twin Falls Police Department.
When an FBI agent noticed the pair leave the neighborhood in different automobiles, he began pursuing Meade and the driver, 52-year-old Twin Falls resident Tonia Huber. Huber was charged with multiple offenses, including harboring a fugitive.
Meade and Huber were apprehended at a Walgreens parking lot in Twin Falls after a chase. Umphenour, who was driving one of the homicide victim’s cars, was also apprehended in the area, state police said. A fourth suspect, 27-year-old Tia Garcia of Twin Falls, was apprehended about a week later and charged of assisting and abetting the men’s escape.
Umphenour and Meade, both members of the white supremacist gang Aryan Knights, were served with the indictments on Wednesday, according to the prosecution’s announcement. They will be imprisoned without bond on the charges and taken to Nez Perce County’s 2nd Judicial Court “to answer for the murder at a later date,” according to the release. Meade and Umphenour have been in detention in the Ada County Jail for several months on charges related to the prison escape.
The Idaho Statesman previously reported that Meade pled guilty to felony escape and a chronic violation enhancement but did not enter pleas on two other enhancements, causing the judge to schedule a hearing later this month to determine how to continue. Umphenour’s jury trial on seven charges has been scheduled for October 21 after 4th District Judge Nancy Baskin entered a not-guilty plea on his behalf, according to the Statesman.
He faces a persistent violator enhancement as well as six felonies: three counts of aggravated assault or battery on certain personnel, one count of escaping prison, one count of unlawful possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and an enhancement for using that weapon to commit a felony, idahostatesman
reported.
According to a news release from Idaho State Police, police are still investigating the death of Gerald “Don” Henderson, 72. The man was found in his cabin near Orofino when his partner requested a welfare check at about 8 p.m. on March 20, the same day as the ambush.
Idaho State Police spokeswoman Aaron Snell declined to comment on aspects of Henderson’s inquiry. “ISP extends gratitude to the involved agencies supporting the investigations and the public for their support,” said the press statement.