BOISE, Idaho — An Idaho prosecutor says he will seek the death penalty against an Idaho inmate accused of killing a man while he was in prison. on the run during a 36-hour prison break.
Skylar Meade, 32, is already lifetime in prison after plead guilty to the March escape from a Boise hospital, where prison officials had taken him for treatment of self-inflicted wounds. But the first-degree murder charge is in another county, and Meade has not yet had a chance to enter a plea in that case. Meade’s attorney, Rick Cuddihy, did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.
Nez Perce County District Attorney Justin Coleman announced Friday that he will seek the death penalty if Meade is convicted of the shooting death of James Mauney.
“After long and careful consideration, I have decided to seek the death penalty in this case,” Coleman wrote in the press release. “The senseless and random killing of Mr. Mauney and the facts surrounding what led to his death justify this decision.”
Meade’s alleged accomplice in the escape, Nicholas Umphenour, 29, has also been charged in connection with Mauney’s death and has not yet had a chance to enter a plea. Umphenour is also awaiting trial on charges including aggravated assault and aiding and abetting escape after a judge entered a not guilty plea on his behalf. Umphenour’s attorney, Brian Marx, did not immediately respond to a voicemail message.
The case began in the early morning hours of March 20, after the Idaho Department of Corrections took Meade to Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center for treatment of self-inflicted wounds. Prosecutors say that as corrections officers prepared to take Meade back to prison around 2 a.m., an accomplice opened fire outside the hospital.
Nicholas Umphenour shot two of the correctional officers, prosecutors say. A third officer was shot and wounded when a fellow officer mistook him for the gunman and opened fire. All three officers survived their wounds.
Meade and Umphenour Fled the scenesaid the researchers, who first drove several hours to north-central Idaho.
Mauney, an 83-year-old Juliaetta resident, failed to return home later that morning after walking his dogs on a local trail. Idaho State Police officials said Mauney’s body was found miles away.
The grand jury indictment charges that Meade shot Mauney while he was trying to rob the man or helped another person kill him. Police have also said that Meade and Umphenour are suspects in the death of Gerald Don Henderson, 72, who was found outside his home in a nearby town. Henderson’s death remains under investigation, and neither Meade nor Umphenour have been charged.
Police said the men left north-central Idaho not long after and headed back to the southern half of the state. They were arrested in Twin Falls about 36 hours after the attack on the hospital.
Police described both men as members of a white supremacist gang who were incarcerated at the Idaho Maximum Security Institution in Kuna and at times were in the same unit.
At the time of the escape, Meade was serving a 20-year sentence for shooting a sheriff’s sergeant during a high-speed chase. Umphenour was released in January after serving sentences for grand larceny and unlawful possession of a firearm.
Meade will be arraigned on murder charges on Thursday.