Idaho prison escapee, facing death penalty for Juliaetta killing, stands silent during plea hearing

The man who escaped Idaho Department of Correction custody and is accused of committing murder during a statewide manhunt stood silently when asked to enter a plea Thursday.

Aryan Knights member Skylar Meade, 32, appeared on Zoom in a gray striped jumpsuit for his arraignment in Nez Perce County – the first time he was seen in public since he was handed a life sentence in July for escaping custody after a shootout with Boise corrections officers.

When Meade stood silently in the Lewiston court instead of entering a plea, Second District Judge Michelle Evans entered a “not guilty” plea on his behalf.

Meade is charged with the first-degree murder of 83-year-old James Mauney, a resident of Juliaetta, Idaho, who disappeared in March while walking his dogs.

Meade and his alleged accomplice, Nicholas Umphenour, attempted to rob Mauney and then shot him in the head, court records say. His body was later found in an area of farm fields near Leland, Idaho.

Nez Perce County Prosecutor Justin Coleman filed paperwork last week seeking the death penalty.

Coleman wrote in court records the aggravating circumstances show Meade exhibited an utter disregard for human life, that Mauney’s killing was committed with reckless indifference to human life, that Meade is a continuing threat to society and that he committed another murder at the time of Mauney’s death. If Meade is found guilty of first-degree murder, one or more of those circumstances must be proven for a jury to sentence Meade to death.

Asked whether Meade understood the charges against him during his hearing Thursday, he only responded to Evans with, “Yes, ma’am” or “No, ma’am.”

Under Idaho law, defendants facing the death penalty require a death-certified attorney to represent them. Court documents show Meade is represented by Rick Cuddihy and Anne Taylor, two of the 37 attorneys in the state approved by the Idaho Public Defense Commission to handle death penalty cases. But Taylor is only one of 13 attorneys approved to lead a capital case.

Taylor is also the only attorney approved to work those in North Idaho, where there are two death penalty cases she is leading.

They occurred within two years of each other – she made national news by representing Bryan Kohberger, the former criminology student accused of stabbing and killing four University of Idaho students to death in November 2022 and who is set to go to trial in June .

Umphenour, Meade’s alleged accomplice, also was indicted in the killing of Mauney, although he is still awaiting trial in Boise on charges of escaping custody and assault against law enforcement.

The two remain suspects in a Clearwater County killing of 72-year-old Gerald “Don” Henderson, whose body was found in his Orofino cabin, along with Mauney’s dogs and Meade’s prison shackles.

Henderson was an acquaintance of Umphenour at one point, according to previous reporting from The Spokesman-Review. No charges had been filed against either of them as of Thursday.

Idaho State Police said previously the crime spree happened while the two were on the run following the escape.

Meade began cutting himself so he’d be transported to Boise’s Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center for treatment.

This was all part of a plan to break Meade out of prison – Umphenour and Meade were texting each other, planning the escape, according to reporting from the Idaho Statesman.

Their texts involved discussions about which guards would be carrying weapons and how to get enough ammunition. At one point, Meade allegedly said the two only would kill officers if they “had to.”

After he was treated at the hospital, the officers were preparing to escort Meade back to prison when Umphenour reportedly ambushed them, shooting and injuring two of them from the ambulance bay of the hospital, police said at the time. Meade and Umphenour escaped in a gray Honda Civic, driving up and down Idaho until they were apprehended in Twin Falls 36 hours later.

Meade’s next appearance in Nez Perce County is set for Sept. 5.