Slaying suspect may be linked to 3 more cases

LACEY, Thurston County — Michael John Braae, who police have linked to the slaying, rape and attack of at least six women, will also be investigated in connection with a rape in Tacoma and the disappearance of two women in Cowlitz and Pierce counties, authorities said yesterday.

Police also plan to determine whether there are any links between Braae and violent crimes against women in Arizona, California, Florida and Montana, authorities said. Braae, 41, is being held in lieu of $3.5 million bail at the Malheur County Jail in Vale, Ore.

Police shared information yesterday in a meeting that drew representatives from 16 state, county and city police agencies.

The new cases include the 1996 disappearance of Phyllis Lewellen of Kelso and a rape in Tacoma in 1999.

"Michael Braae is not going anywhere for a while," said Lt. Tom Nelson of the Lacey Police Department, who acted as spokesman for the unofficial task force.

"We have some time to discuss each other's cases, find similarities and see if there are other (cases). We want to be sure Michael Braae is held accountable for every missing person that he is responsible for."

Nelson said agency representatives put together a timeline of the past 15 years of Braae's life, including where he lived and traveled, whom he dated and what jobs he held. That information will be released to Northwest law-enforcement agencies by the state Attorney General's Office and then possibly to the public, Nelson said.

The State Patrol crime lab will compare blood samples from Braae to forensic evidence collected in the other cases. Those results should be available in the next few weeks, Nelson said.

According to police, Braae dated most of the women with whom he has been linked for only two or three weeks at the most. Sometimes, he saw them only once.

Most of Braae's victims, according to police, were down-and-out, lonely women. Those still alive told police Braae was a smooth talker who picked up women at country-music bars and earned some income by playing the guitar and singing country tunes.

He is known by the nickname "Cowboy Mike" because of the leather boots and beige, Western-style hats he prefers.

Braae also sports a Playboy-bunny tattoo on his left hand.

"Michael Braae is not a serial killer, but I do think he has a mean streak," Nelson said. "All the women he dated said he was a sweet, loving kind of person, until somewhere along the line something set him off."

Authorities had hoped to talk with Marchelle Morgan, 50, of Yelm, an alleged victim who regained consciousness this week at Yakima Valley Memorial Hospital in Yakima.

But she is still on a ventilator after being transferred to a nursing facility in Puyallup, and police aren't yet sure when they will be able to speak to her.

Police found Morgan on July 13 beneath a bridge south of Union Gap, Yakima County, unconscious and shot in the head. Braae has been named in an arrest warrant for attempted murder in connection with the case.

Police also expect to investigate Braae in the cases of:

• Lori Jones, 44, of Lacey, whose body was found July 8 under her bed. She was last seen with Braae at a bar the night before.

• Deb VanLuven, 45, of Lacey, who disappeared March 1997. Police say she and Braae shared a Lacey hotel room. VanLuven also was a regular at the Olympia bar where Jones was last seen with Braae.

• Velina Larson, 37, a homeless women who disappeared from Gladstone, Ore., a suburb of Portland, in September 1997. Police say she and Braae camped together while they were homeless. Her remains were found in a vacant lot there in January 1998.

• Susan Ault, 39, of Rosburg, Wahkiakum County, who was last seen June 24 arguing with Braae. Last weekend, Cowlitz County search teams found Ault's purse, credit card and clothes north of Castle Rock.

• A rape victim in Yakima whose identity has not been released by police.

Braae was driving Ault's pickup July 20 when he was arrested by Idaho state police. After a car chase with gunfire, Braae stopped on the Interstate 84 bridge over the Snake River at the Oregon-Idaho border, jumped into the river and swam downstream about 2½ miles before being captured.

Braae also is wanted on charges of probation violations in Washington and California. He faces a court appearance Aug. 20 for three misdemeanor charges in Oregon related to his capture. Idaho prosecutors also have charged him with crimes in last month's police chase.

A hearing to decide whether Braae will be extradited to Idaho or Washington is set for Sept. 27. Braae has told the Oregon court he will fight extradition.

Michael Ko can be reached at 206-515-5653 or at mko@seattletimes.com.