Escaped Idaho Prisoner Recaptured, Three Accomplices Charged
A two-day manhunt ended on March 21, 2024, with the capture of escaped Idaho prisoner Skylar Meade, 31. Three alleged accomplices have also been arrested, including fellow Aryan Knights gang member Nicholas Umphenour, 28, who was held before his January 2024 release with Meade at Idaho Maximum Security Institution.
Meade escaped on March 19, 2024, while boarding a transport back to prison outside a Boise hospital, where he had been treated for an incident of “self-harm” which was actually part of the escape plot, authorities said. That’s when Umphenour ambushed and shot two escorting guards, wounding them. A third guard was wounded by friendly fire from responding police.
Meanwhile Meade and Umphenour got away in a gray Honda Civic. It was found the next day with a corpse inside, identified as James L. Mauney, 83; police said the elderly man was dog-walking when the escapees fatally shot him, stuffing his body in their getaway vehicle before making off in his Chrysler Pacifica with his dogs.
The dogs were later found at the home of Gerald “Don” Henderson, 72, along with Henderson’s body; he had been shot dead, too. Meade’s handcuffs had been left behind there. The Chrysler was tracked to a Filer home, from which Meade and Umphenour fled in separate vehicles. After a high-speed chase, Meade was captured in a car being driven by Tonia Huber, 52, who was also arrested. Police said she had fentanyl in her possession. Umphenour’s vehicle was then found and stopped, and he was apprehended, as well.
Tia Garcia, 27, who was already in custody on a probation violation, was also charged in the escape when it was discovered that she owned the Honda in which the escapees made their first getaway. All four suspects were being held in Twin Falls County jail. Prosecutors asked for $500,000 bail for Huber. Bail for the two escapees was set at $2 million in Ada County.
Sources: KTVB, NBC News
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