American Monsters: Michael John Braae - "Cowboy Mike"

0:00 Speaker 1: Warning, Kind of Murdery contains adult themes, explicit language, and descriptions of violence. It is not suitable for anyone, and we recommend you stop listening now.

0:18 Speaker 2: True crime with a dash of the paranormal, the garish, the strange in the darkly comic. I'm Zevan Odelberg, host of Kind of Murdery, a podcast that's about more than just murder. It's my very own pocket dimension, home to a curated collection of bizarre and compelling stories, the unsolved, the unsettling, and the unbelievable. I cover it all just so long as it's kind of Murdery.

0:43 Speaker 3: Hello everyone, as always, Just like it says in the intro, I am Zevan Odelberg, and this is kind of Murdery and I am so glad that you're joining me here today. Last week we dipped our toes in the lighter side of true crime, relatively speaking, with the story of the Barefoot Bandit. We're headed back to the dark, ugly alleys of human nature to meet another serial killer, another American monster, Michael John Bray, the serial rapist and murderer who would become famous, infamous, notorious as Cowboy Mike so if you're ready for another bumpy ride through terrible things that have been but should never be, then please join me as we uncover what truths we can and solve what mysteries we may kind of murderies.

1:35 Speaker 3: American monster Cowboy Mike starts now. Just over two decades ago, in the summer of two thousand and one, a predator walked among the unsuspecting residents of western Washington. He moved quietly, slipping through towns and hamlets and leaving devastation in his wake. This man, this American monster, was Michael John Bray, better known as Cowboy Mike. He was a serial killer and serial rapist who left behind him a tragic trail of violence, terror, and shattered lives, and the authorities might never have caught him if it weren't for the courage of a single woman who provided a tip that ultimately led to his arrest.

2:25 Speaker 3: Cowboy Mike didn't look like your typical killer, whatever it is we think your typical killer looks like. He was in his early forties, tall and lean, with a rugged cowboy charm that allowed him to slip easily into the nightlife of Washington's small towns, wearing his signature jean jacket and cowboy hat. He could blend in with the regulars at local watering holes like Bailey's Lounge in Olympia, the Red Barn in Grand Mound, and the Roadside in Tavern in Glenoma. But behind that disarming exterior was a man with dark and hideous intentions.

2:59 Speaker 3: Ry Jones was one of the first to fall into Bray's deadly web. That summer. She had gone to Bailey's Lounge in Olympia for what should have been a normal Saturday night out. Laurie had been stood up by an online date and maybe she just needed to forget about it for a while, to lose herself in the music and the comfort of strangers. But that night she met cowboy Mike. The two danced together, drank whiskey, and seemed to hit it off. To the barman and the other patrons, they might have looked just like another couple enjoying a night out, but for Laurie, the night would end in tragedy.

3:32 Speaker 3: Laurie's daughter, Elisa, had been away on a fishing trip that weekend. When she returned home, she knew immediately that something was wrong. The apartment was eerily quiet, and her mother was nowhere to be found. In a state of growing panic, Elisa approached the building manager and asked him to help her unlock the door. When they opened it, the sight that greeted them was beyond anything Elisa could have imagined. Laurie's naked body lay hidden beneath the bed, a pillow case over her head. She'd been raped and strangled, her life snuffed out in a moment of unforgivable violence.

4:04 Speaker 3: It was a brutal and calculated murder, and by the time her body was discovered, Michael John Bray was long gone. The police were called and the investigation began. Laurie's apartment became a crime scene, and detectives combed through every inch of it, searching for clues that might point them toward the killer. What they found was a cigarette button the toilet, a small screwdriver on the bedside table, and Lourie's purse with a receipt from Bailey's lounge. But it wasn't just these items that told the story of her last night.

4:34 Speaker 3: It was the fingerprint on the window blind and the DNA left on her body. Those would be the key to solving the case, But for Now the trail led back to Bailey's lounge, where a bartender confirmed that Lourie had spent the night drinking and dancing with a man who seemed very familiar. He described a tall man with cowboy boots and a hat, a man who had introduced himself as Mike. The bartender also remembered the charming cowboy's favorite drink, a snake bite on jack with a shot of lime juice. This tiny, circumstantial detail would become one of the few reliable pieces of evidence that detectives could use to trace Cowboy Mike's movements across Washington State.

5:11 Speaker 3: But by the time detectives were able to piece together that Michael John Bray was their suspect, he was already gone. He'd slipped out of Olympia and vanished into the wind, leaving behind nothing but a cold trail and a growing sense of dread for the small communities of western Washington. For a while, it seemed like Bray might get away with it. He was an expert at evasion, a man who knew how to disappear when the heat got too close. But even as he fled, the noose was tightening around him. Detectives were piecing together his movement, tracking him from town to town as he moved through the Pacific Northwest like a shadow.

5:48 Speaker 3: They knew that if they didn't catch him soon, more women would fall victim to his violent urges. They knew it, and they were right. Bray's next stop was Yakima, a city nestled in the eastern side of the state. It was there that he reunited with his on again, off again girl friend, Marceill Morgan. They'd spent time together before, drinking and laughing in bars like the Red Barn and Grand Mound, but this time their reunion would end in blood. Bray shot Marshall in the head, leaving her for dead in a ditch on the outskirts of town.

6:21 Speaker 3: Miraculously, Martiall survived, though she would never be the same. The bullet that should have killed her instead left her with permanent brain damage, robbing her of her memories and her ability to fully understand what had happened to her. While Marshall Morgan lay bleeding and broken, Bray moved on like nothing had happened. He walked into another Yakuma bar, calm as ever, and charmed yet another woman. This time his target took him home. She had no idea that she was inviting a monster into her life.

6:51 Speaker 3: The next morning, she woke up disoriented, her clothes missing, and her body bearing the signs of a brutal assault. It wasn't until she saw Bray's face in the newspaper that she realized the truth. She had been violated by the man known as Cowboy Mike. The fear that gripped Yakima in the surrounding areas was palpable. This wasn't just another criminal on the loose. This was a man with a history of violence, a man who had already left a trail of victims across the state. The authorities knew they were dealing with a predator who wouldn't stop until he was caught, or worse, until he slipped away for good.

7:26 Speaker 3: And even then, of course, he wouldn't stop. They just wouldn't have caught him. But Bray wasn't done with small town Washington yet. After the attack in Yakima, he fled westward, back toward Glenoma. Glenoma was the kind of place where nothing much ever happened. It was a small town, tucked away in the shadow of the mountains, where life moved at an unhurried pace. This small, quiet town seemed like the perfect place for a man on the run to disappear, and it was here, at a local garage sale, that Bray made his next move.

7:57 Speaker 3: Instead of violence and violation for now anyway, Mike offered only music, bringing out his guitar and strumming tunes for the people gathered there, blending in as if he were just another passerby. Among those who fell under his spell was Brenda Keene, a local resident. Bray and Keen ended up spending the night together at the roadside Inn, a small out of the way tavern, but in an odd twist, Bray deviated from his amo and didn't harm Brenda. He left the next morning, slipping away as quietly as he'd arrived.

8:28 Speaker 3: It wasn't until later, when Brenda saw his face in the newspaper that she realized just how close she'd come to death. She immediately contacted the authorities, providing them with a crucial piece of information, the license plate number of Bray's car. This was the break the police had been waiting for. They tracked Bray's movements, narrowing in on his location, and the chase was on It was the kind of chase you'd expect to see in a movie. Fast, dangerous, and filled with twists and turns. Bray was driving a blue Nissan pickup when the police caught sight of him at a truck stop along Interstate eighty four near the Idaho organ border.

9:04 Speaker 3: When officers tried to pull him over, Bray hit the gas, sending his truck speeding down the highway. The police gave chase, their lights flashing and sirens blaring as they pursued him through the winding roads of the Pacific Northwest. But Bray wasn't about to be caught that easily. He'd spent his whole life running, evading the law, and he wasn't about to stop now. As the chase intensified, Bray made a bold move. He swerved off the road, his truck barreling through a barricade set up by the police.

9:32 Speaker 3: The truck careened down a steep embankment, crashing through trees and brush until it came to a stop at the edge of the Snake River. With the police closing in, Bray jumped out of the truck and made a run for the water. The Snake River was wide and fast, moving, its currents strong enough to pull a man under in seconds, but Bray didn't hesitate. He'd dove in, his body, disappearing beneath the surface as the police watched from the shore. For a moment, it seemed like he might escape. The river was treacherous, and the police were relucted to follow him into the freezing waters.

10:02 Speaker 3: But they couldn't just let him get away, not after everything he'd done, so they sent a police dog after him, the animal plunging into the water with the same determination that had driven the officers in their pursuit. As Bray swam, the dog closed in on him, he tried to fight it off, his hands locking around the animal's neck as he attempted to drown it in the churning water. It was a desperate, violent struggle, man against beast, and for a moment it looked like Bray might win, but the dog held on, refusing to let go, even as the current threatened to pull them both under.

10:32 Speaker 3: The struggle in the Snake River was vicious, both man and beast fighting for survival. Bray's muscles strained as he tried to subdue the police dog, his fingers digging into its fur, attempting to force its head beneath the icy water. But the dog was relentless trained for moments just like this. It fought back with equal ferocity, teeth sinking into Bray's arm, holding onto him with the kind of grip that only years of training could produce. The water churned wildly round them, the current tugging at Bray's legs as he thrashed against the dog.

11:04 Speaker 3: But even as the river pulled them downstream, neither man nor beast relented. Cowboy Mike's breaths came in ragged gasps as he struggled to keep his head above the water, his body exhausted from the fight. For a moment, it looked like the river itself might win, dragging both of them beneath the surface, erasing any trace of the chase. But then through the spray and the chaos, police officers in a boat made their move. They'd been tracking Bray from the shore maneuvering their boat closer with every passing second.

11:32 Speaker 3: Now with the fight reaching its peak, they seized their opportunity. The boat surged forward, cutting through the river water with precision, and the officers leapt into action. They pulled Cowboy Mike out of the river, wrestling him onto the deck. As he fought with them with what little strength he had left. His limbs flailed, but it was no use. The officers held him down, securing him in cuffs. As the dog paddled back to the shore, its job well done. Cowboy Mike's face was pale, his body soaked and trembling from the cold.

12:02 Speaker 3: His once cocky demeanor had vanished, replaced by a look of sheer exhaustion. The Snake River had nearly claimed him, but the law had come out on top this time, and the long chase to capture the monster known as Cowboy Mike had finally come to an end. But even in custody, Michael John Bray didn't go quietly. In the days following his capture, he remained defiant, insisting that he had nothing to do with the murders and assaults he'd been accused of. He clung to his story, claiming that he was an innocent man, a drifter who had simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time, But the evidence told a different story.

12:40 Speaker 3: Once Bray was behind bars, investigators began to piece together the full scope of his crimes. The DNA evidence from Lorie Jones's body matched Bray's, and his fingerprint on the window blind of her apartment tied him directly to the scene of the crime. The prosecution's case was air tight, but that didn't stop Bray from trying to play the system one more time. During his trial, Bray took the stand in his own defense, a move that many found both bold and foolish. He testified that he and Laurie had engaged in consensual sex that night, and that he had left her alive and well when he walked out of the apartment, But the jury saw through his lies.

13:16 Speaker 3: The DNA evidence was undeniable, and the timeline of events didn't match his story. After a three week trial, the jury took only two and a half hours to deliberate before finding Bray guilty of first degree rape and second degree murder. The conviction marked the end of Cowboy Mike's reign of terror, but for many it came far too late. The families of his victims were left to pick up the pieces of their lives shattered by his violence. The survivors those who had managed to escape Cowboy Mike's grasp were haunted by the memories of what he had done to them.

13:50 Speaker 3: Justice had been served, but the scars of this American monster would remain. In the years that followed, more details about Bray's life, life, and crimes began to emerge. He was suspected of being involved in the disappearances and deaths of multiple women across the Pacific Northwest, though concrete evidence was harder to come by in those cases. Among his suspected victims was Susan Alt, a woman who had gone missing just weeks before Bray's arrests. Witnesses had seen her arguing with Bray shortly before her disappearance, and though her body was never found, many believed that she had fallen prey to cowboy Mike.

14:28 Speaker 3: In a hearing in late two thousand, this was before the spree that we've just discussed, a judge had ordered Bray to be placed under community supervision after violating his probation for an earlier conviction related to a jail escape, But instead of strict monitoring, Bray was placed in a program that required him only to pay fines. It was a baffling oversight, and one that would allow him to remain free, leading directly and famously as we've already discussed, to the murderous sprea that would eventually see him captured in two thousand and one.

15:04 Speaker 3: But even before these terrible crimes, law enforcement had known that Bray was a dangerous man. In nineteen ninety eight, the Clackhama County Sheriff's office had Bray in their sights. A deputy investigating the death of another woman in Oregon suspected Bray and wanted to make sure he didn't slip through the cracks again. The deputy requested to be notified twenty four hours before Bray's release if it ever came to that. And Bray wasn't just a suspect in that one death. He'd also been arrested or investigated three times in connection with rapes that never made it to trial.

15:38 Speaker 3: Each time, he had evaded serious consequences, slipping out from under the justice system's grasp like a snake shedding its skin. Perhaps that's why the snake Bite was Cowboy Mike's favorite cocktail. Regardless, the repeated failure to hold him accountable allowed Michael John Bray's violent tendencies to fest unchecked. The system that had allowed Bray to remain free for so long came under heavy scrutiny. Lawsuits were filed against the state, particularly the Department of Corrections, for their failure to adequately supervise Bray, who was supposed to have been on a tight leash.

16:17 Speaker 3: By all accounts, Bray should have been in prison or at least under heavy supervision. Instead, he moved freely from town to town, killing, raping as he pleased. The families of Lorie Jones and other victims sought justice in civil court, demanding accountability for the state's failures. In the end, the Department of Corrections was forced to settle the lawsuits, paying millions of dollars to the families of the victims. But for those families, no amount of money could ever make up for the loss they had suffered.

16:46 Speaker 3: They had been failed by a system that was supposed to protect them, and the consequences had been devastating. Even as the lawsuits wound down and the dust began to settle on Cowboy Mike's case, Bray himself remained a source of frustration for prison officials. He'd always been a man who refused to be confined, and even behind bars, he continued to test the limits of the system. He attempted to escape from prison at least five times during his incarceration, the most notable being in two thousand and five, when he used a toothbrush to pick a lock and tried to crawl through the ventilation system of Yakama County Jail.

17:22 Speaker 3: Each time his attempts were thwarted, but they only added to his notoriety his reputation as a feral man who refused to be caged. In two thousand and eight, Michael John Bray was finally convicted for the murder of Lorie Jones after a three week trial, and that trial may have brought a measure of justice for Laurie, but the unanswered questions about Bray's other suspected crimes continued to haunt the investigation. Authorities believed he was responsible for the deaths of multiple women, but the concrete evidence was scarce.

17:57 Speaker 3: After his conviction, prosecutors pushed for the maximum sentence, knowing that they were dealing with a man who had a long history of violence and evasion. In the end, Cowboy Mike was sentenced to nearly forty eight years in prison, enough time to ensure that he would spend the rest of his life behind bars. For the families of the victims, it wasn't enough, but it was the closest they would get to closure. As of the release of this episode, Michael John Bray remains incarcerated at the Washington State Penitentiary under strict supervision.

18:29 Speaker 3: He's no longer the cowboy drifting from town to town, leaving a trail of destruction behind him. His days of freedom are over, but the scars he left on the communities he terrorized will never completely fade. I'm Zevan Odelberg and this has been kind of Murdery.

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