Man in Boise hospital ambush to plead guilty in North Idaho murder case
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Boise hospital ambush, homicides
An ambush at a Boise hospital left three Department of Correction officers with gunshot wounds and two suspects, including an escaped prisoner, fleeing from the scene. Police said the suspects, while they eluded capture, killed two men in North Idaho.
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Update (April 21, 2026): Judge Michelle Evans, of Idaho’s 2nd Judicial Distirict, sentenced Nicholas Umphenour to life in prison without the possiblity of parole.
Weeks after the Idaho prisoner who escaped from custody following an ambush at a Boise-area hospital entered a guilty plea to charges in the deaths of two men, his co-conspirator — and the man who helped him escape — is expected to do the same.
As part of a deal with Nez Perce and Clearwater prosecutors, Nicholas Umphenour, 30, will enter an Alford plea in the killing of 83-year-old James Mauney and 72-year-old Gerald “Don” Henderson, according to court records obtained by the Idaho Statesman. This comes after Skylar Meade, 33, entered an Alford plea in December and faces sentencing at 8:30 a.m. Jan. 27 at the Nez Perce County Courthouse.
An Alford plea carries the same weight as a guilty plea, but the defendant does not admit guilt, only that there’s enough evidence to convict.
It’s expected that the presiding judge will sentence Umphenour to life in prison, court records showed, since the prosecution will not seek the death penalty as part of the agreement.
Umphenour and Meade were arrested in March 2024 after an ambush at Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise, where Meade — who was serving a minimum 10-year sentence at the Idaho Maximum Security Institution — was taken by the Idaho Department of Correction for a faked injury.
The men, who knew each other from prison, evaded law enforcement for roughly 36 hours, driving north and then heading back down south through Montana before they were arrested in Twin Falls.
While the pair were being apprehended, law enforcement in North Idaho were investigating the deaths of two older men, Mauney and Henderson.
Mauney was last seen in Juliaetta, north of Lewiston, while he was walking his dogs, according to Idaho State Police. His body was later found in a desolate area. On the same day, deputies from neighboring Clearwater County found Henderson’s body in his cabin outside of Orofino. Police said shackles that belonged to Meade, along with Mauney’s dogs, were found in the cabin.
Police suspected Umphenour and Meade were involved in the men’s deaths, but they weren’t charged with murder for months. The men were also charged, and convicted, of several felonies in Ada County related to the hospital escape and shooting of several correctional officers.
In June 2024, Umphenour and Meade were indicted and charged with the first-degree murder of Mauney, and then as each of the men’s attorneys worked on plea deals, they were charged in Henderson’s death. Umphenour was set to go to trial later this year, but his trial has been canceled, and he’s now scheduled for a change of plea hearing at 10 a.m. Feb. 10 at the Nez Perce County Courthouse, court records showed.
This story was originally published January 20, 2026 at 2:11 PM.
