Michael Angelo Miera
By Shelbie Harris, sharris@journalnet.com
POCATELLO — A local man faces up to life in prison after admitting he murdered 36-year-old Brandon James Lenker of Pocatello in 2016 and then ran over a Fort Hall police officer during a high-speed vehicle chase. As part of a deal with Bannock County prosecutors, Michael Angelo Miera, 28, of Pocatello pleaded guilty on Thursday to second-degree murder and felony battery.
The plea arrangement reduced a first-degree murder charge to second-degree and dismissed a misdemeanor charge of eluding police.
During an interview with police in 2016 that was introduced as evidence during a preliminary hearing, Miera confessed to fatally shooting Lenker twice in the head.
Janeal Miera, 21, of Pocatello, was originally charged with first-degree murder but pleaded guilty to felony accessory to destruction or concealment of evidence in November 2017.
Janeal was sentenced to five years in jail to run concurrent with several other charges including felony burglary, forgery, grand theft and possession of a stolen financial card. She is currently incarcerated in the Jefferson County Jail.
At the time of the shooting, Lenker was driving the stolen SUV when he was killed, Michael said in 2016. Michael told police that Lenker was banging a handgun on the steering wheel of the vehicle and driving erratically before he removed a revolver from his backpack and, from the back seat, fired upon Lenker.
Michael said the weapon initially misfired so he pulled the hammer back and fired a second shot that entered the back of Lenker’s head, exited through the front of his head and went through the windshield.
Michael said Lenker was still breathing and gasping, so he put the revolver against Lenker’s head and shot him a second time, killing him.
Janeal, who was seated in the front passenger seat, then moved into the driver’s seat and, while sitting on Lenker, drove toward Ross Fork Creek on the Fort Hall Indian Reservation, Michael said.
During the 2016 interview with police, Michael said he had never met Lenker prior to Lenker and Janeal arriving to help him remove his pickup truck from a swampy area near Ross Fork Creek on the day of the fatal shooting. The truck had gotten stuck, and even with Lenker and Janeal’s help, the vehicle could not be freed from the mire.
The trio then got high on methamphetamine before heading back to Pocatello in Lenker’s stolen SUV.
Michael said that after killing Lenker, he pulled his body from the vehicle and threw him down an embankment. He and Janeal then covered the body with debris. Michael later pushed the stolen SUV into the Portneuf River near Fort Hall Mine Road. He retrieved his truck a few days later.
Michael and Janeal were arrested on May 16, 2016, after leading law enforcement officers on a high-speed chase, during which Michael used his pickup to strike and injure a Fort Hall police officer.
Evidence collected from Michael’s truck led law enforcement to interview him and Janeal in connection to Lenker’s death. They were charged on July 26, 2016.
Michael is due back in court for a sentencing hearing on April 19.