The rape and murder trial is underway in Olympia for a man who jumped into the Snake River to avoid capture by Idaho authorities.

“Cowboy” Mike Braae is accused of strangling a 44-year-old woman nearly seven years ago in Lacey. A separate Braae trial in Yakima in 2006 ended in a mistrial when a Yelm woman who had been shot in the head was unable to testify because of her brain injury.

Braae, 48, is already serving an assault sentence in Idaho where he was arrested in July of 2001 after shooting at officers and jumping into the Snake River.

Braae has a history of attempted escapes - in 1997, he escaped from the Thurston County Jail while serving time for a drug conviction. He’s being held at the state prison in Shelton and transported with extra security for his trial in Olympia.

(AP)