Boise, ID: Officers: Idaho man abducted wife, killed mother

BOISE, Idaho — An Idaho man is being held without bail after authorities say he tied up his wife, forced her into the trunk of his car, put their infant in the back seat and drove to his mother's home, where he ate dinner with his mother and then stabbed her to death.

Michael James Lee, 24, of Meridian was arraigned Wednesday on a first–degree murder charge in the death of 46–year–old Lynn Marie Blake. He was arrested Tuesday night at his mother's home in Eagle, about 15 miles northwest of Boise.

Authorities were called to the scene after Lee's 20–year–old wife, still bound in chains, escaped from the trunk of the car and ran to a nearby house for help, Ada County sheriff's spokeswoman Andrea Dearden said in a release.

Lee also faces kidnapping, aggravated assault, felony injury to a child and other charges. During a brief court appearance, he was ordered held without bail in the Ada County Jail, where he worked for two years before being fired in January 2010.

Dearden said Lee and his wife were at their home in Meridian on Tuesday when he threatened her with a knife, assaulted her and bound her with tape and chains. He then forced her into the vehicle's trunk and drove her and their 4–month–old daughter to his mother's house, Dearden said.

Investigators said Lee brought his baby into the house but she was uninjured.

A 56–year–old woman also lives at the house, and she told investigators that Lee and his mother had dinner and the three talked for about an hour, having "normal conversations," Dearden said.

The woman, a friend of Lee's mother, said she then decided to lie down. She told police a noise woke her, and when she came out, she found Lee holding two knives and standing over his mother, who had multiple stab wounds, Dearden said.

Dearden said the woman suffered non–life–threatening facial wounds in an ensuing confrontation with Lee.

Meanwhile, Lee's wife was able to escape from the trunk of the car using the emergency latch, and she ran to a neighbor's house to call for help, Dearden said.

"The neighbor didn't understand what was happening," Dearden told the Idaho Statesman. "It was chaotic."

Sheriff's deputies and Eagle police responded to find the friend of Lee's mother running from the house, holding the infant and yelling for help, Dearden said.

Police took Lee into custody without incident. Blake was transported to St. Alphonsus Regional Medical Center, where she later died.