Braae, who commonly wore cowboy boots and hats and made money playing his guitar and singing in bars, was initially suspected in the disappearances and/or deaths of several women in Oregon and Washington since 1997.  Cowboy Mike's name always seemed to come up in connection with the missing women as having been seen talking with them shortly, often in a bar, before they disappeared.  He typically carried a guitar with him and was fond of serenading the women he picked up.

Braae had previously been tried for attempted murder in the shooting of  a Washington state woman. The  ended in a mistrial when the woman who had been shot in the head was unable to testify because of her brain injury.

Braae was then arrested in Idaho in 2001 after leading police on a 40-mile car chase, which ended when he jumped from a 40-foot-high bridge into the Snake River. An Idaho sheriff's deputy testified that Braae was picked up by a police boat after trying to drown a police dog sent into the water to catch him. Braae was eventually found guilty for the 2001 killing of Lori Jones, 44. Authorities said Braae's DNA was found on Jones' body, and his fingerprint was on a window blind at her apartment.

This is a very brief one page letter in which Braae explains to the recipient that he will no longer be able to correspond with him for reasons that the recipient is a bad influence. Letter is signed 'Michael'. Matching handwritten envelope signed in full is included.