Shooting suspect's bail is increased

SANDPOINT - Bonner County Magistrate Court Judge Lori Meulenberg increased a shooting suspect's bail from $50,000 to $150,000 on July 10.

Bonner County Chief Deputy Prosecutor Shane Greenbank moved to hike Michael Jesse Chisholm's bail after it emerged that he used multiple aliases after fleeing the state of California in the 1980s. Greenbank further argued that the circumstances of the June 28 shooting at Bloom Lake that wounded another man justified an elevated bail.

Bonner County Sheriff's Detective Kurt Lehman testified during a bail hearing that checks of criminal record databases connected Chisholm to a half-dozen different aliases, in addition to several different Social Security numbers and dates of birth.

Chisholm, 66, admitted during an interview with the detective that he was indeed Michael Allen Pederson, who was reported missing in Livermore, Calif., in 1986 and declared legally dead.

Lehman told the court that Chisholm said he left California and took up an assumed name to escape a life of drugs, failed relationships and his own self-destruction.

"He went cold turkey on his past life," Lehman testified.

The database investigation by the detective and a dispatcher also somehow connects Chisholm's various aliases to that of Michael Allen Hodges, an outlaw biker who was convicted of first-degree murder in San Jose, Calif., in 1990.

Hodges and two other men were convicted of stomping a man to death and stealing his motorcycle, according to a Los Angeles Times news report.

However, Lehman testified that it's still not clear if Chisholm is indeed Hodges, but said the investigation is continuing.

"We have concerns on many levels," Greenbank said in seeking Chisholm's bail to be elevated to $500,000.

Greenbank argued that the aliases, Chisholm's disappearing act in California and the circumstances of the shooting warranted an increased bail. Greenbank noted that the alleged victim was shot in the back and an armed Chisholm led deputies on a brief manhunt.

Chisholm's counsel, Deputy Public Defender Dan Taylor, said his client had good reason to flee California because his stepfather had been shot by drug associates.

"He was afraid that the same thing was going to happen to him," Taylor said.

Chisholm did not speak during the hearing, but shook his head in denial when his identity was tied to Hodges at one point during the hearing.

Taylor also shed some light on what led up to the shooting. He said Chisholm invited the alleged victim and the man's girlfriend into his home, a gesture which was greeted with drunken abuse and threats of violence.

"He saw the other man going towards his truck and thought he had a gun," said Taylor.

Meulenberg said the alleged link between Chisholm and Hodges was too tenuous to influence a bail increase. However, the other factors cited by the prosecution merited some increase in bail.

"Obviously, it's very concerning to the court," said Meulenberg.