Man Gets 100 Years for Great Falls Homicide

GREAT FALLS — A Great Falls man who pleaded guilty to shooting another man at point-blank range while high on methamphetamine has been sentenced to 100 years in prison without the possibility of parole.

District Judge John Kutzman sentenced Branden Conrad Miesmer Friday for the September 2015 death of 26-year-old Cody Bruyere.

Miesmer pleaded guilty to deliberate homicide in March, acknowledging he shot Bruyere in the head. Miesmer said he had used intravenous meth for the first time that day.

Defense attorney Mark Frisbie asked that 40 years of the sentence be suspended, taking into consideration Miesmer’s abusive childhood, history of mental health issues and U.S. Army service.

Kutzman said Miesmer thought Bruyere was an informant.

Miesmer reportedly forced a couple to drive him to Helena and carjacked a family north of the city, prompting a multi-day manhunt.

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