A life ‘snuffed out by evil people.’ Partner of Idaho homicide victim recalls suspect

Don Henderson, a quintessential mountain man, spent his time in a secluded cabin outside of North Idaho. He’d take his partner on walks that would wind up being hikes straight up a mountain. He enjoyed hunting, especially with his six dogs: Sadie, Terrance, Butch, Bouncer, Rounder and Gracie.

“He was a totally different person just out there,” Henderson’s partner, Ron Thompson, told the Idaho Statesman. “He wouldn’t have any stress. It was just — it was his place, it was his Heaven, it was his church, he would say.”

Those memories are some of Thompson’s fondest, he said.

Police said Henderson, of Orofino, Idaho, on Wednesday was the victim of a homicide that traced back to two men who staged an attack against Department of Correction officers at Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise. Henderson was 72.



The Boise Police Department said Nicholas Umphenour shot two IDOC officers while Skylar Meade, an Idaho prisoner being treated for self-inflicted injuries, was being taken back to prison around 2 a.m. Wednesday — allowing the pair to flee police custody. A third officer was also shot by Boise police.

Umphenour, 28, and Meade, 31, then drove up to northern Idaho, where police said they killed Henderson, along with 83-year-old James Mauney, whose body was found in Nez Perce County. Police said Henderson knew the suspects but didn’t know to what extent.

“He made life an adventure, and I’m not an adventurous type,” Thompson said. “So he brought me along, and a lot of times I was kicking and screaming. But he enriched my life so much.”

Henderson had three daughters from two previous marriages, Thompson said. The pair met online in 2006 and stayed together since. Thompson said about a year after they met, he moved to Orofino from Clarkston, Washington, to be with Henderson, living in Henderson’s cabin for the majority of that time.

That lasted until 2018, when Thompson said he just couldn’t stand living in Idaho anymore, especially as a gay man. Thompson added that he also had trouble living in the woods because of the isolation, and spent a few years in Orofino during that time.

Bigotry in Idaho was also something Henderson faced, his partner told the Statesman. Henderson was assaulted and threatened by people who speculated that he was gay, Thompson said, which led Henderson to want to keep their relationship private.

“We weren’t open up there,” Thompson said. “But I want people to know that he was my partner. He loved me and I loved him wholeheartedly.”

Umphenour displaced ‘frightening behavior’

Henderson and Thompson were briefly acquainted with Umphenour roughly 10 years ago, when he stayed with them at the cabin. Thompson said a neighborhood kid at the time was staying with them because his family’s camper didn’t have a lot of space and one day he brought Umphenour home with him. Umphenour, who was about 18 years old at the time, asked to stay with them because he didn’t get along with his father, Thompson said.

But the stay didn’t last long. Less than a month later, Thompson said he and Henderson kicked Umphenour out after he displayed “frightening behavior.” He added that Umphenour took over their home and would talk about shooting people if they disrespected him.

“He had a volatile temper, which was frightening,” Thompson said. “He would just explode all of a sudden, so it was like, ‘No we can’t have this here.’”

Thompson said he never saw him again. But about a month ago, Umphenour hiked up to Henderson’s cabin and stayed to visit with him for about an hour over a cup of coffee, Thompson said. He didn’t think too much of it, but Thompson said that changed after he learned about Wednesday’s ambush.

After Thompson said he couldn’t get a hold of Henderson, he called the Clearwater County Sheriff’s Office and asked them to do a welfare check at Henderson’s cabin. Deputies found Henderson around 8 p.m., though he was likely killed roughly seven hours earlier, according to the Clearwater County Coroner’s Office.

Thompson said he and Henderson were discussing plans to move to New Mexico together. He said Henderson also decided he was ready to leave Idaho and intended to sell his cabin.

“We had all these plans, and now he’s gone,” Thompson said. “He’s been snuffed out by evil people.”