GREAT FALLS – Brandon Miesmer, who is serving a life sentence in the Montana State Prison for killing Cody Bruyere in Great Falls in 2015, was sentenced this week for a crime related to the murder.
Miesmer, 29 years old, was sentenced for brandishing a firearm during a carjacking. He was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Charles Lovell in Helena to an additional 10 years in prison, which will run consecutive to his conviction for deliberate homicide.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said that early on September 7, 2015, after killing Bruyere in Great Falls, Miesmer drove away in a car reaching speeds of more than 110 miles per hour on the interstate just north of Helena.
Officers chased Miesmer, but lost sight of his car. They later found Miesmer’s car stopped next to another car at the intersection of Lincoln Road and Hauser Dam Road.
Miesmer was removing people from a smaller station wagon located next to his car. Miesmer then quickly got in the new car and drove north.
According to the driver of the carjacked vehicle, he had stopped at the intersection when Miesmer pulled up, got out of his car, and approached the driver’s side door with a black semi-automatic pistol.
Miesmer pointed the gun at the driver’s face and demanded that he get out of the car. Miesmer pulled the car door open and yanked the driver out of the car while the driver yelled for his kids to get out.
Miesmer later acknowledged his use of the firearm to the police in order to obtain the car.
(NOVEMBER 2016) Branden Miesmer was sentenced in Great Falls on Friday to 100 years in prison without parole for killing Cody Bruyere in September 2015.
It was an emotional day in court as the family of Bruyere shared their grief about the loss of their beloved brother and son.
“He was not only my son, Cody was my best friend. Now I do not have him anymore,” said Steve Bruyere, Cody’s father.
Steve Bruyere spoke about the kindness Cody had for others, recalling a car accident the family was in when Cody was only 13.
“He gets all of his sisters out of the car and gets everyone on the side of the road. For a young man that young to be able to handle that and then to go through something like this. He was so loved,” Bruyere said.
In September 2015, Cody’s friends remember Miesmer showing up at Bruyere’s residence looking for a female acquaintance.
“It made Cody nervous enough, where he asks for some of the young men that had come over to stay because he was worried about what Brandon might do,” Detective Daniel Smith, Great Falls Police Department said.
Cody was friends with the woman Miesmer was looking for. Family members say Cody was letting her stay at his house. Detective Dan Smith said Miesmer kept asking other people about the whereabouts of the woman when things took a drastic turn.
“Cody was then talking on his cell phone with another young man in the residence when Brandon suddenly pulled a gun and shot him,” Smith said.
Witnesses say Miesmer then forced a friend who had dropped him off at the house to drive him to Helena. He was captured three days later.
Before the sentence was handed down, Miesmer told Bruyere’s family and friends he was high on meth when he killed Cody. “I know this has not been easy on either side and it is all my fault. I am still very sorry and I feel so awful that I would rather die than I have to deal with my actions,” Miesmer said.
However, Judge John Kutzman said Miesmer showed little remorse after the shooting.
Defense counsel asked for a 100-year sentence with 40 years suspended. Kutzman sentenced Miesmer to 100 years, with no time suspended, and no chance for parole.
Miesmer will spend the rest of his life behind bars, a sentence Bruyere’s family agreed with.
Cody’s father also wanted to dispel rumors that surfaced on social media after his son’s death. “It has nothing to do with any drugs, it was over a girl. I am very happy about the sentence that was handed down. He’s never getting out,” Bruyere said.
