James Brashear was sentenced to 15 years in prison Friday morning by Second District Judge Mark Monson for the shooting death of John Mast after being convicted of voluntary manslaughter by a jury in August.

The 69-year-old Winchester man was sentenced at the Nez Perce County Courthouse in Lewiston while wearing his prison clothing and restraints. About 40 people attended the hearing, which took about two hours and 20 minutes after numerous statements from the families of the victim and the defendant.

Brashear shot and killed 40-year-old Mast, of Williston, N.D., on Feb. 5, 2021, in the Rosauers parking lot in Lewiston. Mast was Brashear’s former son-in-law and was in a custody dispute for his children, Brashear’s grandchildren. Mast was accused, but never charged, with abusing the children.

Monson gave Brashear the maximum sentence by giving him a minimum sentence of 15 years plus credit for time served. Brashear has been in jail awaiting his trial and sentencing for almost three years.

He was also sentenced to pay $245.50 in court costs, a $7,500 fine, $5,000 to Mast’s parents and $8,507.81 in restitution to a victim fund.

Nez Perce County Prosecutor Justin Coleman and Chief Deputy Prosecutor April Smith noted over a dozen victim impact statements, mostly made by members of the Mast family. Several family members also read their statements, including Mast’s mother and father, Robert and Sarah Mast; Mast’s sister, Betty Troyer; and Coleman read a statement from another of Mast’s sisters, Katie Mast, and brother, David Mast.

Robert Mast spoke of when he and his wife said their goodbyes to Mast over the phone “as he lay dying on the cold, hard asphalt.” They then took 17 minutes to pack and head to Lewiston. Less than an hour later they found out that their son had died.

“Our world just fell apart,” Robert Mast said.

The family had to deal with planning a funeral without a body because of the autopsy, finding a memorial place and cleaning out Mast’s belongings. They also were dealing with the allegations against Mast that had been cleared in court. Sarah Mast said things said in court about Mast were dishonoring to his memory and a torment to listen to.

Robert Mast said that the family still experiences the pain and loss as well as fear for their safety.

Both Robert and Sarah Mast expressed forgiveness to Brashear and said they put their hope in the faith in Jesus and find comfort in knowing Mast is at peace with God.

Betty Troyer, who witnessed Mast’s murder, was emotional as she read her statement.

She spoke of the memories they made together while they were growing up and helping him move to Idaho to be closer to his children.

“Today I want him to be heard,” Troyer said.

She said that she saw her brother killed “like an animal” and she is always looking over her shoulder and has lost trust in people.

“My life as I knew it stopped that day,” she said.

The Mast siblings also described Mast as a gentle soul, with a dry sense of humor, who loved his children. They all said that their family is forever impacted by what happened and the loss of Mast has left a hole in their family and feelings of anger, confusion and a feeling of betrayal.

Brashear’s attorney Chris Bugbee noted more than a dozen letters of support for Brashear. He asked if anyone in the courtroom wanted to address the court and several friends and family members gave testimony under oath, including Brashear’s son, James Brashear Jr., his daughter, Rebecca Brashear-Mast, his wife, Robin Brashear, and friend Sean Murphy. All of them wrote letters of support in addition to their testimony.

James Brashear Jr. spoke in support of his father and to explain that Brashear thought his grandchildren were in danger. He said that what happened was an emotional reaction to that belief, which he said the jury believed based on their verdict. He told Monson that his father wouldn’t have hurt anyone unless he believed he was protecting someone.

“There’s a lot of hurt feelings from multiple families going here,” he said. “I understand a lot of this boils down to belief. I fully understand everybody in this room is hurting.”

He also said that Brashear “at least for a long period” did love Mast, his former son-in-law.

Brashear-Mast and Robin Mast also spoke of Brashear’s state of mind during the day of the murder as well as his experiences in the military that affected him physically and emotionally. Robin Brashear also became emotional when she talked about what the grandchildren told Brashear, which she said was a build-up of 2½ years, affecting his state of mind the day of the murder.

Murphy said that he’s known Brashear for 25 years and called him a good friend, mentor, counselor and “man of integrity.” Brashear also received high praise from his attorney.

“I love this guy,” Bugbee said. “This is the first client I’ve ever said that about.”

He said that he’s had “horrendous” clients who would likely reoffend and deserved the prison sentence they received.

“This gentleman is so far from that,” Bugbee said of Brashear. “This might be the best person I’ve ever represented.”

Bugbee highlighted Brashear’s actions at the jail in giving out Bibles, being involved in baptisms, his “jokes of the day” for jail staff and sending cartoons to Bugbee’s office.

He said that Brashear was emotional during the day and disputed that the murder was premeditated or that the family knew about the visit the day before, saying the evidence, as well as the jury’s verdict, didn’t support it. Bugbee said that Brashear’s testimony proved that he thought the children were in danger.

“If that wasn’t obvious from that witness stand, then I don’t know what case I’ve tried,” Bugbee said.

After Bugbee’s statements, Brashear addressed the court directly. He said he couldn’t imagine the pain the Mast family, especially Mast’s father, was going through. He apologized for putting them and his own family through that situation.

“I can’t imagine the pain that they have gone through with this. I deeply regret what happened,” Brashear said. “Every night I think of a different way I could have taken care of the problem. … But I can’t turn the clock back. I did what I did.”

Bugbee asked for three years time served as the determinate amount. Brashear told Bugbee that “he trusts your honor” for a fair sentence.

“Whatever you sentence me to, I will serve my time as best I can,” Brashear said when he addressed Monson.

The prosecution argued for a fixed 15-year sentence, citing evidence from the pre-sentencing investigator report and the victim impact statements. As Smith talked before the court, a photo of Mast and his children were displayed on the screen.

Smith said that Mast was excited to see his children after three years and “countless court battles and false allegations.” A North Dakota judge granted him unsupervised visits every other weekend.

“Imagine the excitement and happiness he was feeling,” Smith said.

Smith played the 911 call Mast’s sister made after he was shot. Troyer’s frantic voice can be heard and she tries to explain to the dispatcher what happened while also comforting Mast. His moaning can also be heard in the background and several Mast family members in the courtroom became emotional.

“Those were the last moments of John’s life,” Smith said.

Even though Brashear was convicted of manslaughter, Smith noted that it was a “more serious and shocking” case of voluntary manslaughter and outlined the actions of Brashear of driving to Rosauers, walking toward Mast with the gun, getting his attention and shooting at him multiple times. In her argument for the maximum sentence, she also highlighted that others in the parking lot could have been hurt by Brashear, the fact that Brashear still had grandchildren that he would feel the need to protect and others needed to know they couldn’t take the law into their own hands.

“Very simply this is vigilantism,” she said. “This court needs to send a message that vigilantism will not be tolerated in this community.”

After all the arguments from the attorneys and supporters of Mast and Brashear, Monson addressed those in the court and specifically Brashear. He recognized the loss expressed in the victim impact statements. He said that Brashear, who was so involved in his own children’s lives, took away those experiences from his grandchildren who will now grow up without their father. He also noted testimony from Brashear’s family and friends who stated that he would never hurt someone because of an emotional outburst.

“Here’s the dilemma faced by the court; he has done exactly that,” Monson said.

Monson worried that a light sentence would be “a slap on the wrist” and excuse Brashear’s criminal actions because he thought Mast was abusing his grandchildren and therefore was justified in taking his life.

“So then as is usually the case, there are two sides to this story,” Monson said. “Who does the court believe? Who should the court believe?”

Although Brashear had many letters of support, which Monson said showed he had good qualities, the fact that Brashear believes the actions were justified “continues to concern the court” in his reasoning for the maximum sentence.

Brewster may be contacted at kbrewster@lmtribune.com or at (208) 848-2297.