Wednesday, October 11, 2006 11:23 PM CDT
Police confirm husband shot estranged wife
By HERB MEEKER, Staff Writer
hmeeker@jg-tc.com
MATTOON -- Morris “Bud” Thompson Jr. used a shotgun to kill his wife and himself Sunday night, stating in a handwritten note it was a suicide pact.
Evidence at the crime scene, however, showed her death was actually a murder, law enforcement officials said.
“His note said it was a mutual decision by them, saying, ‘We’ve never been good without each other,’” said Coles County State’s Attorney Steve Ferguson during a Wednesday press conference at Mattoon Police Department. “But the physical evidence was not there. And the family members did not believe Mrs. Thompson would have been involved in a suicide pact.”
Investigators cited evidence showing Morris Thompson missed when he tried to shoot Roberta E. Thompson in the head with a sawed-off shotgun as she lay in bed, leaving a hole in the bed and wall. She was dressed and had her keys and cell phone under her pillow in her apartment at 17 Prairie Ave.
After the gun blast, investigators believe Mrs. Thompson tried to leave the apartment through the front door, but she could not escape in time. Bud Thompson retrieved the shotgun in the bedroom, which flew out of his hand with the hard recoil after the first blast, then placed one shell in the chamber and pulled the trigger with the barrel against her chest, officials said.
“We believe Mrs. Thompson died instantaneously,” Ferguson said. “She fell where she was shot.”
Then Thompson took out a 10-inch knife and cut himself repeatedly in an apparent suicide attempt, according to police. He had a gaping wound in his right hand from recoils of the stockless 12-gauge shotgun, which Ferguson described as “nothing but a short tube.”
Shortly before 9 p.m., Morris “Buddy” Thompson III, one of the couple’s sons, came home to eat a meal at his mother’s apartment. With a friend, the son tried to enter the apartment through a sliding door at the kitchen, police said.
“At that time, Mr. Thompson placed the gun to his abdomen,” said Ferguson. “We believe he might have died within a short time.”
The couple’s son then called 911.
The bodies were found together at the couch with the shotgun on the floor. Ferguson commended officers for securing the area quickly to assist with evidence analysis by Illinois State Police Crime Scene Services investigator Mike Kyrouac.
He also noted the work of the Mattoon Police Detective Section, including Detective Lt. Adam Weinstock and detectives David Vanderport and Travis Easton.
Interviews of family members and others, plus autopsies, arranged by Coles County Coroner Mike Nichols, helped confirm the suicide-murder conclusion by Tuesday. “There was a lot of coordination by a lot of agencies,” Ferguson said.
But investigators cannot determine yet why this tragedy occurred at the time it did for the separated couple.
“Apparently, there was some argument on Saturday night, but we can’t even say that triggered things,” Ferguson said.
Mrs. Thompson had filed for divorce on Sept. 20 in Coles County Circuit Court, citing mental cruelty. But police learned Thompson had visited his wife at different times in the apartment.
She had also obtained an order of protection two months ago in Shelby County, where the couple resided a few months ago. But on Aug. 24, Mrs. Thompson asked the court to dissolve that order of protection even though she claimed her husband had threatened her life and abused her physically and verbally at different times.
Law enforcement agencies in Coles and Shelby counties did not receive calls on violence involving the couple, Ferguson said. However, a search warrant served by police at a local domestic violence organization showed Mrs. Thompson’s life had been threatened at different times.
Authorities talked to the victims’ family earlier Wednesday, Mattoon Police Chief Larry Metzelaars said.
“All of us extend our sympathy to the family,” Metzelaars said.
Contact Herb Meeker at hmeeker@jg-tc.com or 238-6869.
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Fxiccxypxc wrote on May 10, 2007 11:31 AM: