Carherine Thompson

Case record: Carherine Thompson

Background

Carherine Thompson was a widow whose husband, Melvin Thompson, was killed in Westwood (Los Angeles County). She was described as black and was 42 years old at the time of the crime.

The offence

Melvin Thompson was gunned down in 1990 in the bathroom of Kayser's Service, an auto shop he had owned for 20 years on Santa Monica Boulevard near Greenfield Avenue. He was 49 at the time of his death.

Investigators said that on June 14, as he was about to close his auto transmission service shop, a gunman entered the shop, stole an undetermined amount of cash and the Rolex watch on Thompson's wrist, and shot Melvin Thompson several times. Catherine Thompson had been alone at the time she was about to pick up her husband at the shop.

The killing was described as a contract murder that Carherine Thompson had masterminded so she could collect on a $400,000 life insurance policy.

Investigation

At the time of the shooting, investigators initially believed the incident was connected with a series of Rolex watch robberies taking place in Los Angeles.

Catherine Thompson told investigators that she had just arrived at the shop to pick up her husband when she heard shooting. She said:

"I heard what I thought was backfire"

She said that someone told her that a gunman was inside and she fled, calling 911 from a pay phone.

The investigation later shifted toward Carherine Thompson’s involvement. The same week that Melvin Thompson was killed, a 42-year-old man was shot in his newly purchased Beverly Hills home by a gunman who struggled with him over an expensive Swiss timepiece. Police soon began suspecting that Catherine Thompson was involved.

Police arrested Phillip Conrad Sanders the day after the shooting after a tip from a witness who wrote down the license plate number of the getaway car.

Police discovered that Sanders and Catherine Thompson had both taken part in an alleged shady real estate deal several months earlier. Catherine Thompson was questioned by police but later released.

A police search of the Thompson home found the supposedly stolen Rolex there.

Arrest

In August 1990, Carherine Thompson was arrested at her West San Fernando Valley apartment on a charge of conspiracy to commit murder. Prosecutors added a “special circumstance” of murder for financial gain, a circumstance that could carry the death penalty upon conviction.

Along with Carherine Thompson, prosecutors arrested the suspected hit man, Phillip Conrad Sanders, along with his wife, Carolyn, and his son, Robert Lewis Jones, on the same charges. A fourth member of the Sanders family, Phillip Sanders' mother, Isabelle, was arrested on charges of theft by false pretenses in a $98,000 fraudulent real estate deal.

Trial

A jury recommended that Carherine Thompson die for masterminding the murder. Superior Court Judge George Trammell later considered the recommendation.

At sentencing, Judge George Trammell told her he could think of no good reason to reconsider the jury’s recommendation of death.

Carherine Thompson showed no reaction as Judge George Trammell told her this.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Katherine Mader prosecuted the case.

During the June 11, 1993 sentencing coverage, Deputy Dist. Atty. Katherine Mader was quoted:

"He loved her. He trusted her" "He never had a clue that she wanted him dead."

Sentencing

On June 10, 1993, Carherine Thompson was sentenced to death.

Appeals

After months of legal maneuverings to persuade the judge to overturn the sentence, Carherine Thompson was ordered to Death Row.

Outcome

Carherine Thompson was sentenced to death on June 10, 1993.

Aftermath

The coverage stated that “Widow Sentenced to Death in Murder of Husband.”

Deputy Dist. Atty. Katherine Mader also said Carolyn Sanders was involved in planning the murder, and her son, Robert Lewis Jones, drove the getaway car.

Carherine Thompson’s attorney at the time, Alex Kessel, denied she was involved in her husband's death and stated:

"This ordeal is simply devastating to Catherine" "She had absolutely nothing to do with his death . . . they'll never make a case against her"