James A. Thompson is an inmate on death
row in the state of California..
Crime
Thompson, who had served prison time in
Texas for murder, and an accomplice took a 25-year-old mentally
disabled man to a remote Riverside area, forced him to disrobe,
robbed him and shot him to death.
On the evening of either August 26 or August 27, 1991, defendant, a
39-year-old White male, met the victim, Ronald Gitmed, a 25-year-old
White male with mental developmental disabilities. Defendant convinced
Gitmed to drive him to a trailer compound in rural Riverside County to
visit Tony Mercurio, whom defendant had met when they were both serving
time in prison. Later that same night, defendant, Gitmed, and Mercurio
left the trailer compound in Mercurio's truck to go four-wheel driving
in the hills around Canyon Lake. On the morning of August 28, Gitmed's
body was found floating in a remote section of the lake; he had been
killed by three gunshot wounds. The prosecution's main witness was
Mercurio, who testified defendant robbed and shot Gitmed at Canyon Lake.
Other individuals living at the trailer compound testified that, after
the murder, defendant took Gitmed's car and, together with Mercurio,
removed Gitmed's property from Gitmed's storage locker in Riverside. The
defense challenged Mercurio's credibility and presented an alibi
defense that defendant had been with his uncle the entire evening of
August 27.
Address
James A. Thompson K28100
San Quentin State Prison Death Row
San Quentin, CA 94974
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Notes
If you have had experience with this
inmate, we'd love to provide your experience, negative or positive.
This can be done anonymously or not.If you are related to the victim,
we would also include anything you have to offer.
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