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Slaying suspect was off his meds
Court had ordered him to take anti-psychotics; he has a violent record
Monday, Oct 29, 2007 - 12:09 AMUpdated: 12:33 AM
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Susanne L. Thompson often walked her dog, Angie, along West Broad Street and nearby streets, residents of the area say. Photo By: FAMILY PHOTO
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By JULIAN WALKER AND JIM NOLAN
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
The man police say stabbed a 70-year-old woman to death in Richmond on Saturday morning suffered from a schizophrenic condition and had not been taking his court-ordered medication, according to a law-enforcement source.
The source also said suspect Johnny F. Hughes, 52, was charged with attempted murder in the mid-1990s but was found not guilty by reason of insanity.
Court records indicate that Hughes was convicted in June of carrying a concealed weapon. He was sentenced to seven months in jail, with six months suspended.
The court ordered Hughes to take anti-psychotic medicine, the source said, and he was to be monitored by the Richmond Behavioral Health Authority. Attempts to reach the authority yesterday were unsuccessful.
Less than five months after his conviction, Hughes encountered Susanne L. Thompson on Saturday shortly before 9 a.m. as she walked her dog on West Broad Street near the Department of Motor Vehicles' main offices. Moments later, she was dead, stabbed multiple times with a large pocketknife.
Several people tried to help Thompson, but she died on the sidewalk. Other witnesses followed Hughes until police arrived.
"This guy just clearly, out of the blue, goes after this woman," said Richmond Police Chief Rodney Monroe. "He approached her, started to walk away and then comes back and attacks her."
[align=center]. . . [/align]
Among the first people on the scene after the stabbing were a group of runners training for a marathon.
Richmond resident Joy Moretti was in that group and rushed to Thompson's side moments after the woman was assaulted.
A man who happened to be a paramedic was attending to Thompson, so Moretti dialed 911; others, including at least one person from her running group, chased after Hughes.
"So many good people there were so ready to help this woman, but it was pretty obvious there wasn't going to be much we could do for her," Moretti said. "It's unfortunate there was one sick individual."
Hughes remains in police custody and faces a murder charge.
Investigators do not believe the motive for Saturday's attack was robbery and have no indication that Hughes attempted to panhandle money from Thompson.
"She was just mild-mannered and had just come out to walk her dog like she did every day," Monroe said, after department investigators took statements from witnesses and from Hughes.
"This guy sees her, and he thinks she represents something to him. She appears different to him, and that's threatening to him. Based on that, he decides he's going to hurt her."
[align=center]. . . [/align]
For the past eight years, Thompson had resided at Heartfields Assisted Living at Richmond, 501 N. Allen Ave.
The sight of her walking her black mixed-breed dog, Angie, in the area near the assisted-living facility was a common one.
"She was a dear, friendly lady -- and I mean lady," said Bootsie Whitt, a South Richmond resident who owns several rental properties in the 1600 block of West Grace Street, where Thompson often walked Angie.
"She always had on shoes and a bracelet to match her dress," Whitt said. "And she loved walking her dog. She always stopped and talked to my tenants. She was a real plus to this neighborhood."
Charlie Moeser and his wife, Ruth Bolduan, also live on that block and would periodically make small talk with Thompson.
"We used to say hello to her," Moeser recalled. "She was always fussing with that little dog."
Moeser said the stabbing "gives us all pause because many of us have occasion to walk" in the area. He said a violent crime, however random, is "part of the somewhat problematic social fabric of Richmond."
[align=center]. . . [/align]
Bolduan said the tragedy left her heartsick.
Heartfields officials said yesterday that Thompson's dog will stay temporarily at the facility. Thompson's family declined an interview request through Heartfields officials.
Hughes was known to police who worked in Richmond's East End, where he was said to have a home address in the 2700 block of Selden Street. He was viewed as a potential threat, Monroe said, but had not been observed doing anything officers could arrest him for.
"We're out there looking for bad guys and people who seek to prey on the public because of some kind of criminal intent," he said. "When some guy walks up for no reason, with no criminal intent, just to hurt somebody, things like that are hard to police and hard to stomach."
*****************************************
Let's examine a timeline:
1990's -- Perp gets off an "attempted murder" charge on an insanity plea
2007 -- Perp serves 30 days for carrying a gun illegally
2007 -- Perp commits murder with "large knife"
What is hell is wrong with the MMM'ers? Why are they not there to carry the torch for this woman and fight to ban "large knives" (after all, who needs anything more than a 2" blade... those demonic'assault knives')
We can at least be glad a group of marathon runners were nearby the crime scene & chased down the perp.. Otherwise we'd have a "who-dun-it' on our hands.
Everytime a murder occurs with a gun, a half-dozen fringe groups scream out to "stop the violence" and demand police and politicians "do something about these guns", but when an old lady is stabbed to death.. The same groups do nothing.
But when the same level of violence occurs with a knife, the fringe groups have nothing to say, nothing to do.. And the police offer the typical explanation: "You can't prevent these things"
I'm betting the perp gets out in 9 years.
Slaying suspect was off his meds
Court had ordered him to take anti-psychotics; he has a violent record
Monday, Oct 29, 2007 - 12:09 AMUpdated: 12:33 AM
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Susanne L. Thompson often walked her dog, Angie, along West Broad Street and nearby streets, residents of the area say. Photo By: FAMILY PHOTO
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By JULIAN WALKER AND JIM NOLAN
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
The man police say stabbed a 70-year-old woman to death in Richmond on Saturday morning suffered from a schizophrenic condition and had not been taking his court-ordered medication, according to a law-enforcement source.
The source also said suspect Johnny F. Hughes, 52, was charged with attempted murder in the mid-1990s but was found not guilty by reason of insanity.
Court records indicate that Hughes was convicted in June of carrying a concealed weapon. He was sentenced to seven months in jail, with six months suspended.
The court ordered Hughes to take anti-psychotic medicine, the source said, and he was to be monitored by the Richmond Behavioral Health Authority. Attempts to reach the authority yesterday were unsuccessful.
Less than five months after his conviction, Hughes encountered Susanne L. Thompson on Saturday shortly before 9 a.m. as she walked her dog on West Broad Street near the Department of Motor Vehicles' main offices. Moments later, she was dead, stabbed multiple times with a large pocketknife.
Several people tried to help Thompson, but she died on the sidewalk. Other witnesses followed Hughes until police arrived.
"This guy just clearly, out of the blue, goes after this woman," said Richmond Police Chief Rodney Monroe. "He approached her, started to walk away and then comes back and attacks her."
[align=center]. . . [/align]
Among the first people on the scene after the stabbing were a group of runners training for a marathon.
Richmond resident Joy Moretti was in that group and rushed to Thompson's side moments after the woman was assaulted.
A man who happened to be a paramedic was attending to Thompson, so Moretti dialed 911; others, including at least one person from her running group, chased after Hughes.
"So many good people there were so ready to help this woman, but it was pretty obvious there wasn't going to be much we could do for her," Moretti said. "It's unfortunate there was one sick individual."
Hughes remains in police custody and faces a murder charge.
Investigators do not believe the motive for Saturday's attack was robbery and have no indication that Hughes attempted to panhandle money from Thompson.
"She was just mild-mannered and had just come out to walk her dog like she did every day," Monroe said, after department investigators took statements from witnesses and from Hughes.
"This guy sees her, and he thinks she represents something to him. She appears different to him, and that's threatening to him. Based on that, he decides he's going to hurt her."
[align=center]. . . [/align]
For the past eight years, Thompson had resided at Heartfields Assisted Living at Richmond, 501 N. Allen Ave.
The sight of her walking her black mixed-breed dog, Angie, in the area near the assisted-living facility was a common one.
"She was a dear, friendly lady -- and I mean lady," said Bootsie Whitt, a South Richmond resident who owns several rental properties in the 1600 block of West Grace Street, where Thompson often walked Angie.
"She always had on shoes and a bracelet to match her dress," Whitt said. "And she loved walking her dog. She always stopped and talked to my tenants. She was a real plus to this neighborhood."
Charlie Moeser and his wife, Ruth Bolduan, also live on that block and would periodically make small talk with Thompson.
"We used to say hello to her," Moeser recalled. "She was always fussing with that little dog."
Moeser said the stabbing "gives us all pause because many of us have occasion to walk" in the area. He said a violent crime, however random, is "part of the somewhat problematic social fabric of Richmond."
[align=center]. . . [/align]
Bolduan said the tragedy left her heartsick.
Heartfields officials said yesterday that Thompson's dog will stay temporarily at the facility. Thompson's family declined an interview request through Heartfields officials.
Hughes was known to police who worked in Richmond's East End, where he was said to have a home address in the 2700 block of Selden Street. He was viewed as a potential threat, Monroe said, but had not been observed doing anything officers could arrest him for.
"We're out there looking for bad guys and people who seek to prey on the public because of some kind of criminal intent," he said. "When some guy walks up for no reason, with no criminal intent, just to hurt somebody, things like that are hard to police and hard to stomach."
*****************************************
Let's examine a timeline:
1990's -- Perp gets off an "attempted murder" charge on an insanity plea
2007 -- Perp serves 30 days for carrying a gun illegally
2007 -- Perp commits murder with "large knife"
What is hell is wrong with the MMM'ers? Why are they not there to carry the torch for this woman and fight to ban "large knives" (after all, who needs anything more than a 2" blade... those demonic'assault knives')
We can at least be glad a group of marathon runners were nearby the crime scene & chased down the perp.. Otherwise we'd have a "who-dun-it' on our hands.
Everytime a murder occurs with a gun, a half-dozen fringe groups scream out to "stop the violence" and demand police and politicians "do something about these guns", but when an old lady is stabbed to death.. The same groups do nothing.
But when the same level of violence occurs with a knife, the fringe groups have nothing to say, nothing to do.. And the police offer the typical explanation: "You can't prevent these things"
I'm betting the perp gets out in 9 years.
