No trial for Federal Way man in murder of elderly mother

A judge has dismissed a murder charge against a 67-year-old Federal Way man accused in the shooting death of his 88-year-old mother, finding him not competent to stand trial.

Thompson was arrested in April 2010 after police responding to his home found his mother, Alberta Thompson, dead from a close-range gunshot wound. Thompson also had a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the back of his head.

Prosecutors say Thompson had been upset after being dumped by his girlfriend of 20 years. A friend reported that Thompson seemed depressed over his mother’s declining health and how he would pay for the cost of assisted living.

After killing his mother, police say Thompson shot himself in the back of the head. A suicide note was found in his wallet.

After listening to testimony at a competency hearing, King County Superior Court Judge Theresa Doyle dismissed the murder charge and ordered Thompson to Western State Hospital, concluding that his head injury made Thompson unable to retain new information and that amnesia regarding the murder and suicide attempt would make any trial unfair.