Castro Valley Man Arraigned on Charges He Murdered Mother and Stepfather

A Castro Valley man was arraigned Monday on two counts of murder and the special circumstance of committing multiple murders for allegedly using a pipe wrench to beat his mother and stepfather to death inside a Castro Valley mobile home last week.

Stephen Tyler Thompson of Castro Valley, 33, is charged in the deaths of his mother, 57-year-old Lori Thompson, and his stepfather, 46-year-old James Hamilton, at their residence at the Chetwood Crest Mobile Home Park at 3913 Castro Valley Blvd.

Alameda County sheriff’s investigators said the murders occurred late the night of September 27 or early on the morning of September 28. Sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. Ray Kelly said deputies found the victims’ bodies at about 11:30 a.m. on September 28 after a relative went to the mobile home to check on the couple and discovered what he described as “a gruesome crime scene.”

Deputies found Hamilton’s body in a bedroom and Lori Thompson’s body in another room in the back of the small trailer, he said. Deputies also found Stephen Thompson lying on a bed, possibly suffering from an overdose of drugs, according to Kelly. Investigators don’t know what the motive for the double-slaying is, he said. Stephen Thompson, who has no criminal history, was treated at a hospital after the incident, was released on Thursday and is now being held at the Santa Rita Jail in Dublin without bail, Kelly said.

Thompson is scheduled to return to Alameda County Superior Court on Tuesday to be assigned an attorney and possibly enter a plea. Sheriff’s Deputy Anthony Moschetti wrote in a probable cause statement that when investigators interviewed Thompson he waived his right to an attorney and “admitted that he was responsible for the victims’ deaths.”

Lori Thompson and Hamilton were in a domestic partnership for 20 years and it appears that Stephen Thompson lived with them most of the time, Kelly said. Stephen Thompson had a job working for a relative in the restaurant business, Kelly said.

By Bay City News

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