PonderingThings
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http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/13956237.htm
Police reopen cold case, hold ex-boyfriend
By ALEX BRANCH
STAR-TELEGRAM STAFF WRITER
FORT WORTH Late last year, Vol Thompson read a list of unsolved homicides on the Fort Worth Police Departments Web site and noticed that one was missing: his mothers.
Jane Etta Thompsons body was found hidden under pieces of wood in June 1990. Vol Thompson was a teenager.
Vol Thompson, now 30, called Detective Manny Reyes, who investigates cold cases. Reyes said the cases featured online were just a sampling of the citys unsolved slayings.
But Reyes promised to look into this case.
On Thursday, more than 15 years after Jane Thompson was killed, police arrested her ex-boyfriend on a charge of murder.
Bobby Earl Woods, 46, was being held Friday in the Mansfield Jail with bail set at $50,000.
Thompson said his family has long considered Woods the prime suspect.
According to an affidavit for Woods arrest, a detective noticed an injury on Woods hand during a 1990 interview shortly after Thompson disappeared. Woods told the detective the injury occurred at work.
At the time, the police told us they thought they knew what happened, but couldnt prove it, Vol Thompson said. Were really happy to see the case progressing.
Reyes said that after he reviewed the case, he realized that it looked pretty good.
According to the affidavit, Jane Thompson was last seen alive June 5, 1990, riding away from home in a car Woods was driving. Their 2-year-old son, Joshua, was in the car.
Later that night, Woods called Jane Thompsons mother to report her missing. He later dropped Joshua off at their house.
When family members asked Joshua what happened, he replied, Daddy hit mamma, the affidavit says.
Vol Thompson, who was in the seventh grade, said he knew that something awful had happened.
My mom was a good mother and would never leave us for a long time, he said. She didnt come home and she didnt call.
The family contacted police. On June 7, 1990, Woods told investigators that he had dropped Jane Thompson off at a check-cashing business on East Seminary Drive and went to get gas. When he returned, Woods said, she was gone.
Two days later, a man collecting cans found Thompsons body in the 8100 block of Sartain Drive, according to a Star-Telegram article.
Vol Thompson said he and Joshua went to live with their grandparents.
After reopening the investigation, Reyes reinterviewed witnesses, including Joshua Thompson, now 18. The affidavit says Joshua told Reyes that he still remembered his father hitting his mother. He said it was daylight and no other cars were around.
I talked to him several times, Reyes said. I said, You were 2 years old and it was 16 years ago. People are going to say, How do you remember that? He said: It was the last time I ever saw my mom. How could I ever forget something like that?
Reyes said that everything Joshua Thompson told him matched evidence that police had collected.
There was no way he could have known what we already had, Reyes said.
According to the affidavit, Reyes also interviewed a witness who said Woods told him that he hit Jane Thompson on the head with a shotgun and that Joshua was there when he did it.
Homicide Sgt. J.D. Thornton said Reyes also collected physical evidence, but he declined to elaborate.
Woods was arrested Thursday afternoon at his workplace in Bedford.
Vol Thompson said he now lives in Grand Prairie and works for Sprint Nextel. Joshua Thompson is a senior at Dunbar High School, where he plays wide receiver and cornerback for the football team.
Vol Thompson said he hopes the arrest will lead to a trial.
Joshua and I will definitely be there, he said. This was all really hard on my family. We need a resolution.
Police reopen cold case, hold ex-boyfriend
By ALEX BRANCH
STAR-TELEGRAM STAFF WRITER
FORT WORTH Late last year, Vol Thompson read a list of unsolved homicides on the Fort Worth Police Departments Web site and noticed that one was missing: his mothers.
Jane Etta Thompsons body was found hidden under pieces of wood in June 1990. Vol Thompson was a teenager.
Vol Thompson, now 30, called Detective Manny Reyes, who investigates cold cases. Reyes said the cases featured online were just a sampling of the citys unsolved slayings.
But Reyes promised to look into this case.
On Thursday, more than 15 years after Jane Thompson was killed, police arrested her ex-boyfriend on a charge of murder.
Bobby Earl Woods, 46, was being held Friday in the Mansfield Jail with bail set at $50,000.
Thompson said his family has long considered Woods the prime suspect.
According to an affidavit for Woods arrest, a detective noticed an injury on Woods hand during a 1990 interview shortly after Thompson disappeared. Woods told the detective the injury occurred at work.
At the time, the police told us they thought they knew what happened, but couldnt prove it, Vol Thompson said. Were really happy to see the case progressing.
Reyes said that after he reviewed the case, he realized that it looked pretty good.
According to the affidavit, Jane Thompson was last seen alive June 5, 1990, riding away from home in a car Woods was driving. Their 2-year-old son, Joshua, was in the car.
Later that night, Woods called Jane Thompsons mother to report her missing. He later dropped Joshua off at their house.
When family members asked Joshua what happened, he replied, Daddy hit mamma, the affidavit says.
Vol Thompson, who was in the seventh grade, said he knew that something awful had happened.
My mom was a good mother and would never leave us for a long time, he said. She didnt come home and she didnt call.
The family contacted police. On June 7, 1990, Woods told investigators that he had dropped Jane Thompson off at a check-cashing business on East Seminary Drive and went to get gas. When he returned, Woods said, she was gone.
Two days later, a man collecting cans found Thompsons body in the 8100 block of Sartain Drive, according to a Star-Telegram article.
Vol Thompson said he and Joshua went to live with their grandparents.
After reopening the investigation, Reyes reinterviewed witnesses, including Joshua Thompson, now 18. The affidavit says Joshua told Reyes that he still remembered his father hitting his mother. He said it was daylight and no other cars were around.
I talked to him several times, Reyes said. I said, You were 2 years old and it was 16 years ago. People are going to say, How do you remember that? He said: It was the last time I ever saw my mom. How could I ever forget something like that?
Reyes said that everything Joshua Thompson told him matched evidence that police had collected.
There was no way he could have known what we already had, Reyes said.
According to the affidavit, Reyes also interviewed a witness who said Woods told him that he hit Jane Thompson on the head with a shotgun and that Joshua was there when he did it.
Homicide Sgt. J.D. Thornton said Reyes also collected physical evidence, but he declined to elaborate.
Woods was arrested Thursday afternoon at his workplace in Bedford.
Vol Thompson said he now lives in Grand Prairie and works for Sprint Nextel. Joshua Thompson is a senior at Dunbar High School, where he plays wide receiver and cornerback for the football team.
Vol Thompson said he hopes the arrest will lead to a trial.
Joshua and I will definitely be there, he said. This was all really hard on my family. We need a resolution.
