var requestedWidth = 0;
if(requestedWidth > 0){ document.getElementById('articleViewerGroup').style.width = requestedWidth + "px"; document.getElementById('articleViewerGroup').style.margin = "0px 0px 10px 10px"; } Special circumstance allegations of torture, mayhem and robbery have been added to the criminal complaint against suspected serial killer John Wayne Thomson, making him eligible for the death penalty in the August slaying of a Lucerne Valley man.
Thomson, 47, appeared in San Bernardino Superior Court on Tuesday during an arraignment on the new allegations surfacing from the slaying of Charles Hedlund sometime between July 31 and Aug. 3 in the Cajon Pass. He will next appear in court on March 6 for a pretrial hearing.
Hedlund, 55, was en route from Las Vegas to his business in Beaumont when he came upon Thomson near the Cleghorn Road off-ramp in the Cajon Pass. His body was found covered in brush in the same area on Aug. 3 - one day after his blood-spattered pickup was found, authorities said.
Washington authorities have charged Thomson in the slaying of 36-year-old Longview, Wash., resident Lori Hamm, whose body was found in the woods of rural Cowlitz County on Aug. 1. Thomson is believed to have fled to California in Hamm's car after shooting her in the head and dumping her body. Her Honda Civic was found abandoned in a McDonald's parking lot near where Hedlund was killed. Evidence found in both Hedlund's and Hamm's vehicles linked Thomson to their slayings, officials said.
Thomson is also suspected of killing 73-year-old Spokane, Wash., resident James Ehrgott, whose body has not been found. Thomson has not yet been charged in his death.
Thomson is believed to have fled to California to reconnect with his ex-girlfriend, who lives in Riverside. He formerly worked for her family's business.
County prosecutors have yet to decide if they will seek the death penalty against Thomson. That decision will likely be made following Thomson's preliminary hearing, prosecutor Robert Bulloch said. Contact writer Joe Nelson at (909) 396-3887 or via e-mail at
joe.nelson@ sbsun.com.
http://www.sbsun.com/news/ci_5028473