Story Photos
 Photo by Steven K. Doi Joe Iskandar, left, and Rey Bantug, both pressmen at The Daily Press newspaper in Victorville, Calif., point to the restaurant parking lot Monday where they tackled suspected serial killer John Wayne Thomson. The men said Thomson, who is believed to have killed Longview resident Lori Hamm and two others, attacked a woman around 12:30 p.m. and was trying to steal her car. |
California workers nab Thomson during violent robbery
Tuesday, August 8, 2006 6:48 AM PDT
By Tony Lystra, Amy M.E. Fischer and Leslie Slape
Printable version
E-mail this articleJohn Wayne Thomson, the serial rapist suspected of murdering three people, including Longview resident Lori Hamm, was arrested in San Bernardino County, Calif., on Monday after he assaulted two women and tried to steal their cars, authorities and witnesses said.
Around 12:30 p.m., two workers at a Victorville, Calif., newspaper wrestled Thomson to the ground as he dragged a woman from her car by her hair, witnesses said. Moments earlier, Thomson had tried to hit another woman in the head with a hammer.
As the newspaper employees held him down, Thomson reportedly complained that they were being too rough and said, "I hope you guys feel good about yourselves; you caught one of the most wanted people up here."
Thomson, 46, is suspected of setting out on a multi-state killing spree that started in Spokane with the disappearance of James Ehrgott, 73, who is still missing. Thomson is said to have moved on to Longview, where Hamm's body was discovered last week, and then to Southern California where he is thought to have killed 55-year-old Charles Hedlund, of Lucerne Valley, Calif.
As his rampage spiraled south, investigators said, Thomson left his victims' stolen cars, charges on their credit cards and other evidence linking him to their murders.
Authorities confirmed Monday that a body found during the weekend in a remote area east of Los Angeles is Hedlund. His blood-soaked truck was discovered nearby.
They also said that Hamm, a 36-year-old mentally disabled woman who disappeared July 16, died from a single gunshot wound to the head. Her body was found Aug. 1 in the woods south of Castle Rock
Witnesses in Victorville told The Daily News that Thomson first tried to steal a woman's car as she waited in front of an employment agency on Park Avenue. The payroll administrator at Select Personnel Services, who would only identify herself as Kristina, said employees poured out of the office when they heard a woman screaming, "Help! He's trying to steal my car!"
She said Thomson had climbed inside the automobile, which had a t-top. The woman's son, who is in his late teens or early 20s, yanked Thomson from the car. Thomson then tried to climb back inside.
"He saw us all there and saw he wasn't going to get her car," the payroll administrator said.
The victim, described as a black woman in her 40s, was overheard telling her son that Thomson tried to hit her in the head with a hammer. Witnesses said the woman was not badly injured, but she was seen holding her head.
Thomson then ran across the street and jumped a wall between a restaurant and the offices of The Daily Press.
Joe Iskandar, a 27-year-old press foreman at the newspaper, said he was sitting outside with a coworker, Rey Bantug, when they saw Thomson bolt into the restaurant's parking lot.
"We heard a lady scream so we jumped up real quick," Iskandar told The Daily News. "That's when we saw him yanking her by the hair. He hit her upside the head."
Iskandar and Bantug scrambled over to the car, grabbed Thomson and yanked him out of the car before he could seriously harm the woman.
Iskandar said he put Thomson in a "full Nelson." Thomson struggled and said he couldn't breathe. The men told Thomson to get down. He wouldn't. Then Bantug kicked him in the back of the knee and Thomson fell.
Bantug ran back to the press room and grabbed a few plastic "zip ties," which the men used to cuff Thomson's hands behind his back. Thomson, laying face-down against the pavement, then complained that the plastic strap was cutting off his circulation.
"So I grabbed the other zip tie and I tied that one on him, too," just to make him angry, Iskandar said. "I didn't want to hear his mouth, so I kept telling him to shut up."
Police arrived only a few minutes later.
Lonnie Williams, a cook at the restaurant who also saw the attack, said Thomson "was really intoxicated. He could barely walk."
No one in the neighborhood knew they were dealing with a suspected murderer until after Thomson was arrested and news reporters started calling.
"I thought I was just helping one lady out, but it turned out to be more," Iskandar said. "It feels good. That way he won't kill anyone else. At least the families of the victims he killed can get some closure."
Reached by phone at his parents' Kelso home Monday afternoon, Scott Hamm, the brother of Lori Hamm, said his family did not want to talk to the media.
However, he said, "We're glad he was caught before he hurt anybody else too seriously."
Charlie Rosenzweig, the chief criminal deputy at the Cowlitz County Sheriff's Office, said the Hamms were relieved to learn that the prime suspect in their daughter's murder had been captured. "And of course they want him punished to the full extent the law allows," he added.
Mistie Thomson, who is John Wayne Thomson's niece, said her family also is breathing easier now that her uncle has been captured.
The 30-year-old Portland woman said her family members have disowned John Thomson and that some, fearing for their safety, have been hiding.
"We are extremely relieved and we want to see justice," she said Monday. "I am going to sleep so good tonight considering I've had nightmares for weeks."
Still, she said, "We can't even begin to understand what the other families are going through."
Thomson's arrest ends a weeks-long manhunt that brought detectives from the Cowlitz County Sheriff's Office and Longview Police Department to a rural and rugged pocket of San Bernardino County. Investigators have not said why Thomson had gone to California, but they believe he knows people there, and some have suggested he was making a run for Mexico.
Rosenzweig said that Cowlitz County Detective Sid Ackler, who has been in San Bernardino for several days, will participate with other law enforcement agents in questioning Thomson --- if Thomson's willing to talk.
It hasn't been determined yet whether Thomson will be tried for his alleged crimes in California or Washington courts. Both states issued first-degree murder warrants for Thomson on Friday.
During a Monday afternoon press conference at the Hall of Justice, Cowlitz County Prosecutor Sue Baur said California "gets the first crack at him because they apprehended him."
Thomson will have a preliminary court hearing in 10 days, Baur said, but she didn't say in which jurisdiction.
"If he waives extradition, then it's easier for me to get my hands on him first," she said. "I'd assume California would want him first. If he was caught here, I would want him first."
Officials have "good, significant reason" to believe Thomson is connected to both murders, Rosenzweig said Monday. When crime lab workers processed the victims' vehicles, they found evidence clearly linking Thomson to both vehicles, he said.
Rosenzweig confirmed that Hamm and Thomson knew each other, but said authorities believe Thomson had never met Hedlund or Spokane resident James Ehrgott, 73, whom Thomson is also suspected of killing. He said authorities still don't know what happened to Ehrgott, whose car and empty wallet were recovered July 12 near Centralia.
Authorities are asking anyone with information about the case to call CrimeStoppers at (888) 577-1206. Callers may remain anonymous.
Past Month's Most Commented Stories