At Age 12, He Stabbed a Playmate 26 Times : Haunted by Child Killing, Former Town Official Hangs Himself

A former town official who stirred headlines when it was learned that as a child he had killed a playmate has now committed suicide, and friends said Friday he had never forgiven himself for the crime.

The body of Albert Thompson, 32, the former executive director of the Housing Authority in this Boston suburb, was found hanging by an electrical cord from a drain pipe in the basement of the Sweet Sis Cheesecake Co. in Newton, where he worked as an assistant to the manager. His death Wednesday night was ruled a suicide.

“We all knew he was suicidal,” said Marion Powers, administrative assistant at the Housing Authority. “He had a lot of friends that care about him, but I don’t think he knew it.”

‘Just Couldn’t Forgive Himself’

“He just couldn’t forgive himself,” said Patricia Nichols, who had been his assistant at the Housing Authority. “He couldn’t accept it.”

Housing Authority members knew Thompson’s background when he was hired and supported him when his past became public. Differences with Thompson over how his job should be performed led to the board’s 4-1 decision not to renew his contract last May.

But Thompson told the Associated Press in June that his firing stemmed from pressure the board came under because of his past.

In 1967, Thompson killed 6-year-old Mark Dupuis by stabbing him 26 times. Thompson, who was 12 at the time, said he lost control after a stray flip of the knife in a game of mumblety-peg hit the boy’s chest and the child would not stop crying.

Thompson went to reform school for the killing, then drifted for years before getting a job running a prison pre-release program in New Hampshire. He returned to his hometown 18 years after the murder and was hired in June, 1985, as the Housing Authority’s executive director.

He became involved with tenants’ organizations and a local theater, where he landed a bit part in a musical earlier this year.

But rumors about his past began to circulate and hate mail began to arrive at the theater. His car window was smashed and residents in the town of 12,000 people began to question why the housing board had ever hired him.

Told Story

Although he initially denied knowledge of the boy’s death, Thompson decided to tell his story last year to dispel the rumors.

“The publicity just made him more aware of what was going on inside him. I think if he could have forgiven himself, the publicity wouldn’t have bothered him,” Nichols said.

A friend from Voke’s Theater said Thompson was upbeat about his new job when he saw him two months ago at auditions for a new musical.

“He went through a very tough time but he seemed to have overcome at least some of the problems that were associated with the incident,” Robert Gibson Sr. said.

Newton police Lt. James O’Donnell said he did not know if a note was found.

Family Refused to Comment

Thompson’s family declined to discuss him or the death. “Nobody wants to tell you anything,” said a woman who identified herself as Mrs. LaRouchelle and answered the telephone at the home of Thompson’s mother, Shirley LaRouchelle.

Friends had often tried to persuade Thompson to seek counseling, but he never seemed to stay with it for more than a few sessions, Powers said.

“I think facing it was just too painful,” she said. “He was an actor and he just put up a wall around himself.”