Publisher of Black Newspaper Found Slain in Home

The publisher of San Diego’s only black newspaper was found dead in his Southeast home Tuesday, apparently the victim of a stabbing.

William H. Thompson, 61, was publisher of the weekly San Diego Voice & Viewpoint and a major housing developer in Southeast San Diego. Police said he had suffered stab wounds to the neck and torso. An autopsy will be conducted today to determine the cause of death.

Homicide Sgt. Art Beadry said police went to Thompson’s home in the 5200 block of Roswell Street in response to a call from a neighbor who found the door to Thompson’s house open. Officers discovered Thompson’s body in a first-floor room of the two-story house.

Beadry said the house had been ransacked but police had not been able to determine if anything had been taken.

Police were seeking Thompson’s missing 1984 Oldsmobile Toronado, license plate number 1KVW768.

Beadry said police have no suspects and know of no motive for the slaying. He said that Thompson, who was unmarried, lived alone.

Thompson, president of William H. Thompson Associates, a real estate firm, bought the Voice & Viewpoint in 1985 and became its publisher.

He was active in community affairs and headed efforts to improve Southeast neighborhoods by building apartments and condominiums.

Friends and leaders in the black community were stunned by the news of his death. City Councilman William Jones, who was supported and advised by Thompson, said he was shocked and saddened.

“He had many dreams, many dreams for a better community,” Jones said. “He had many dreams for himself personally, and I believe he’s had a full life. He was able to do many things that many people do not have an opportunity (to do). He certainly had an agenda that was long and very meaningful.”

Thompson was, however, on occasion a center of controversy in the black community. In 1974, he was jailed for six months and placed on three years’ probation for misuse of federal funds while director of the San Diego Neighborhood Development Corp., a federally funded program to provide low-income housing.

In 1965, he was convicted of conspiracy to steal property from military bases in the Sacramento area. Thompson was given a 10-year sentence but was paroled after serving 26 months.

However, many black leaders lauded his recent efforts to improve housing and create jobs in one of San Diego’s poorest areas.

Thompson was a driving force behind the city-backed Gateway redevelopment project, a 130-acre business and industry park, bordered by Martin Luther King Way, Interstate 15 and California 94, designed to bring jobs to Southeast.

“This is a tragic passing of what is a tremendous loss to the people of the County of San Diego,” County Supervisor Leon Williams said in a prepared statement. “A tireless and dedicated friend, Bill’s influence extended far beyond the black community. He was always quick to support a worthy cause.”

During Tuesday’s City Council session, a subdued Mayor Maureen O’Connor made an announcement regarding Thompson’s death.

“I think the City Council right now is in a state of shock,” she said. “He was a big community supporter. He helped with the SEDC. (Southeast Development Corporation). He was very concerned about the drug problem, and he was working with the mayor and council . . . on eliminating drugs in the (Southeast) community.”

The Rev. George Walker Smith, pastor of Christ United Presbyterian Church, said, “Bill had one of the brightest and best business minds in the community, and not just the Southeast but the whole county. San Diego has lost a real asset and the black community in particular.”

The Rev. Robert Ard, pastor of Christ Church of San Diego, said he and Thompson were good friends. “He was working to try and develop the community,” Ard said. “He was a kind and gentle man, extremely intelligent. . . . He was a person who could have lived in any number of places throughout this county and chose to live in Southeast. His example was one of overcoming adversities.”

Voice & Viewpoint Editor Earl W. Davis said the mood at the paper was “very somber, somewhat confusing, almost an air of disbelief.” Davis said Thompson had recently been named secretary of the West Coast Black Publishers Assn.

The San Diego chapter of the national Zeta Sigma Lambda fraternity had planned to honor Thompson on Sunday as the 1986 businessman of the year.

Funeral arrangements were pending Tuesday night.