Thompson and Wife Slain by Hired Guns, Officers Say

The slaying of millionaire racing promoter Mickey Thompson and his wife Trudy was the work of hired professional killers, Los Angeles County sheriff’s investigators said Wednesday.

“We feel at this time that it was a contract killing,” said Lt. Ken Chausse, who is heading the department’s investigations of the brutal double murder.

“Both (Thompsons) were executed on the spot at fairly close range. There were two gunmen who shot them, one on Thompson, one on his wife.”

But the identities of the killers and those responsible for putting out the contract are still unknown and investigators are close to exhausting their leads, Chausse said.

In a renewed effort to seek the public’s help, investigators Wednesday released composite drawings of three men wanted for questioning.

Detectives said they have exhausted more than 180 leads in the case and are still seeking two black men believed to have gunned down the Thompsons as they were leaving their Bradbury estate just after dawn on March 16.

Chausse said the Sheriff’s Department has seven detectives working full time on the case and “we’ll keep them there as long as they are needed.” A private reward fund for information leading to the conviction of the killers has grown to about $175,000.

Thompson, 59, was the first American to break the 400-m.p.h. land speed mark. In recent years he had become a dominant force in racing promotions nationwide.

Along with the composite drawings, investigators distributed photographs of a battery-operated stun gun that they picked up at the murder scene.

The electronic device had a taped handle and missing bottom plate--to hamper tracing of the weapon, Chausse said. Deputies are not sure what role the stun gun played in the slaying, but they are convinced it was left by the killers.

Chausse said the condition of the stun gun was one factor in concluding that the killing was a professional, contract-style hit.

Another was the fact that no money or jewelry was taken from the victims. Trudy Thompson had $2,800 in cash and several thousand dollars worth of jewelry on her person when she died, and Mickey Thompson was carrying at least $600 in cash, Chausse said.

The possible motive for putting out a murder contract on Thompson and his wife has not yet been determined, he said.

One aspect of the investigation still to be explored is Thompson’s relationship with his former partner, Orange County race promoter Michael Goodwin, Chausse said.

Goodwin and Thompson had a falling out in 1985 and filed a series of lawsuits against each other. As a result of those actions, Goodwin was ordered to pay Thompson $500,000. That led Goodwin and his company to file for bankruptcy.

Sgt. Michael Griggs said that investigators have attempted to interview Goodwin several times without success. On the one occasion detectives did meet with Goodwin, his attorney advised him not to answer questions.

Goodwin could not be reached Wednesday, but his attorney, Allan Stokke, said that Goodwin was not a witness to the slaying and is not a suspect and therefore has nothing to add to the investigation.

Before his death, Mickey Thompson told friends that he had received death threats, but sheriff’s investigators said Wednesday they have found no evidence of any threats.

The two black men--described as between 20 and 30 years of age, about 5 feet 10 inches to 6 feet in height and 180 to 200 pounds in weight--were seen leaving the murder scene on blue or gray 10-speed bicycles. They both had closely cropped hair and were wearing dark clothing that may have been sweat suits.

Investigators also released a sketch of a third man seen near the scene on a bicycle similar to that used by the trigger men. The third man, described as white with blond hair, abandoned his bicycle on Foothill Boulevard in Irwindale and hitched a ride on a motorcycle.

“The black men we believe are the ones who executed the Thompsons,” Chausse said. “We’re not sure what association, if any, the white male had with (the) crime.”

Anyone having any knowledge of the crime or who may have given rides to the suspects was asked to call 213-974-4341.