STUDIO CITY : City Council Offers Reward in Slaying

The Los Angeles City Council is offering a $25,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons who killed a 73-year-old Studio City man and wounded his wife in an attempted burglary in January.

Rupert Thompson was slain Jan. 26, beaten and shot after struggling with a burglar who entered his Aqua Vista Street home. His wife, Dorothy Thompson, 70, was shot in the chest during the incident but survived.

“This was an especially mean and vicious crime,” Councilman John Ferraro said at a news conference Tuesday. “We’re offering this reward in the hope that anyone who has any information will come forward to help us solve this investigation.”

Erin Rodewald, a Ferraro aide, said the City Council approved the reward in March, but the councilman held a news conference Tuesday because investigators hoped a public appeal might generate more information to solve the crime.

The burglar, armed with a handgun, entered the Thompson home shortly after 1 a.m. and shot Dorothy Thompson once in the chest, police said. Her husband apparently fought with the burglar but was beaten severely in the head and shot in the upper body, police said. He crawled out his front door before dying on the lawn, they said.

A Canon Star 10 electronic typewriter was stolen from the home.

Anyone with information on the case should call Detective Kevin Harley at the Police Department’s North Hollywood Division, (818) 989-8831 (daytime), or (818) 989-8822 (evenings).