On This Date in Minnesota History: March 6

March 6, 1963 – Carol Thompson, a Highland Park housewife and 34-year-old mother of four, was the victim of a murder-for-hire plan devised by her husband, T. Eugene Thompson, a well-known local criminal attorney. On this “otherwise ordinary”² morning, Carol collapsed on a neighbor's stoop in her nightgown, beaten and bloodied; “in her neck was the broken blade of a paring knife. She died hours later in the hospital.”¹

Minnesotans called it the murder of the century, the crime of the century, the trial of the century. Thompson’s “trial was closely covered by reporters from New York and Chicago, and his conviction was front-page news as far away as Honolulu and Oslo.”²  

http://www.robertsgriffin.com/AndersonA.pdf
¹http://www.winonadailynews.com/news/article_615df7e3-eb09-54c9-bad6-9ef83d762997.html
²http://business.highbeam.com/137256/article-1G1-20968310/legacy-murder-been-thirtyfive-years-since-carol-thompson

Carol and T. Eugene Thompson

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.fringefestival.org/2012/img/shows/300/2399.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.fringefestival.org/2012/mobile/show/?id%3D2399&h=131&w=300&sz=8&tbnid=aSULkgMvJGJE-M:&tbnh=48&tbnw=110&zoom=1&usg=__MIRu3mBlOQZysiNpkBq0KMYatRU=&docid=OCivbwRWVcXH1M&hl=en&sa=X&ei=BA2DULOME-aVyQGSwICQBw&ved=0CCsQ9QEwBA&dur=1384

St. Paul street Thompson's lived on at the time of the murder.

Photos taken by Pamela J. Erickson. Released into the public domain March 6, 2013,
as long as acknowledgement included. 

Gun handle pieces found at the scene of Carol Thompson’s murder identified; see April 9, 2013 blog


Thieves admit to stealing and selling gun used in Carol Thompson murder; see April 17, 2013 blog


Suspects arrested in Carol Thompson’s murder; see April 19, 2013 blog


Suspect implicates another as actual murderer in Carol Thompson case; see April21, 2013 blog


T. Eugene Thompson represented one of the suspects in his wife’s murder; see April 23, 2013 blog


Pistol used to bludgeon Carol Thompson found; see April 30, 2013 blog


T. Eugene Thompson walks out on grand jury; see May 2, 2013 blog


Getaway car in Carol Thompson murder located; see May 3, 2013 blog


Blood-stained trousers believed to have been worn by Carol Thompson’s murderer found; May 9, 2013 blog


Suspect in Carol Thompson’s murder confesses, implicates T. Eugene Thompson; see June 20, 2013 blog


T. Eugene Thompson arrested in his wife’s murder; see June 21, 2013 blog


T. Eugene Thompson’s role in wife’s murder revealed to public; see June 22, 2013 blog
Minn. Supreme Court affirms T. Eugene Thompson’s conviction; see Jan. 7, 2014 blog

Minn. Supreme Court denies T. Eugene Thompson’s attempt to collect wife’s insurance death benefits; see Feb. 10, 2014 blog