Source: Sex offender's print found at rape scene

By Jessica Blanchard
Seattle Times staff reporter

Curtis S. Thompson served 17 years for a series of rapes in 1985.

E-mail this article Print this article Search archive Most read articles Most e-mailed articles

A fingerprint found at the scene of a recent rape in Seattle's Eastlake neighborhood belongs to a registered sex offender, a source close to the investigation said yesterday.

Police say they're also interested in looking at the Level 3 sex offender, Curtis S. Thompson, 45, in connection with the stabbing death this week of a disabled woman in her apartment in the city's Bryant neighborhood.

Police would not confirm whether Thompson is a suspect in either case, and no arrests have been reported.

"He's someone we'd be interested in," said Seattle police spokesman Scott Moss. "But he's not a suspect."

Thompson, who served more than 17 years in prison for a series of rapes and an attempted rape in 1985, was arrested Monday night in the University District, accused of forcing his way into an apartment building and assaulting two women. He has been charged with 11 felonies in that case and is being held in King County Jail in lieu of $5 million bail.

In the 1985 cases, all in King County, Thompson broke into his victims' homes in the middle of the night and covered their faces while he raped them, according to court documents. In three of them, he threatened the women with a gun or knife, tied them up and demanded drugs and money. In the final rape, Thompson smothered and choked his victim and cut her with a knife.

After being arrested in 1985, Thompson told police his behavior was "out of control" and that he was "afraid that he might kill his next victim," according to court documents.

In the Eastlake rape Aug. 17, police say a man broke into a woman's house late at night and raped her. The woman later told police she was unable to get a good look at her attacker because he had covered her face during the rape.

When she resisted at one point, hitting him with a lamp, her attacker beat her and tied her up with a belt, police said. He then stole her car, which has not been found.

Thompson served his time for the 1985 crimes. Shortly before he was scheduled to be released, prosecutors sought to have him civilly committed to a secure treatment center for sexual offenders on McNeil Island in Pierce County. Prosecutors said Thompson had a history of sexual sadism dating to his adolescence, still harbored anger toward women and was likely to re-offend.
 
But Thompson's attorneys argued that he had been a model prisoner and had developed good relationships with several women who worked for the Department of Corrections during the years he was incarcerated.

The jury sided with Thompson, and in October 2003 he was released from prison and began living with his mother in the Bryant neighborhood.

Thompson recently registered at a new address, in the University District, in the 4700 block of Roosevelt Way Northeast, according to the King County Sheriff's Office.

Thompson's mother's home is near the apartment complex where 45-year-old Deborah S. McAfee was found stabbed to death Thursday. Police said she was last seen alive Sunday.

Police also are looking at Thompson in connection with that killing.

"There's no evidence to suggest he's a possible link at this point," Moss said. "But we always look at crime trends in a certain area ... and being that he lives in close proximity, it'll be certainly something we'll explore."

Police are not looking at Thompson in connection with last week's rape north of Green Lake. He was under arrest at the time, Moss said.

Jessica Blanchard: 206-464-3896 or jblanchard@seattletimes.com

Seattle Times staff reporter Christine Clarridge contributed to this report.