Thompson sentenced to life in prison for 2004 crime spree

Serial rapist Curtis Thompson was sentenced this morning to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the rape of an Eastlake woman and the assault of two women at a University District apartment building during a crime spree in August 2004.

Thompson disrupted court proceedings, cursing his attorneys and calling them "idiots." Judge Palmer Robinson ordered him removed from the courtroom before his sentence was announced in King County Superior Court.

John Hicks, Thompson's defense attorney, said he intends to appeal the case.

Thompson faces a third trial, scheduled to start May 11, for the slaying of a woman in North Seattle, also in August 2004. While the maximum sentence for that crime is shorter than the life sentence he was given today, prosecutors intend to continue with the trial.

"He should be held accountable for everything he's done," said Scott O'Toole, senior deputy prosecuting attorney. "He doesn't get a discount" for convictions of lesser crimes, he said.

Investigators believe Thompson went on a crime spree in August 2004 involving assault, rape and murder.

Last month, a King County jury convicted Thompson, 43, of one count of first-degree rape, one count of burglary and one count of vehicle theft. Prosecutors said he broke into a woman's home in the middle of the night on Aug. 17, 2004, raped her and poured bleach on her body in an attempt to hide DNA evidence.

In October, a jury found Thompson guilty of assaulting two women at a University District apartment building. The victims said Thompson followed them into the building on Aug. 23, 2004, forced them into an elevator, robbed one of her engagement ring and forced the other to remove her top.

Robinson sentenced him today for convictions from both trials. The sentences included four terms of life in prison without the possibility of parole, plus another 41 years in prison for other counts, all of which will be served concurrently.

As in previous court appearances, Thompson unleashed an angry tirade, cursing his attorneys, claiming prosecutorial misconduct and accusing the court of refusing to consider his motions for a new trial. He has been confined to a restraint chair to travel between the jail and the courthouse because of a previous scuffle with guards and repeated threats to attorneys.

"My counsel will not stand up for me," he said before he was wheeled out of the courtroom.

Thompson has already served an 18-year prison sentence for four rapes in 1985. Upon completing the sentence in 2003, he was freed by a jury even though prosecutors wanted to send him to a secure-treatment facility for sexual offenders.

Thompson still faces a trial in the slaying of Deborah S. Byars, 45, who police believe was stabbed to death with a screwdriver in her apartment on 40th Avenue Northeast. Her body was found on Aug. 26, 2004.

Nanci Newhall, Byars' sister who sat through Thompson's rape trial, said she is looking forward to the murder trial.

"I wanted to make sure he is held accountable for all the people he's hurt," she said. "I'm looking forward to some closure, for my family, for me."

The murder charge carries a maximum sentence of 50 years in prison.

Sharon Pian Chan: 206-464-2958 or schan@seattletimes.com.