Thompson, Thomas and Imelda died 1986

THOMPSON

Posted By: Reid R. Johnson (email)
Date: 12/16/2014 at 06:45:54

Cedar Rapids Gazette, Sat., 14 June 1986.

Guymon, Okla.- James Benzoni has been ordered to stand trial on two counts of first-degree murder in connection with the April shooting deaths of an Iowa couple traveling through the Oklahoma panhandle while on vacation.

Benzoni, 30, had a preliminary court hearing Thursday. Formal arraignment is set for July 2. He is being held in the Texas County Jail.

The New York native was arrested in Bakersfield, Calif., in connection with the slaying of Thomas Thompson, 60, and his wife Imelda, 55, both of Guttenberg, Iowa.

The couple were found shot to death April 4 in their camper about five miles northeast of Guymon. Authorities said witnesses reported seeing the Thompsons earlier with a hitchhiker in a diner three miles west of where the couple's bodies were later found.

The Thompsons were returning from Denver, where they had visited a daughter, authorities said. They were on their way to Newton, Kan., to visit another daughter and a son before returning home to Iowa, according to investigators.

(NOTE: Thomas and Imelda Thompson are buried in Mount Olivet Cemetery. James Benzoni was ordered to stand trial at the Sept. term of court 1986, the results of which could not be found.)

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Added by S. Ferrall 12/16/2014:

GUYMON A New York state hitchhiker, jailed here the past four months on two counts of first-degree murder, is again a free man on the open road. James A. Benzoni maintained his innocence since his April arrest in California, but it was not until his two court-appointed lawyers checked out his story that authorities listened and released him from custody earlier this week.
~The Oklahoman, September 5, 1986 (this was a longer article that went on to explain why Benzoni's story checked out)