GA- Domestic fight ends in death

6-5-2006 Georgia:

A registered sex offender living in Register killed himself Wednesday afternoon after setting his home on fire, investigators said. Robert Antonio Thompson, 30, Triple T Road, ran from responding law enforcement officers after his wife called for help, said Bulloch County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Gene McDaniel. The woman, whom investigators did not name, picked Thompson up Wednesday afternoon from Denmark Street in Statesboro, and stopped at a convenience store in Register on the way home, he said.

At The Store in Register (the name of the convenience store), the couple argued. They had been separated for about a month, he said. However, it was unclear what caused the disagreement, he said. After returning home a few miles away from the store, Thompson’s wife called law enforcement, he said. When Bulloch County Sheriff’s Capt. Lee Harris arrived at the Triple T Road home around 4:30 p.m., Thompson fled into the woods, he said. “That’s when Capt. Harris realized the mobile home was on fire,” McDaniel said.

Harris called for firefighters and for backup to locate Thompson. Local businessman Ellis Wood, who often assists law enforcement, arrived by helicopter to help officers in the search for Thompson while firefighters extinguished the blaze, McDaniel said. The mobile home, which was empty except for a small dog, was gutted, he said. The dog escaped the blaze uninjured. A short time later, Wood spotted Thompson’s body behind the home, he said. “He had apparently placed a pistol to his head and shot himself.”

Thompson was convicted of rape in August, 1996, according to information from the Bulloch County Sheriff’s Department web site (www.bullochsheriff.com). He was also convicted in 1997 of criminal interference with government property, obstruction and underage possession of alcohol, serving a five-year sentence and released in August, 2001, according to the Georgia Department of Corrections web site. ..Source.. by HOLLI DEAL BRAGG