Testimony reveals suspect's plans went awry
Peorian Rachael Thompson apparently had planned only to rob victim Shiraz Jamsa
December 12, 2001
By ANDY KRAVETZ
of the Journal Star
PEORIA - Shiraz Jamsa's death in July 2000 netted Rachael L. Thompson only about $30, which she allegedly used for drugs, testimony revealed Tuesday.
Thompson, 20, apparently had planned only to rob Jamsa, not kill him, but those plans went terribly awry. And Thompson now faces up to 60 years in prison if convicted of first-degree murder.
Prosecutors wrapped up their case Tuesday against Thompson, who has been in custody since July 15, 2000, the day of Jamsa's murder. Jurors should get the case today.
In a videotaped statement made to police hours after the killing, Thompson, then 18, detailed how she bound Jamsa's arms and legs with tape so he could not stop her from going through his apartment, 1018 N. Ellis St., Apt. 5.
Jamsa's relatives occupied the first two rows of the courtroom gallery as they have for nearly every hearing. During Thompson's 30-minute statement, some bowed their heads with grief. Others just sat and stared ahead without showing any emotion.
According to Thomspon's statement, she went to Jamsa's apartment to smoke marijuana. Sometime during the evening, she took his wallet, prompting an argument that carried outside.
Jamsa, 49, took a swing at her with a chair; Thompson allegedly hit him back.
Under questioning from Peoria police Detective Richard Ledbetter, Thompson said on the tape that she didn't know how many times she struck Jamsa with the chair.
She then straddled Jamsa's body and began hitting him in the head and face with her fists, she said in the statement.
In addition to binding his arms and legs, Thompson also allegedly put a strip of tape over Jamsa's mouth and left him in the back yard covered by a blanket.
The blows to the head contributed to the man's death but a forensic pathologist said she believed Jamsa suffocated.
While no direct cause was found for the asphyxiation, one theory is that Thompson, who weighed nearly twice as much as Jamsa, smothered him by sitting on his chest, not allowing the smaller man to breath, said Peoria County Coroner Dan Heinz at Jamsa's inquest last September.
Thompson said she took Jamsa's car keys and $10 in cash from his wallet. When his car wouldn't start, she left with a freezer bag full of pennies and sold his VCR to a person down the street for $20.
Sometimes a great deal is about being in the right place at the right time.