John Wayne Thomson was formally sentenced to receive the death penalty today for fatally stabbing Charles Hedlund of Lucerne Valley, who had stopped on the side of the road in the Cajon Pass to help Thomson in 2006.
Thomson, 54, was found guilty by a jury on Oct. 16th of last year of one felony count of special circumstances murder during the commission of second degree robbery, aggravated mayhem, carjacking and attempted carjacking.
Recently, a jury of his peers recommended that Thomson receive the death Penelope for his crimes.
A few days following Hedlund’s murder Thomson attacked a 70-year-old man with a hammer, stole his car, and then attempted to steal vehicles from two other victims. Thomson has also been linked to two other homicides in Washington.
Supervising Deputy District Attorney Robert Bulloch prosecuted the case. “John Thomson is the reason why the death penalty is still relevant,” Bulloch said. He explained that state correctional facilities attempted to rehabilitate Thomson but his crimes only increased in violence and severity, saying, "There is nothing else that society can do to stop Thomson, other than to give him the harshest punishment.”
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John Wayne Thomson was formally sentenced to receive the death penalty today for fatally stabbing Charles Hedlund of Lucerne Valley, who had stopped on the side of the road in the Cajon Pass to help Thomson.
Thomson, 54, was found guilty by a jury on Oct. 16, 2013, of one felony count of special circumstances murder during the commission of second degree robbery, aggravated mayhem, carjacking and attempted carjacking.
He was recommended to receive the death penalty by a jury during a second penalty phase trial on Dec. 19, 2013.
A few days following Hedlund’s murder Thomson attacked a 70-year-old man with a hammer, stole his car, and then attempted to steal vehicles from two other victims. Thomson has also been linked to two other homicides in Washington.
Supervising Deputy District Attorney Robert Bulloch prosecuted the case.
“John Thomson is the reason why the death penalty is still relevant,” Bulloch said. “He has served time in state prison repeatedly. While incarcerated, he was given every opportunity to be rehabilitated, but each time he got out, he committed even more violent and serious felonies. And as this case demonstrated, even when he was locked up and facing murder charges and the death penalty, he continued to prey on society by soliciting the murders of three innocent people from jail. There is nothing else that society can do to stop Thomson, other than to give him the harshest punishment.”