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Aaron Thompson at sentencing
AARONE THOMPSON CASE
COURT CASE
BACKGROUND
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BISHOP PHILLIPS & LOWE

Child Claims He Was Asked To Help Kill Aarone

19-Year-Old In Thompson Trial Allegedly Cusses At Judge

POSTED: 12:17 pm MDT August 27, 2009
UPDATED: 11:02 pm MDT August 27, 2009

A boy testifying in the Aaron Thompson case had told a therapist that he had been asked to help kill his sister and bury her body.

Thompson is on trial for numerous charges of child abuse and for the presumed death of his daughter, Aarone Thompson. Aarone was reported missing on Nov. 14, 2005. Police soon suspected that the girl had not run away but was killed. However, her body has never been found. Thompson's girlfriend and the mother of five of the kids in the home, Shely Lowe, died before she could be arrested.

The boy who testified late Thursday reiterated what the other kids who have testified so far have said -- that Thompson beat him and the others seven kids in the home. Prosecutors didn't ask much about what happened to Aarone before court was adjourned for the day, but it may be discussed in further detail when his testimony resumes on Friday.

Earlier, his psychotherapist testified that the boy confided to him. Reading from notes taken on Oct. 17, 2008, prosecutor Amy Richards asked psychotherapist Simon Dwyer about the notes he jotted down while meeting with the teenage boy.

According to Dwyer's notes, the boy said, "(Thompson) beat the (expletive) out of her... Aarone. They told me to take a butcher knife out, to finish her off. How would you like it?"

The child had been treated by Aurora Mental Health Center, Dwyer said.

Dwyer testified that the teen's guilt over what happened to Aarone became the main component of his therapy as he dealt with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and major depression. The boy's foster parents also told the psychotherapist even more gruesome stories that the boy had told them.

On July 25, 2008, Dwyer talked with the boy's foster parents, who told the therapist that they believe the boy had been sexually abused as well.

"They told you he was speaking of being present when his sister was murdered ... that he was forced to help bury the body and that he helped bury her, and that he further discussed that his mother and his stepfather had attempted to have him have sexual intercourse with his sister's dead body," defense attorney James Karbach said.

Dwyer agreed that had been discussed.

"(They said that the boy) talked of being covered in blood, his stepfather and Shely breaking his pinkie fingers, telling him to remember what happened, and not to tell anyone," Dwyer said.

Dwyer never said if he believed what the boy said was true.

The boy is one of the seven surviving kids that had lived at 16551 East Kepner Place with Thompson and Lowe when Aarone was reported missing. Several of the kids have already testified this week.

19-Year-Old Cited For Contempt

A scared, emotional, hot tempered 15-year-old who endured a grueling, 5-hour police interview in 2005 while officers investigated the death of a girl is now a 19-year-old whose possibly offensive language in court has him facing a contempt of court charge.

The 19-year-old, whose full name is being withheld, allegedly called the judge a b***h after giving his testimony on Thursday.

In court to testify against his sister's boyfriend, Aaron Thompson, RR just smiled and mumbled his way through constant contradictions and was not much help to the prosecution, who had called him as a witness.

By the end of the afternoon, Judge Valeria Spencer cited him for indirect contempt of court.

RR had been a difficult witness to that point, asking prosecutor Amy Richards to restate even the most basic question and laughing as if the entire experience was a joke.

RR told the jury that he saw Thompson's daughter -- Aarone -- when he moved in, though he couldn't remember the date. It was early August 2004. RR had moved to live with his older sister, Shely Lowe, and her boyfriend at 16551 East Kepner Place in Aurora.

In recorded interviews played on DVD for the jury, earlier in the trial, RR told police and later a child advocate that he never saw Aarone and that she was gone when he moved in, and that Lowe told him the girl had gone to live with her mother in Detroit.

As the jury left for the morning recess at 10:05 a.m., RR allegedly uttered a curse word as he walked away from the judge. Prosecutor Amy Richards wasn't about to defend him.

"I don't know how to say this ... but he called your honor a derogatory name," Richards told Spencer outside the presence of RR and the jury. "My greatest concern is that there were some jurors here. I think it warrants (a) contempt of court (charge). I think there were five to six jurors here at the time."

RR was frequently swearing in his testimony.

When asked what his thoughts were when he came home from high school on Nov. 15, 2005 and saw officers in his home, Russell said he thought, "What the hell? No offense, but why is there a pig ..."

It was the day Thompson reported Aarone missing, launching an investigation that would lead to this trial.

Spencer interrupted RR, reminding him that swearing would not be tolerated in the courtroom. This same scene would play out in front of the jury three separate times.

By the end of his testimony, the judge cited RR for indirect contempt of court. He was not arrested and was ordered to appear before Judge Christopher Cross on Sept. 25.

Spencer said because the derogatory term was not uttered in her presence it is not direct contempt, but instead cited him for indirect contempt of court based on "that slight to the court, that challenge to the dignity of the court..."

Spencer went on to advise RR he could be punished by up to six months in county jail and/or receive a fine. RR was also told that if he failed to appear for the hearing a warrant would be issued for his arrest.

RR was caught lying about having a cell phone but may have perjured himself when claiming he saw Aarone and even had dinner with her. The teen claimed on Thursday he saw Aarone but that completely contradicted what he said, also under oath, in November and December 2006, defense attorney James Karbach said.

Carol Chambers, District Attorney for the 18th Judicial District, would not comment on RR's testimony but did respond by e-mail: "If a witness said something inconsistent, the attorneys will not miss that and will address it. "

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