Murder of Paula Thompson by her son Christopher Thompson investigated on Signs of a Psychopath

ID is re-airing the Signs of a Psychopath investigation into the murder of Paula Thompson, who was beaten to death with a crowbar by her own son, Christopher Thompson, at their home in Des Moines, Iowa.

In March 2020, a friend of 50-year-old Paula contacted the Des Moines PD to ask them to perform a welfare check on her friend. When they arrived at the house, police officers found Paula lying dead on her bedroom floor.

The cops learned that her son, Christopher, had been staying at the home and was now missing, so they issued an alert for him. Several hours later, Christopher walked into a Polk County Sheriff’s station and told them he was wanted for killing his mother.

Christopher alleged to the police that on March 13, 2020, he and his mother were drinking alcohol when they began arguing. The killer claimed that Paula “turn[ed] into a monster” when she drank.

He said she told him his “life is just a pathetic piece of s**t and that everything was hers.”

The killer confessed to the cops that he “just couldn’t take it anymore,” and he snapped. He walked to a toolkit, grabbed a crowbar, and began beating his mother on the head. He said he stopped when blood began to ooze from her head.

Christopher Thompson stayed in house after Paula Thompson murder

Christopher then dragged Paula’s body into her bedroom, where he threw a towel over her head. He then put rugs down to prevent him from stepping on the blood and rinsed the blood off the crowbar.

The killer then spent several days in the house watching TV and drinking beer with his mother’s decomposing remains in the other room.

It’s impossible to confirm if events happened precisely as Christopher described, but detectives concluded he was telling the truth. And it was never in doubt that he did kill his mother.

Christopher Thompson sentenced to life for killing Paula Thompson

Paula’s friend, Lorie Baker, became concerned when she hadn’t heard from her in several days. Christopher initially told Baker that Paula was away on a drinking binge, but after Baker persisted in asking after her friend, he eventually told her he’d killed her with a crowbar.

Baker then contacted the police to ask for a welfare check, and Christopher turned himself in a few hours later.

Christopher was convicted of first-degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison. He is currently incarcerated at the Anamosa State Penitentiary in Anamosa, IA.

This episode of Signs of a Psychopath re-airs Monday at 8:30/7:30c on Investigation Discovery.