November 26, 2003
Prison Inmate Now a Suspect in 23-Year-Old Homicide
A prison inmate who has been linked through DNA to the 1971 murder of a Sacramento woman is now a suspect in the murder of a Bay Area fillmaker who disappeared in 1980.
Phillip Arthur Thompson, 58, is in the California State Prison, Solano, serving an 18-year-to-life term for kidnapping.
Investigators in Washington state are building a murder case against Thompson in the death of 26-year-old Valerie McDonald, who vanished in 1980. McDonald's decomposed body was found in Ferry County in northeastern Washington in 1991.
Last month, Thompson's DNA was tied to the 1971 murder of 21-year-old Betty Marie Cloer through the state Department of Justice's prisoner DNA data bank.
McDonald was an aspiring filmmaker living in a rooming house in San Francisco's North Beach area in 1980. Thompson, who had just been released from San Quentin prison, managed the apartments. Two other parolees, John Abbott and Michael Hennessey, were assistant managers. They are also suspected of being involved in McDonald's death, although Hennessey is dead.
Thompson, Abbott and Hennessey disappeared about the same time Thompson vanished. Investigators believe the three parolees lured McDonald to Canada with the promise of a part in a movie. McDonald had been friendly with Hennessey, and he may have told her of crimes the three were planning. Abbott and Hennessey were stopped near Trail, British Columbia, in connection with a stolen vehicle. A shootout ensued and Hennessey was killed.
Abbott was arrested and served prison time for attempted murder. After his release, he was deported to his home country of England. Police do not know where he is now.