BILLINGS, Mont.—A man charged with killing his great-grandmother in Billings, Mont., told investigators he got angry and attacked her after she said he was going to turn out just like his father, court records said.
Robert Alan Thompson, 19, was arrested Saturday in Denver, a day after the body of Shirley Lawrence, 77, was found in her house. He was driving her car.
Charging documents filed Monday indicate Thompson told police in Denver that he was talking with Lawrence Friday morning about concerns over his finding a job when she told him “he was going to be just like his father.”
Court records say Thompson told investigators that he got angry, struck Lawrence in the back of the head with a metal object and then stabbed her in the chest, The Billings Gazette () reported.
Thompson remains jailed in Denver pending extradition to Montana.
A relative found Lawrence’s body Friday evening.
Police identified Thompson as a possible suspect because he had been staying with Lawrence and her car and television set were missing.
Denver police stopped the car on Saturday morning after running the license plate and learning it may be connected to a killing.
Thompson and three teenage boys from Billings were in the car.
One of the teens told an investigator that when an officer turned on his flashing lights to pull over the car, Thompson told his passengers that he forgot to tell them that he’d killed his grandmother.
Yellowstone County Attorney Scott Twito told the Gazette he did not know when Thompson will appear in court in Denver for an extradition hearing.
———
Information from: Billings Gazette,
