Aarone Thompson's father arrested for child abuse ending death (CONVICTED)

[lexie]

Aaron Johnson Thompson, father of Aarone Johnson Thompson, was arrested on charges of child abuse ending in death, per Fox News Wednesday night.  Although the child was reported missing by her father two years ago, no one had seen the child for a least a year prior to the report that she was missing.  Six siblings, all older, were removed from the home.

[bleachedblack]

Missing Aurora girl's father appears in court
posted by: Sara Gandy , Web Producer  
 
last updated: 5/29/2007 2:27:25 PM

CENTENNIAL - A judge will rule on June 22nd whether to release the details from the written reports of the Arapahoe County Grand Jury on why they indicted Aaron Thompson on 60 counts. The judge made this ruling in court Tuesday morning.

He's the father of Aarone Thompson, the girl reported missing from her Aurora home more than a-year-and-a-half ago.

Her father is now accused of child abuse resulting in death, plus 59 other criminal counts.

The details of the case remain sealed.

Prosecutors previously asked for facts backing up the allegations to be blacked out from a grand jury indictment, but Thompson's lawyers now want the whole case to be sealed.

The Denver Post has filed a motion to release the information to the public, but a decision on that won't be made until at least June 22nd.

Police have said nearly since the beginning that they believe the girl is already dead, and may have been dead for some 18 months before her father reported her missing in November 2005.

District Attorney Carol Chambers has said that not all of the 60 counts relate to Aarone.

Both Thompson and his late girlfriend Shely Lowe have denied any involvement in Aarone's disappearance or death.

Lowe died of an apparent heart attack last year.

http://www.9news.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=70979

[Sleeks]

Good Morning Monkeys - it has been awhile.  I have (however) been lurking.  Reading your posts.  And researching.  

I cannot begin to tell you all how HAPPY this news makes me.  In Fact I believe Lexie (sp?) posted this prior.  This poor little girl has been in my heart since the supposed day she went missing.  Someone should be accountable.  

I don't know where my avatar went.  

[Peaches]

Imagine my surprise!  

The "father".  

Opportunity.  Motive.  

At least the other kids are out of his cafe now.  Maybe they will have the chance this little girl didn't.

[Nut44x4]

Friday, May 2, 2008
The full indictment against Aaron Thompson shows that his missing daughter, Aarone, died because she was undernourished, suffered cruel punishment and was denied medical care.

Details surrounding the disappearance and presumed death of Aarone Thompson, along with information outlining a pattern of alleged child abuse against Aarone and her siblings were released Wednesday as the full indictment against Aaron Thompson in his criminal case were made public.

The Denver Post asked the Colorado State Court of Appeals to consider its argument that withholding the information from the public was illegal. Earlier this week, the court agreed and announced it should be made public.

An indictment is a legal document that outlines the charges against a defendant. Indictments are considered public information in Colorado.

Among the 60 counts, Thompson faces child abuse resulting in death - knowingly or recklessly, multiple counts of conspiracy to commit child abuse resulting in death, false reporting to authorities, concealing death, conspiracy to conceal death, abuse of a corpse, conspiracy to commit abuse of a corpse, multiple counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor and multiple counts of child abuse resulting in injury.

Thompson's girlfriend, Shely Lowe, was also named a person of interest in the case. Lowe died in May 2006 of heart problems, shortly before the grand jury was convened to hear the case.

For more on the information contained in the indictment, click here.

In the 60-plus page indictment, Lowe's former common-law husband, Eric Williams, describes a late night in January or early February of 2004 where Lowe discussed the night when Aarone "just stopped breathing." Williams told the grand jury that Lowe started sobbing and crying to him explaining that she had tried, along with Thompson, to bring Aarone back to life by giving her mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

Williams continues explaining that Lowe told him she and Thompson determined they needed to get rid of the body because Aarone had a scar on her back from discipline they had given her. The couple feared social services would take away their other children, according to Williams.

Aarone's body has never been found but Williams' testimony goes on to say that Lowe described the evening when she and Thompson left the other children at home, driving "far away" to dig a grave. She told Williams that they placed the child in a grave and as they put the dirt over Aarone, "the last breath of the child was coming out of her body."

The indictment also outlines how Thompson and Lowe told the other children that Aarone had been living in Michigan for two years prior to the day Thompson reported his then 6-year-old daughter missing in November 2005.

It also describes how Lowe and Thompson tried to keep their children and Lowe's teenage brother, also living with the couple in Aurora, from talking to authorities about Aarone's disappearance.

Lowe's own mother told authorities she had never met Aarone, never spoken with the girl or seen her picture. Aarone's paternal grandmother last saw Aarone in Michigan before the family moved to Denver when Aarone was only 2 years old.

Aarone's last documented medical appointment was at Aurora South Hospital on May 12, 2002. Her last known photograph was taken at the Grand Canyon when she was approximately 3-and-a-half years old. The National Park Services determined, based on shadows, growth of foliage, and other factors that the photo had been taken in May, June or July of 2002.

The indictment also details testimony from one of Aarone's older sisters.

The sister told a therapist that Lowe and Thompson punished Aarone for "peeing" by putting her in a coat closet. It goes on to explain that sometimes it would be part of the day, other times it would be part of the day and all through the night. The sister also remembered the last time she saw her sister, saying she was in the closet and was going to be there all night as punishment for "peeing."

Aarone's bed-wetting is also detailed in the indictment as it was Lowe's responsibility to clean her. Aarone's older sister explained that she heard Thompson giving Aarone a "whoopin'" in the middle of the night. Another sister also said Aarone got "whooped" with a belt by Thompson for "peeing" in the closet.

Two different incidences described in the indictment imply that Aarone was sexually assaulted but some of the details have been redacted.

The physical abuse Lowe and Thompson inflicted upon the children is graphically detailed in the indictment. All of the children were subjected to continuous physical abuse by the couple with belts, bats, poles, extension cords, hats, broomsticks and belt buckles.

One section of the indictment describes a "whoopin'" where Thompson was beating one of his sons in the basement after tying him to a pole naked. During the "whoopin'" Thompson yelled for one of his daughters to bring him a drink of water. After she gave it to him, Thompson said to his son, "I am ready for more, are you?"

The indictment explains that the children were frequently kept home from school because the assaults were so severe that the parents feared others would notice. They were also forced to bath in hot water to reduce swelling. If the children bled during the "whoopins" they were required to clean the blood from the carpet or flooring.

The physical tormenting came, many times, after the children had eaten some of Lowe's food. Many of the children told investigators they feared both Lowe and Thompson, according to the indictment.

With the exception of one, all of the Lowe/Thompson children are in Colorado and have been either adopted or remain in foster care.

The indictment was partially released in May 2007 but was heavily redacted following a year-long grand jury investigation. Many of the specific details outlined against Thompson had been left a secret.

A History of the case can be found here>
http://blackandmissing.blogspot.com/2008/05/indictment-describes-disappearance.html
scroll way down.

[Nut44x4]

The Denver Post
 
September 4, 2008 Thursday
Aaroné's dad's trial won't be split into 7 A judge denies a request for multiple proceedings in the 60-count child-abuse case.
 
A judge refused Wednesday to give Aaron Thompson seven different trials, rejecting defense arguments that "there will be an overall assassination" of Thompson's character if he is forced to answer to multiple criminal counts at one trial.

Thompson is charged with 60 counts, including child abuse resulting in death, conspiracy to commit child abuse and multiple counts of child abuse.

Thompson is accused of repeatedly abusing his children and causing the death of his daughter Aaroné, who would have been 6 years old when she was reported missing Nov. 14, 2005. Her body has never been found.

Prosecutor Amy Richardson told Arapahoe County District Judge J. Mark Hannen that if attorneys for

Thompson succeeded in their request for the separate trials, it would require seven children who lived in the Thompson household with Aaroné to testify seven different times.

She said the children suffered the same types of abuse at the hands of Thompson and his common-law wife, Shelley Lowe, and that the abuse occurred in the same time frame, roughly over a three-year period from 2002 to late 2005.

Investigators said the children told them they were beaten with baseball bats, belts, electrical cords, a folded-

up magazine and bare fists.

Further, Richardson said, the children were told they had to lie about when they had last seen Aaroné.

Police believe she actually died in the summer of 2002, not when

Thompson first told authorities that Aaroné had run away from home in November 2005.

Richardson argued that all the incidents, including the abuse and disappearance of Aaroné, took place in the same house.

But defense attorney James Karbach questioned whether the jury would be "able to separate out all the legal issues and all the factual issues at play." There are so many counts related to the children that are separate and apart from the allegations related to Aaroné's disappearance, he said, that the result of a single trial would be "an overall assassination on (Thompson's) character."

But Hannen said that as of now, he will permit just one trial, as the prosecution requested, because all the events are "connected, related and intertwined."
http://www6.lexisnexis.com/publisher/EndUser?Action=UserDisplayFullDocument&orgId=574&topicId=100020825&docId=l:846445239&start=2

[MuffyBee]

As I read the second to the last post here, outlining the terrible treatment the children endured day after day at the hands of two adults, I felt almost weak with sadness, as if all the air went out of me.  It's good the children are out of that home now and I hope they are in places where they are given the kind of life children should have, like good food, a safe place to stay and someone to love and cherish them.  Sadly, it's too late for Aarone.  No matter what the law charges Aaron Johnson and his woman with and what they may have to serve as a sentence, it would never be enough for all the pain and suffering they have caused.  Not only did little Aarone die, but it seems she died over and over, a slow death.   The other children have to live with the memories of their terrible treatment.
 
 "But defense attorney James Karbach questioned whether the jury would be "able to separate out all the legal issues and all the factual issues at play." There are so many counts related to the children that are separate and apart from the allegations related to Aaroné's disappearance, he said, that the result of a single trial would be "an overall assassination on (Thompson's) character."  IMO, the trial wouldn't be an overall assassination on Thompson's character.  He himself and only himself is responsible for his actions. He has assassinated his own character. 
  I hope the judge handles this one very carefully and Aaron Thompson doesn't get out of being punished for his crimes against his childrens on a technicality or loop hole. 

[Nut44x4]

The Denver Post
 
September 5, 2008 Friday
 
Trial of Aaroné's dad moved to June '09 The date is pushed back because of the complexity of the case and school conflicts.
 
The trial of Aaron Thompson - accused of causing the death of his daughter Aaroné and systematically abusing seven other children - has been moved to June 2009 from November and scheduled for six weeks instead of the original two.

Arapahoe County District Judge J. Mark Hannen made the change Thursday after prosecutors and defense lawyers said the complexity of issues surrounding the case, plus the fact the child witnesses will be in school in November, demanded a new trial date.

Thompson faces 60 criminal counts, including child abuse resulting in death, conspiracy to commit child abuse, accessory to a crime, false reporting to authorities, abuse of a corpse, concealing a death and multiple counts of child abuse resulting in injury.

Thompson reported Aaroné missing Nov. 14, 2005, claiming she had run away. But investigators believe she died in the summer of 2002. Her body has never been found.

Investigators said the children living in the Thompson home said they were beaten with baseball bats, belts, electrical cords, a

folded-up magazine and bare fists and told to lie about when they last saw Aaroné.

Among the issues that must be determined at pretrial hearings now scheduled for mid-October, mid-November and early February are whether police conducted illegal searches at Thompson's Aurora home and whether statements he made to investigators will be admitted at trial.

Both the prosecution and defense said the battle over the searches of the home and Thompson's statements will take at least 10 days of pretrial hearings.

The lawyers also told Hannen that jury selection is expected to take at least a week.

Thompson on Thursday readily waived his speedy-trial rights, which originally would have forced prosecutors to bring him to trial by Dec. 25.

Under the new speedy-trial deadline, prosecutors have until Sept. 30, 2009, to put Thompson on trial.

Defense lawyer James Karbach told Hannen the defense has a lot of issues to examine, including lining up experts.

And co-counsel James O'Connor told the judge the defense will fight admission of all statements Thompson made to investigators in the days and months after he told authorities Aaroné had run away.

Prosecutors maintain Thompson's statements are admissible because it was Thompson who called police, reported Aaroné missing and came to the police station to follow up on the report.

The defense also claims that police for several days routinely entered the Thompson home and yard without first obtaining a search warrant, which the defense claims resulted in the illegal seizure of evidence.

A series of officers are expected to testify in October about the search of the home.

Hannen on Thursday refused a defense motion to throw out all statements made by Thompson to police and a motion that prosecutors immediately tell the defense which of Thompson's statements they intend to admit at trial.
http://www6.lexisnexis.com/publisher/EndUser?Action=UserDisplayFullDocument&orgId=574&topicId=100020825&docId=l:847086030&start=2

[MuffyBee]

The part about "child witnesses will be in school" made me realize the children are going to have to go on the stand too, and they will have to relive the hell they've been put through.  If Thompson had any decency, he wouldn't drag them through all of that.  But it seems to me all he is worried about is his own skin.  I hope the children manage to not only get through the trial, but are able to help make the case against the man that treated them so abysmally and more than likely killed little Aarone.  I hope judge Mark Hannen manages to keep this trial on track and doesn't make for any errors that would allow Thompson's defense attorney's to get him off on a technicality.  Thank you for the update, Nut.  I will be watching this space. 

[Nut44x4]

Rocky Mountain News (Denver, CO)
 
October 17, 2008 Friday
 
Prosecutor suggests an informant in Aarone case
Two people can be heard on tape

A prosecutor indicated that authorities have a confidential informant in the Aarone Thompson case.

Arapahoe County Deputy District Attorney Amy Richards, during a court hearing Thursday, mentioned conversations in which someone involved in the case talks of "an attempt to conceal the death of Aarone Thompson" and "asking the other person not to report what she knows."

The conversations were apparently recorded and District Judge Mark Hannen said he is reviewing them.

Aarone's father, Aaron Thompson, reported her missing in November 2005 when she would have been 6. Within days, police said she had been killed up to 18 months earlier, although her body has not been found.

Thompson has been charged with 60 criminal counts, including child abuse resulting in death. His trial is scheduled to begin next June.

Thompson, 40, has pleaded not guilty.

At least two people can be heard on the tape, according to courtroom testimony. One is Shely Lowe, Thompson's live-in girlfriend, who has since died, prosecutors indicated.

Richards said that she expected "broad disagreement" with defense attorneys over what parts of the conversations, if any, should be allowed in court.

After briefly discussing the informant issue, attorneys questioned two Aurora police officers involved in entering the home the first two days of the investigation.

Officer Gary Oliver recounted how Thompson showed up at police headquarters Nov. 14 after calling to report Aarone missing because a dispatcher told him it would be two hours before an officer could be sent to the Aurora home.

Oliver said Thompson was calm, straightforward and direct. Oliver said he drove to the Thompson house and searched it but did not notice anything unusual.

Oliver said Lowe also asked him why more wasn't being done to find the girl, such as an Amber Alert.

Aurora police Detective Chuck Mehl was dispatched to the Thompson home the next day. He said Thompson was extremely cooperative and signed a form consenting to a search of his home.

Mehl said he wanted to interview the other children in the home individually - which is standard procedure - in his unmarked car, but Thompson suggested it be done in the Aurora home. Mehl started with the oldest child but said the boy was reluctant and very evasive.

Lowe then objected to having the children interviewed without her present. 
http://www6.lexisnexis.com/publisher/EndUser?Action=UserDisplayFullDocument&orgId=574&topicId=100020825&docId=l:869878436&start=3

[Nut44x4]

Thompson has been held in the Arapahoe County Jail in lieu of $500,000 bond since his arrest in May 2007. The 60 counts against him include child abuse resulting in death, abuse of a corpse and assault with a deadly weapon.

Lowe died of a heart condition in 2006.

Thompson waived his right to a speedy trial this fall, a moved that pushed his trial date back from November to June 2009.

Thompson’s trial, which is expected to last six weeks, is now scheduled to start June 15.

Thompson pleaded not guilty in June to all 60 counts, including child abuse resulting in death. By law, defendants have a right to a trial within six months of the day they enter a plea at arraignment.
http://www.aurorasentinel.com/articles/2008/12/24/news/doc4952a63e4912c843181059.txt

[Nut44x4]

Hearing Set For Aaron Thompson In Missing Daughter Case
Thompson's Daugther, Aarone, Still Missing

POSTED: 8:47 am MDT June 15, 2009
CENTENNIAL, Colo. -- Court hearings are scheduled this week for an Arapahoe County man accused in the disappearance of his young daughter.

Motions hearings are set to begin Tuesday for Aaron Thompson in Centennial.

Authorities say Thompson is responsible for the disappearance of his daughter, Aarone, who would have been 6 when Thompson reported her missing in 2005.

Thompson told police his daughter ran away after an argument over a cookie. Police became suspicious and the search was suspended when, among other things, the family could not produce a recent picture of the missing girl.

Aarone has not been found. Aurora police have said the girl may have been killed up to 18 months before Thompson reported her missing.

Prosecutors said Aarone was undernourished and was beaten and locked in a closet for hours as punishment for wetting herself. An indictment alleges Thompson and his girlfriend, Shely Lowe, concealed her death for two years.

Lowe died in 2006 from heart problems.

The 60-count indictment against Thompson describes a violent home where Aarone and seven other children were allegedly beaten with a baseball bat, belts, cords, a broomstick or a magazine.

The indictment alleges that Aarone wasn't given medical care. Court documents also allege that Aarone was buried in a field.
http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/19755989/detail.html

[cookie]

I am just simply sick to my stomach reading all of that...I could not even finish reading it...how cruel are people? this father deserves the same beatings that these kids had to endure and more!

[Nut44x4]

Father Of Missing Aurora Girl Set For Trial

Jury To See 7NEWS' Exclusive Interview With Aaron Thompson

AURORA -- Her disappearance captivated the state and now the trial of her father may soon answer the question: what happened to 6-year-old Aarone Thompson?

The Aurora girl was reported missing on Nov. 14, 2005 by her dad and his live-in girlfriend.  The Aurora Police Department responded with a massive search.
On Nov. 17, the Aurora Police Department announced Aarone may have been missing for more than a year and named her father, Aaron Thompson, and his live-in girlfriend, Shely Lowe, as "persons of interest."

Attorneys for both sides are spending this week setting the framework for what jurors will hear when the trial begins in August.
CALL7 investigator Tony Kovaleski has been inside the courtroom as attorneys for both sides worked to define the scope of information and evidence the jury will see and hear.

One of the issues contended in court on Tuesday was the exclusive 7NEWS interview with Lowe and Thompson from Dec. 1, 2005.
It was the first and only extensive interview the couple agreed to in the days following Aarone's disappearance.

During the hearing, Judge Valeria Spencer decided the jury should view a vast majority of the 21-minute interview between CALL7 Investigator Tony Kovaleski, Shely Lowe, Aaron Thompson and family spokesman Sam Riddle, including this exchange early in the interview:
Kovaleski asked, "Here's a chance to defend yourselves. It's the question everybody wants to know and look right into the camera. Are you responsible for Aarone's death or disappearance?"  Lowe answered, "No."
Aaron Thompson then added, "No, she's not. Neither am I."

At that point Kovaleski asked a direct question to Aarone's father. "Aaron did you kill your daughter?"  Thompson said, "No, I did not. I'm still looking for her."  The couple denied any responsibility for Aarone's death or disappearance.
"If I'm hearing you correctly, you are tired of hearing that you did it?" Kovaleski asked.  "Exactly," replied Thompson.

"We are tired of hearing that we did it and we're also tired of hearing of the fact they are not looking for her. They are doing nothing," said Lowe. In court, the judge decided the jury will watch and hear that question and response, along with Thompson and Lowe's claim they are not responsible for Aarone's death.
The judge repeatedly said the couple's answers support the conspiracy claims.
Kovaleski asked Thompson, "When was the last time you remember seeing Aarone alive?"

"I remember seeing her when she was going up the stairs. We had an argument and I told her she could sit down or she could go upstairs to her room. I seen her go upstairs to her room and that was the last time I seen her," said Thompson.
The trial of Aaron Thompson is scheduled to start the first week of August and last eight weeks.
www.thedenverchannel.com

[Nut44x4]

Jury selection to start in missing girl's trial
CENTENNIAL, Colo. (Map, News) -
Jury selection is expected to begin Monday in the trial of a man accused in the 2005 disappearance of his daughter, who is presumed dead.

Aaron Thompson will stand trial in Arapahoe County District Court after being indicted in 2007 on 60 counts, including fatal child abuse in the disappearance of his daughter Aarone. She would've been 6 when Thompson reported her missing in November 2005.

Police say she may have died as early as 2003 but they have not found her body.

Thompson faces up to 54 years in prison if convicted of all counts.

The indictment against Thompson alleges Aarone was malnourished, beaten, and not given proper medical care.

http://www.examiner.com/a-2149770~Jury_selection_to_start_in_missing_girl_s_trial.html

[Nut44x4]

Trial to open Friday in case of missing girl

Associated Press - August 6, 2009 8:34 PM ET

CENTENNIAL, Colo. (AP) - A jury has been seated and opening statements are set in the trial of a man accused in the presumed death of his daughter who may have been dead two years before he contacted authorities in 2005.

Opening arguments are scheduled Friday morning in the trial of Aaron Thompson. He faces 60 charges, including fatal child abuse in the disappearance of his daughter Aarone (AIR'-uh-nay).

Aurora police suspected foul play when among other things, Thompson couldn't provide recent pictures of the girl when he reported her missing in November 2005. She would have been 6.

Thompson faces 54 years in prison if convicted on all counts, which include allegations that Aarone was malnourished, beaten, and not given proper medical care.

http://www.krdo.com/Global/story.asp?S=10863118

[MsVada]

I hate that it takes years to have these trials happen.....Its like picking an old scab just to see it bleed again.....I know, gross analogy, but its true.  This poor girl died years ago at her fathers hands, and he's been sitting pretty in jail for years now to just be going to trial......Geez, these courts need to get their act together and get their jobs done already.

[pink angel]

Colorado man admits daughter died before reporting her missing
by P. Solomon Banda

Associated Press Writer
Article Last Updated; Saturday, August 08, 2009

CENTENNIAL - An Aurora man charged with fatal child abuse in his daughter's disappearance acknowledged Friday that the girl was already dead when he reported she was missing in 2005.

Aaron Thompson faces 60 counts involving his daughter Aarone, who has never been found. Thompson faces 54 years in prison if convicted on all counts, which include allegations that Aarone was malnourished, beaten and denied proper medical care.

In opening statements Friday, Chief Deputy District Attorney Robert Chappell told jurors that all evidence suggests Aarone - who would have been 6 when she was reported missing in November 2005 - had been dead at least two years.

Later, defense attorney Lucienne Boyd said Thompson's story that his daughter ran away because of an argument over a cookie was a desperate attempt to cover up Aarone's death at the hands of Thompson's live-in girlfriend, Shely Lowe, who died in 2006 from heart problems.

When Thompson called 911 in November 2005, Chappell said police initially took him at his word and launched a massive search for Aarone, checking fields, searching in trash bins, going door to door in the neighborhood and checking with registered sexual offenders.

But when asked for a recent picture of Aarone, all the family had was a vacation picture showing Aarone at the Grand Canyon about two years earlier.

"This was the last indication of a live child," Chappell said of the picture, telling jurors there were no doctor's visits since 2002, and she wasn't enrolled in school.

When police asked for an article of clothing so they could develop a DNA profile, the family produced a pair of purple pants that appeared too small for a 6-year-old.

Chappell said the family also provided a pair of tennis shoes.

There was an audible gasp in the courtroom when Chappell showed a picture of the tennis shoes next to an enlarged portion of the Grand Canyon picture showing Aarone's shoes - apparently the same ones.

Chappell also showed jurors videotaped interviews with the other six children living in the home. Lowe's brother, a then 15-year-old boy, couldn't remember Aarone's name.

"The missing one," the teen said, stumbling on Aarone's name when asked to name all the other children in the home.

The teen, the brother of Lowe, later admitted he had not seen Aarone since moving into the house in August 2004.

Chappell said jurors will hear testimony from the children, who describe Thompson, whom they called Big A, whipping them with a baseball bat, belts and cords as punishment. They will also describe how Thompson would beat Aarone and lock her in a closet for hours for wetting the bed.

Other witnesses will describe how Lowe told them Aarone died during one of the punishments and how Lowe and Thompson conspired to make up a story to cover up her death.

The children were removed from the house and placed in foster care shortly after Aarone's reported disappearance.

Boyd said Lowe's teenage brother and one of her sons are responsible for testimony pointing to Thompson, which was developed out of loyalty to Lowe.

"She was a tyrant, controlling. She was manipulative," Boyd said. "Nobody here is going to ask you to believe that Aarone is alive today. Mr. Thompson did not kill his daughter, Shely Lowe did."

Boyd said five of the six remaining children in the home are not biologically related to Thompson.

The trial, which started Monday, is expected to last nine weeks.

Thompson's neighbors said they had no idea how many children lived in the house because they hardly ventured out.

The children had been told that Aarone was sent to Michigan to live with her mother.

http://durangoherald.com/sections/News/2009/08/08/Colorado_man_admits_daughter_died_before_reporting_her_missing/

[Nut44x4]

The Denver Post
 
August 11, 2009 Tuesday
Cops suspicious from start Police testify they thought early that there was more to Aaroné Thompson's reported runaway.

CENTENNIAL - By the second day of the investigation, police had a pretty good idea the reported disappearance of Aaroné Thompson was no ordinary runaway case.

In the first full day of testimony Monday in the trial of Aaroné's father, police said that even early in the investigation evidence pointed to foul play, although they still treated it as a missing-child case.

Aaron Thompson faces charges of child abuse resulting in death and abuse of a corpse. He reported Aaroné missing on Nov. 14, 2005, after a fight about a cookie, but police believe she was killed two years earlier.

The body of the girl, who would have been 6 years old at the time of her reported disappearance, has never been found.

After searching the girl's home on East Kepner Drive, combing their Aurora neighborhood and talking to family members for more than 14 hours, former Aurora Police Capt. Ricky Bennett testified he had a face-to-face meeting with Thompson in the early hours of Nov. 15.

"I looked him square in the eyes and said, 'If there is anything else …' and Mr. Thompson looked away and said, 'No, just help find my child."'

Bennett later acknowledged that the encounter was a little tense.

Bennett was among several officers to testify in Arapahoe County District Court on Monday. Most said Thompson appeared calm and subdued in the days after filing the missing-child report while his live-in girlfriend, Shelley Lowe, was angry and used derogatory language against police. He was cooperative, according to police; she was combative and refused to let police interview the children in the home.

Neighbors were interviewed, but no one reported seeing the girl in some time or perhaps ever. She had not been enrolled in school.

And when a bloodhound was sent over to the home to help in the search, the family could not produce a single piece of clothing that the dog could track, according to testimony.

When Jefferson County Deputy Allen Nelson, who brought the bloodhound in to help in the search, asked Thompson if he had any soiled clothing belonging to Aaroné, Thompson said, "I don't have anything like that," Nelson said.

Not a toothbrush, bedsheets or a shoe, he said.

Police also interviewed Lowe's younger brother, who was living with the family, about the last time he had seen Aaroné. He gave inconsistent answers, and after two questions Lowe stopped the interrogation.

Both Thompson and Lowe were considered persons of interest in the death, but Lowe died of heart failure about a year before a grand jury indicted Thompson on 60 criminal counts in 2007.

During opening statements on Friday, the defense suggested that Lowe was responsible for Aaroné's death, and that Thompson was guilty of trying to cover it up. Thompson also faces child-abuse charges for alleged beatings of other children living in the home.

Also Monday, an alternate juror told the court that she and perhaps other jurors were intimidated by a man who had been spotted in the courtroom on Friday and rode a motorcycle and stared at them after court in a parking lot.

But after talking with the man, District Judge Valeria Spencer learned that he was a student who was trying to get an internship with another judge. The female alternate juror remained on the panel.

The trial is expected to last between four and six weeks.
http://www6.lexisnexis.com/publisher/EndUser?Action=UserDisplayFullDocument&orgId=574&topicId=100020825&docId=l:1021123481&start=11

[MuffyBee]

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_MISSING_GIRL_COLORADO?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=US
Aug 12, 8:37 PM EDT

Witness in CO trial says missing girl was buried

CENTENNIAL, Colo. (AP) -- A witness in the trial of a Colorado man charged with fatal child abuse in his daughter's disappearance says he was told the girl was dead and buried in a field.

The testimony came Wednesday in the trial of Aaron Thompson of Aurora, who is charged with fatal child abuse in the disappearance of his daughter Aarone (AIR'-uh-nay). Authorities believe she died two years before she was reported missing.

Eric Williams Sr. testified that Shely Lowe, his former girlfriend who later lived with Thompson, told him that Aarone stopped breathing while taking a bath. Williams says Lowe told him that she and Thompson buried the girl in a field.
Lowe died of heart failure in 2006, about six months after Thompson reported Aarone missing.

Defense attorneys have said that Thompson was trying to cover up Aarone's death at the hands of Lowe.

Lowe died of heart failure in 2006, about six months after Thompson reported Aarone missing.

Defense attorneys have said that Thompson was trying to cover up Aarone's