Redmond kidnapper-rapist dies at Salem prison
A former Redmond man convicted of kidnapping a Redmond woman, driving her to a remote location and raping her in 2004 has died “unexpectedly” at the Oregon State Penitentiary, officials said Monday.
Richard Paul Thompson Jr., 62, was found unresponsive in his cell around 7 p.m. on Saturday, the Department of Corrections reported. He was pronounced dead less than 20 minutes later. No other details are available at this time, the department said.
Thompson entered state custody in March 2005 after his conviction on first-degree kidnapping and rape, coercion and two counts of fourth-degree assault, the agency said. His earliest possible release date was Jan. 20, 2021.
A 23-year-old Redmond woman had used her cellphone to call 911 and reported she’d been kidnapped from the parking lot of the Tumble Inn in Redmond, sheriff’s deputies said.
The woman said the man drove her to a remote spot off Fryrear Road, west of Redmond, where he assaulted her, then tied her up and left in her car. She was able to untie herself and use the cellphone from her coat pocket to call 911.
Oregon State Police Troopers and Redmond police found and stopped the car less than a half-hour later at Eighth Street and Glacier Avenue, arresting Thompson, the driver, without further incident.
The victim was examined at St. Charles medical Center-Bend and released, deputies said.
The state penitentiary, Oregon’s only maximum-security prison, houses over 2,000 male inmates and is surrounded by a 25-foot-high wall with 10 towers. It has an infirmary with 24-hour nursing care.
