Opinion ID: 2382857
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 29

Heading: Terrence Scales and Howard Thompson

Text: Terrence Scales and Howard Thompson murdered their victim, whom they had met in a tavern, in order to steal his new car. After luring him back to their apartment, Scales and Thompson strangled their victim with a clothesline, and when he resisted, they beat him. After the victim's death, the two men wrapped his body in a blanket and callously disposed of it on a river embankment. Scales and Thompson each received a sentence of life imprisonment. Scales's case proceeded to a penalty phase in which the jury deadlocked on the issue of death after it had found aggravating factor c(4)(f) (escape detection) and mitigating factors c(5)(d) (mental impairment) and c(5)(h) (catch all). Thompson's case did not advance to a penalty trial.