Post Falls man accused of killing girlfriend

Prosecutors charged a Post Falls man with killing his live-in girlfriend by slitting her throat and rolling up her body in a rug.

Christopher W. Thompson, 44, is in jail on a $1 million bond. Police arrested him Monday on suspicion of killing Deborah A. Willette. Post Falls police first arrived at the couple’s home on the 700 block of North Compton Street at 4:40 p.m. Monday after a relative of Thompson’s called and said he’d confessed to killing Willette, according to police reports. Police forced their way into the apartment and found Willette’s body.

There were signs of a fight inside the house, including several knocked-over items and blood stains on the carpet in several rooms, according to the report. Willette, 57, was covered in bruises and scratches as well as other cuts across her face and eyes as if she’d been slashed multiple times.

Police reached Thompson on the phone at his relative’s house. He was incoherent, but police heard him mention “something about the devil and a pile of bones,” according to the report.

Officers then drove to the relative’s house and arrested Thompson. He was covered in blood. During an interview, he confessed to killing Willette after the two got into an argument, according to police, and said the blood on his hands and clothes was Willette’s. Thompson told police he’d slashed Willette’s throat with a knife then drank several beers, then told himself disposing the body was his “second job.” He told police he tied Willette’s hands, wrapped her in the carpet, then called several friends to ask for help disposing the body.

Police found bruises and lacerations on Thompson’s body, including a bite on his stomach and several red marks on his lower back, according to the report. Willette appeared to have human hair under her fingernails.

Thompson claims to suffer from bipolar disorder and psychotic episodes. He also told police Satan is his ruler, but added Satan did not tell him to kill his girlfriend.

Police seized a serrated knife believed to be the murder weapon from the home, as well as several beer cans with bloody handprints on them. They also found bloody clothes in the kitchen sink.

It’s been three years since the last homicide in Post Falls, police Chief Scot Haug said.

“It is one of those cases that we’re concerned about,” Haug said. “It was a bad scene.”