Execution Report: Charles Thompson

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A jury found Thompson guilty of capital murder in April 1999 and sentenced him to death. In October 2001, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals upheld his conviction, but ordered a new punishment hearing on a 5-4 vote, with the majority finding that the prosecution violated his Sixth Amendment right to counsel when it played the audio recording of Thompson's jailhouse visitation conversation with investigator Johnson for the jury.

Thompson was transferred from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice's Death Row to the Harris County Jail in October 2005 for a new sentencing hearing. He walked out of jail wearing street clothes hidden in his cell, posing as an investigator with the attorney general's office. He was on the loose for four days. He made it to Shreveport, Louisiana, where he lived off of handouts by posing as a Hurricane Katrina evacuee. A female penpal turned him for a $10,000 reward when he called to ask her for money to help him flee to Canada.

Upon his return to Harris County, a new jury resentenced Thompson to death. The TCCA upheld that sentence unanimously in October 2007.

In February 2019, the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed to hear Thompson's claim that the state improperly failed to disclose that it had a past relationship with Robin Rhodes as a paid informant. The appeals court ruled against Thompson in October 2019. All of his subsequent appeals in state and federal court were denied.

In an interview with the Houston Press in October 2025, Thompson maintained that he shot Cain in self-defense and that Hayslip got in the way. He blamed her death on medical negligence. He also blamed Houston police for not arresting him when they responded to the early-morning disturbance call.

"It was obvious that I was three sheets to the wind," Thompson said. "They let me walk off, I was staggering, and [they let me] get in my car and drive away. I should have gone to jail for public intoxication."

The witnesses to Thompson's execution included Dennise Hayslip's son, Wade, who was 13 at the time of the murders.

At his execution, Thompson apologized for his actions and asked the families of his victims to find it in their hearts to forgive him. He also added, "There is no winners in this situation; it creates more victims and traumatizes more people 28 years later." He urged witnesses to keep Jesus first and asked his children to "get to know the Lord." The lethal injection was then started. He was pronounced dead at 6:50 p.m.

By David Carson. Posted on 30 January 2026.
Sources: Texas Department of Criminal Justice, court documents, Houston Press.