Des Moines man gets life in prison for killing mother

A Des Moines man has been sentenced to life in prison for killing his mother.

Christopher Thompson, 33, was convicted after a three-day trial in November of first-degree murder after police said he beat Paula Thompson to death with a crowbar in March and remained in her home with the body for five days before contacting authorities. Paula Thompson had been trying to get Christopher to move out of her home and had confided to friends and on social media that she was frightened of him, court documents show.

Christopher Thompson's life sentence, the mandatory sentence for first-degree murder in Iowa, was handed down at a Friday morning court hearing. Prior to trial, Thompson pleaded guilty to a separate charge of animal cruelty for killing his mother's cat with the same crowbar. A separate sentencing hearing on that count is scheduled for Tuesday.

Court records show Thompson has already asked the court to set aside his guilty verdict. In a Dec. 14 motion, Thompson's attorneys claim that the court imposed unreasonable restrictions due to COVID-19, putting a limit on the time available for attorneys to question potential jurors before swearing in the jury. Because of this, defense attorneys were unable to ask many of the questions they had hoped to use to weed out unsuitable jurors, according to the filing.

The Paula Thompson murder:

• Des Moines man convicted of murder in mother's death
• Man charged with murder in mother's death 'violently attacked' his parent days before body was found, police say

In their response, Polk County prosecutors say the court's restrictions are in line with the Iowa Supreme Court's orders on conducting trials during the pandemic, and that defense attorneys could have asked for more time and likely would have gotten it. The court's COVID procedures were also disclosed well in advance of trial, and defendants cannot wait until after an unfavorable verdict to challenge policies they knew about well in advance, prosecutors say.

William Morris covers courts for the Des Moines Register. He can be contacted at wrmorris2@registermedia.com, 715-573-8166 or on Twitter at @DMRMorris.