Paducah inmate admits killing Arizona woman
A burglary suspect’s comments to a fellow prisoner lead to his confession, police say.

By Bill Bartleman bbartleman@paducahsun.com--270.575.8651

Thursday, January 05, 2006

A three-month-old Tempe, Ariz., murder mystery apparently has been solved thanks to a McCracken County jailhouse confession.

Paducah police say they received information that a McCracken County Regional Jail inmate may have been involved in an Arizona murder. Paducah detectives contacted Tempe police and the details provided by an informant from inside the jail matched details of the Sept. 8 slaying of 19-year-old Georgia Thompson, according to Detective Eric Jackson.

After further investigation, James D. Mullins of Paducah was interviewed and confessed to killing Thompson, who was a nightclub stripper, said Detective Susan Schoville of the Tempe Police Department.

Schoville said she will present the case to a grand jury in Tempe today, and Mullins, 32, will be returned within a month to face what are likely to be murder charges.

“We didn’t have any suspects in the case until we received this information,” said Schoville, who was in Paducah on Wednesday. “We had followed a number of leads and interviewed a lot of people, but each time the tips didn’t take us anywhere.”

Other than to say the latest tip originated from inside the McCracken jail on Dec. 28, Jackson and Schoville would not give other details.

Cases are occasionally solved after one inmate brags to another about a crime. Inmates sometimes tip police about what they’ve heard, hoping it helps them in their criminal case. In this case, Jackson said the information was provided without any commitments being made to the informant.

Jackson said that once detectives received credible information that Mullins may have been involved in the murder, Jailer Bill Adams “gave us open access to the jail” to help in the investigation. Adams said he was asked by police not to release details of what role the jail played in the investigation.

Adams said Mullins has been transferred to a different cellblock, but remains in the general population. He also said that no other inmates have requested protection or asked to be transferred away from Mullins.

Schoville said Thompson was found shot to death in the parking lot of her apartment complex on Sept. 8. She said that until being contacted by Paducah police, none of the tips received had pointed toward Mullins.

Schoville said Mullins had a reason to be in Arizona, but would not release it to reporters. She also said that Mullins gave a motive for the crime, but she declined to discuss it.

Mullins had been in the McCracken jail since Dec. 6, when he was arrested at his home on Bridge Street on three counts of burglary. He is accused of thefts at David Spicer’s Goldsmith & Jewelry, Quiet Touch Massage, and Peddler’s Mall. Mullins is charged with possession of marijuana, two counts of felony theft for the Spicer’s and Peddler’s burglaries, and violating his parole.