Marysville woman sentenced to 2 years for running over, killing husband

Published 5:40 am Friday, September 15, 2023

EVERETT — A Marysville woman who ran over and killed her husband in 2020 was sentenced Friday to two years in prison.

Diane Thompson, 66, pleaded guilty to second-degree manslaughter in May. It was nearly three years after she struck and killed David Thompson with a Hyundai Accent in their driveway in the 1500 block of 140th Street NE.

David Thompson, 64, succumbed to injuries consistent with a tire going over his chest, according to the Snohomish County Medical Examiner’s Office.

Prosecutors initially charged Diane Thompson with second-degree murder.

At sentencing Friday, deputy prosecutor Toni Montgomery called David Thompson’s death an “extremely tragic event that tore apart the Thompson family.”

Montgomery recommended 27 months in prison, the maximum within state guidelines.

“I cannot, in good conscience, recommend any less than the high end,” Montgomery said. “Especially when I think about the loss of life, the way that loss occurred and the trauma that this entire family has suffered because of that.”

The couple, who reportedly got married two weeks before their high school graduation, had five grown daughters. Family members testified against Thompson’s character in the courtroom.

“She wanted to make everyone believe (David Thompson) was the monster, and all her problems were his fault,” daughter Cheryl Kinoshita said in court. “If he was so bad, leave. I don’t know who made Diane Thompson judge and jury who sentenced David Thompson to death.”

Defense attorney Kathryn Fraser argued Diane Thompson was the victim of intimate partner violence in the 46 years they were married.

“It is important for the court to understand what Diane was going through in the home in the years as well as on that day of this tragic event,” Fraser said. “It is abundantly clear that … Diane was suffering a domestic violence relationship at the hands of Dave Thompson.”

The defense attorney showed an excerpt from Diane Thompson’s police interview in 2020.

“I was scared, I just wanted to get away,” the defendant said at the time. “He scares the (expletive) out of me.”

Just before 6 p.m. Sept. 4, 2020, security footage the couple talking in the kitchen of their Marysville home, without audio. One of their daughters, who was living in the home, told investigators she heard them arguing, according to court documents.

“They do this all the time,” she reportedly told investigators.

The same daughter told detectives David Thompson was a “long-term alcoholic” who often verbally abused Diane, charges say.

At some point that night, the Thompsons took the argument outside.

According to Diane Thompson’s account, the husband was heavily intoxicated when she arrived home from grocery shopping and began yelling at her. She then ran out to her car, locked the doors and tried to call her daughters for help, she told investigators. Dave stood in front of the cars, demanding her to roll down the windows, threatening to “beat the crap out of (the defendant).”

When she looked up from her phone, she said did not see her husband. As Diane Thompson shifted the car into “drive” to go to her mother’s house, she felt a bump. Diane Thompson figured her husband had placed something under the tire to try and stop her, according to her statement to police. She continued down the street to her mom’s house.

The daughter saw her father gravely injured in the driveway and called 911, charging papers say.

First responders arrived as Thompson returned to the house. David died at the scene.

The Marysville woman initially suggested to a firefighter giving CPR that maybe he had fallen off the roof, charging papers said. But talking to a fire battalion chief, she reported her husband had gotten down in front of her car, according to charges.

Police arrested Thompson that day for investigation of killing her husband.

Handing down the two-year sentence, Weiss called it one of the most difficult cases of his career.

“It is clear to me that this family was damaged and destroyed years ago,” Weiss said. “… This was a dysfunctional household, probably as a result of both parents, not just one.”

Diane Thompson had no criminal history.

In a statement to the court, Thompson called her marriage a “roller coaster of ups and downs.”

“My home was taken, my daughters hate me and I have no money to my name,” the statement read. “My husband, despite his demons, is gone, and I feel more alone than I ever have in my life.”

Maya Tizon: 425-339-3434; maya.tizon@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @mayatizon.