Mom Behind Gang Killing, Prosecutor Says Woman Talked Teens Into Killing Man Who Implicated Her Son

A woman who served on an anti-gang task force actually organized a gang and sent two members to commit Eugene’s first gang murder, a prosecutor said Thursday.

Mary L. Thompson, 41, of Eugene, is being tried in Lane County Circuit Court for aggravated murder, hindering prosecution and burglary in the Oct. 3, 1994, slaying of Aaron Iturra, 18.

In his opening statement, Assistant District Attorney Steve Skelton said Thompson told police she “went berserk” with anger after learning Iturra told detectives he saw her son with a knife during a fight at a store.

Intent on keeping her son, Beau Flynn, then 16, from going back to a state juvenile detention center, Thompson organized the 74 Hoover Crips. She persuaded two teenagers to take a stolen .38-caliber revolver to Iturra’s home to kill him, Skelton told jurors.

Iturra was killed as he slept.

James Elstad, who shot Iturra in the head, and Joseph Brown have been convicted of murder.

After the killing, Brown and Elstad went to Thompson’s home, where they told the woman they called “Moms” that they had killed Iturra. Thompson made a phone call to confirm “they’d taken care of business,” Skelton said.

Thompson drove Brown home and they stopped along the Willamette River, where Brown threw the gun in the water, Skelton said. It was found the next day by fishermen who turned it over to police.

“She had full knowledge that Mr. Elstad was going to that residence to kill Mr. Iturra,” Skelton said. “She wanted him to do it. She encouraged him to do it.”

Brown and Elstad indicated in pretrial hearings they won’t testify against Thompson. Judge Lyle Velure has ruled Elstad’s statements to police can be admitted as evidence if he refuses to take the stand.

Police began suspecting Thompson after a teenager associated with the gang said he heard Thompson tell Brown and Elstad, “Good job,” after they killed Iturra, Skelton said.

Police tapped her phone and recorded 1,800 calls in the month before her February 1995 arrest. The recordings will be a major part of the evidence.

As it turned out, a man who saw the store fight couldn’t identify any of the people involved, including Flynn, and the case fell apart.

Thompson had actually chosen two other gang members to kill Iturra, but when they got cold feet, Elstad decided to take over, Skelton said.

“Being a member of the 74 Hoover Crips is a big deal to him,” Skelton said. “His relationship to Mary Thompson is special to him.”