Man sentenced to 25 years in prison for killing girlfriend

Bryce Thompson, 19, beat his girlfriend to death with a trailer hitch, and no one knows why.

Thompson was sentenced to 25 years in prison Monday after he pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in February.

Family and friends of victim Alyssa Dodd, 20, tearfully spoke for hours Monday afternoon telling Judge Julie McKay how Dodd’s death had affected them.

“Why would anyone that was supposed to love her kill her so angrily?” asked Dodd’s mother, Debbie..

Last July, police were called to the Emerson-Garfield home that Thompson and Dodd shared with her older sister, Trichelle.

There they found Trichelle screaming while trying to perform CPR on her sister’s bloody body.

Thompson told police that he repeatedly hit Dodd over the head with a three-ball trailer hitch, covered her mouth with duct tape, and put plastic over her head, court documents show.

Police repeatedly asked Thompson why he killed Dodd. His answer: “I guess I wanted to go out with a bang.”

He said he planned on later killing himself, too, according to court documents.

Thompson’s public defender, Thomas Krzyminski said there was “no why” even after repeatedly discussing with Thompson his motives for committing the crime.

McKay said, “I don’t have a why for anybody in this courtroom.”

Thompson’s mother was crying so much while speaking to the court that McKay asked her to try again so the court reporter could record her statement.

“There has got to be something else going on, because he’s not the type to hurt somebody,” she said between sobs.

Dodd moved to Spokane to live with her sister about a year before her death. She worked nights and was a positive person, her mother said.

On the night of her death, Dodd arrived home between 2:30 and 3 a.m., Thompson told police. He then waited until Dodd fell asleep to kill her because he “wanted to cuddle her one more time,” according to court records.

At about 10:30 a.m. the next morning, Thompson got out of bed and grabbed the trailer hitch.

After killing Dodd, Thompson went upstairs and talked to Trichelle.

“He conversated with me as though nothing was wrong,” Trichelle said in court.

Trichelle ran out on an errand, and when she came back Thompson was nowhere to be found.

While she was gone, Thompson told police he looked through Trichelle’s room for marijuana and found enough money belonging to Trichelle’s boyfriend to flee to Montana or North Dakota. He told investigators he planned to force Trichelle to transfer him $20,000 and then kill her, but opted not to because he found enough money in the room.

When Trichelle returned home, she discovered her sister’s body.

“I’ve never screamed so loud in my life,” Trichelle said. “A big part of me will never leave the room where he killed my sister, so why should he walk free?”

Thompson was arrested days later in Montana after eluding police.

Dodd was a kind and generous person, said her mother Debbie.

“My angel Alyssa, she was always kind and so generous to all,” she said. “She gave with her whole heart.”

Dodd grew up on a ranch in Sydney, Montana, where she learned to ride horses and birth cows.

“She just did good to all,” Debbie said. “She always left things better than she found them.”

Prosecutor Andrea Duggan said that after talking to the family it was obvious “they truly had no red flags in this case.”

Public defenders said Thompson had a traumatic brain injury as a child that likely worsened due to concussions sustained while playing football.

He had no criminal history.

Thompson must serve 20 years of his sentence before being eligible for parole. After his release, he will have 36 months of community custody.

“Making the family happy with the sentence is impossible,” McKay said.

“He doesn’t deserve to ever walk free among us again,” Debbie said.