Charles Thompson is scheduled to be executed by the State of Texas on January 28 2026 for a double murder
According to court documents Charles Thompson would go to the home of Glenda Dennise Hayslip, who was his former girlfriend, and would confront her new boyfriend Darren Keith Cain. The police would be called and Thompson would be removed from the premises
However a few hours later Charles Thompson would return to the home where he would murder Glenda Dennise Hayslip and Darren Keith Cain
Charles Thompson would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
Charles Thompson would make headline news in 2005 when he was going up for resentencing and would be able to escape. Thompson would remain on the loose for four days before he was recaptured
Charles Thompson Execution News
A 55-year-old man convicted in the double killing of his ex-girlfriend and her new lover in 1998 is slated for execution in January after spending 26 years on death row, a judge ordered Thursday.
The execution of Charles Victor Thompson – scheduled for Jan. 28 – will be the first under District Attorney Sean Teare’s leadership. Nine people were executed during his predecessor’s tenure.
Thompson killed Dennise Hayslip, 39, and Darren Cain, 30, at her home in the 14700 block of Wunderlich in north Harris County after Hayslip ended her tumultuous relationship with Thompson to be with Cain. A jury convicted him in 1999 and sentenced him to death.
During the first trial, a psychologist declared Thompson a sociopath but also said he would benefit from prison life and sobriety.
A higher court overturned his sentence after prosecutors played an audio tape of a jail call at trial without prior notification to Thompson for his lawyers. Another jury affirmed his punishment during a second trial in 2005.
Thompson, while waiting to be transported back to death row following the second trial, escaped the Harris County jail after slipping into street clothes and fooling jailers into thinking he was an investigator. He was captured days later outside a liquor store in Shreveport, Louisiana.
Thompson is featured in the 2018 documentary series on Netflix, “I Am a Killer.”
Friends and family of Cain sat in the 262nd District Court gallery Thursday as prosecutor Andrew Smith detailed Thompson’s exhausted appeals and other legal proceedings aimed at overturning his sentence.
“This has been a long, long journey for the families of the victims,” Smith said. “It should be noted that the Cain family and friends of Darren are present in the courtroom. They have been looking forward to this day very much.”
The group declined to comment while leaving the courtroom.
Thompson, meanwhile, watched the proceedings on Zoom from the Polunsky Unit in Livingston, where death row is housed. He sat at a table wearing a sleeveless white jumpsuit. He did not appear to react or say anything throughout the proceedings.
His attorney, Eric Allen, an Ohio criminal defense lawyer representing Thompson pro bono, said he only became aware that an execution date would be sought when members of the district attorney’s office searched Thompson’s cell – which often occurs to find materials to challenge intellectual disability claims or other defenses in capital punishment proceedings.
He asked the judge to delay signing the execution order in order to put together a bid at clemency.
Granting such a request was not in her power, Gray said before signing the execution order and reading it to Thompson. Her signature sets into motion Thompson’s execution in Huntsville next year and the likelihood of litigation aimed at thwarting his death.
Smith said the end of January was selected to avoid scheduling conflicts during the holidays.
Two other death row inmates are scheduled for execution before then, including Blaine Milam in two weeks and Robert Roberson next month for unrelated East Texas killings.
Charles Thompson, convicted in 1998 killings, scheduled for execution in January, judge orders
