Ex-football standout found fit to stand trial

A one-time NFL hopeful with a history of mental illness is fit to stand trial for the murder of his neighbor in Lombard.

DuPage Circuit Judge Peter J. Dockery made the ruling Tuesday after two doctors who examined Hubert "Boo Boo" Thompson concluded he is fit as long as he continues taking his prescribed medications.

Last year, Dockery sent Thompson to the Elgin Mental Health Center for treatment after a court-appointed expert found him temporarily unfit because the defendant had trouble understanding the legal proceedings.

Thompson is charged with hurling James A. Malone to his death March 30, 2007, from a third-floor balcony in the Finley Place apartments on Lombard's southwest side after accusing his 66-year-old neighbor of secretly poisoning him.

Thompson, 30, has a history of mental illness, including prior hospital stays, and was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia with delusional thinking. He also has a learning disability.

But, Dockery concurred with two mental health experts' opinions Tuesday that Thompson's fitness had been restored through psychotropic medications and his participation in various treatment groups this past year.

A trial date has not been set.

Malone sang in the choir at Christ the King Catholic Church in Lombard and was active in the Knights of Columbus. He was retired.

At Proviso West High School in Hillside, the 6-foot, 5-inch Thompson was ranked the nation's top-rated defensive end prospect his senior year in 1996-1997. He also was an all-state wrestler and track star at the school. He played football at Michigan State for one year, but never made it in the NFL.