Ex-Proviso football standout found unfit to trial

A one-time football standout with NFL potential was found temporarily unfit Friday to stand trial for the murder of his neighbor in Lombard.

Hubert D. Thompson, 30, is accused of hurling his 66-year-old neighbor to his death March 30, 2007, over a third-floor railing, sparking a seven-hour standoff on Lombard's southwest side.

Authorities said Thompson confessed during a videotaped police interview to killing his neighbor, James A. Malone, after accusing the man of trying to poison him.

On Friday, DuPage Circuit Judge Peter J. Dockery ordered Thompson be sent to a high-security state mental hospital for treatment until experts deem him ready for trial. In finding the defendant unfit, the judge agreed with a court-appointed forensic psychologist who said Thompson cannot understand the nature of the legal proceedings against him.

Dr. John Murray found that Thompson, with continued treatment and education about the legal system, may be restored to fitness within one year. Thompson has a long history of mental illness, including prior hospital stays, and was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia with delusional thinking. He also has a learning disability.

Last year, Murray found him fit to stand trial, but the doctor said Thompson's understanding of the legal process has diminished since being locked up in the DuPage County jail away from his mother and sisters, with whom he is very close. He also said Thompson continues to suffer delusions, albeit less frequently, during 16 months of taking medication.

"He continued to have hallucinations and delusions and irrational thoughts," Murray testified. "They were much less pronounced and severe then when he was arrested, but they still affect his ... reasoning."

Judge Dockery set a 30-day status date for experts to come up with a treatment plan.

The fatal melee began on the 1100 block of South Finley Road after neighbors said they heard a commotion on the third floor of the building, including a scream and a loud thud. Police found Malone severely injured and sprawled on the pavement. He was pronounced dead that same night.

Thompson had retreated alone and unarmed to his sister's nearby apartment. He surrendered peacefully seven hours later.

At Proviso West High School in Hillside, the 6-foot, 5-inch Thompson ran a 4.7 40-yard dash and bench pressed 375 pounds. He was the nation's top-rated defensive end prospect his senior year in 1996-1997. He also won back-to-back state heavyweight wrestling titles.

After high school, he went to Michigan State but sat out his first two seasons because of poor grades. During the 1999 season, he was named the team's most-improved player after recording 45 tackles and seven sacks. Thompson left college early for a failed attempt to play professionally.