Roommate arrested in deadly attack
Slain Travelers retiree was a top-ranked bridge player
A Hartford man has been charged with murder in the Sunday slashing of his roommate, a Travelers retiree and nationally known professional bridge player.
Jerry David Thompson, 42, is in custody on $2 million bail following the death of Victor King, 64. Thompson had recently moved into a vacant bedroom in King’s home at 784 Asylum Ave., police said.
Detectives believe Thompson may have used a Samurai sword to cause “severe trauma” to King’s arms, chest, shoulder and neck, Lt. Paul Cicero said.
“It was pretty brutal,” said Jim Banks, King’s cousin. He declined to release details for fear of jeopardizing the case.
King was discovered during a well-being check about 3:40 p.m. after someone called police out of concern that they hadn’t seen King in more than a day, Civero said. Officers found him lifeless on the kitchen floor, partially covered by a sheet. Medical personnel arrived, and he was presumed dead.
Police said they quickly focused on Thompson, who had moved into a vacant room at King’s house within the last year, as a suspect. A member of the department’s Auto Theft Unit found Thompson in a car in Keney Park in the city’s North End about 9:15 p.m. and he was taken in for questioning.
The house where the homicide happened is in the Asylum Hill neighborhood, between Sumner Street and Asylum Hill Congregational Church, and near two major insurance companies, The Hartford and Aetna.
King worked at another big city insurance company, Travelers, for more than 20 years, retiring from his IT job in 2018. The retirement gave him more time to do what he loved to do, play bridge.
Banks said his cousin was one of the top bridge players in the country.
“He was very good at it. Very good at teaching others to play it. Just a kind and gentle person whose first love was bridge.”
Paul Linxwiler, executive editor of the Bridge Bulletin, a publication of the American Contract Bridge League, said King was a Grand Life Master, “which is our highest rank.”
“He was known as a top player from New England,” Linxwiler said. King won a national championship in 2016.
To be Grand Life Master, one must have at least 10,000 master points, he said, which means “you have to play a lot … and you have to be good, too.”
King had accumulated 15,298.55 master points, said the ACBL’s Patsy Edwards.
By comparison, Linxwiler has been playing 40 years but only has 3,000 master points, he said.
If he was intense at the card table, King was an upbeat person elsewhere, Banks said. Banks was hoping to see his cousin during an upcoming trip to the family’s house at Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire, he said, where he would undoubtedly try to teach his cousins a new, complex card game.
“He was one of the good guys,” Banks said. “One that would never hurt a soul. One that would always reach out and help others. He was pleasant as can be. Always seemed to be happy. He was just a joy to be around.”
He can’t understand who would want to hurt his cousin, he said.
“I can’t imagine him doing anything that would provoke somebody,” Banks said. “That just wasn’t in his personality.”
The homicide is the city’s 14th in 2020. Twelve of the 2020 homicide cases have been closed with arrests, police said.
Anyone with information about King’s murder is asked to call Det. Scott Parker at 860-757-4157, or the HPD anonymous tip line at 860-722-TIPS, they said.