Suspect in club death denied bid to relocate

The defendant in the January stabbing death of a Martini Ranch bouncer was denied permission Wednesday to move to Florida while awaiting trial.

The decision by Judge Pamela Svoboda of Maricopa County Superior Court was a victory for the prosecution and members of victim Tyrice Thompson’s family.

They urged the judge to deny defendant Ian MacDonald’s motion even though he is a decorated soldier whose character was praised in a letter from a Marine Corps captain.

“That is what makes what happened that night so appalling, to have a decorated man kill a man and for what, touching his girlfriend?” said Elizabeth Cottor, a Maricopa County deputy attorney.

She referred to the night of Jan. 27, when MacDonald is accused of fatally stabbing Thompson in a scuffle outside Martini Ranch, a downtown Scottsdale nightclub. MacDonald and his girlfriend had just been kicked out of the club. Thompson succumbed to his injuries on Feb. 2.

MacDonald, 26, has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder charges in the death of Thompson, 27, who was a former Arizona State University football player and the father of a son, now 2.

MacDonald’s attorney, Adam Feldman, said MacDonald can’t keep a job in Arizona because of the publicity generated by the stabbing case. In Florida, Feldman said, MacDonald could find and keep a job, as well as be near his family.

Thompson’s mother, Nancy Taylor, said her son’s death is an ongoing heartbreak that will hurt more if MacDonald moves beyond the reach of Arizona law. The mother of Thompson’s 2-year-old son also spoke in court Wednesday.

“I feel like on Jan. 27, everything that the military put in him (MacDonald), he lost,” Thompson’s mother said.

A Scottsdale police detective said MacDonald didn’t act like a Marine when he violated court orders by drinking at Rula Bula in Tempe on Saint Patrick’s Day.

“One of the things Marines do is show accountability for their actions,” Scottsdale Police Detective Hugh Lockerby said.

MacDonald has posted $125,000 cash bond. His next court date is Aug. 14.