Charles W. Chuck Thompson, a 56-year-old lawyer and chairman of the Wyandotte County Democratic Party, was shot to death on the morning of December 21, 1987, in Kansas City, Kansas. He had been lured to the parking lot of Jalisco’s Restaurant at 5000 State Avenue by an unknown man who promised $2,000 to retain his services. Investigators say the attacker fired six shots from a .38-caliber handgun, three striking Thompson; he staggered from his car toward the restaurant doors before collapsing and was found on the sidewalk.

The case was treated as a planned murder for hire with obvious political motive: days earlier Thompson had told three fellow Democratic officeholders at a Christmas party that they were gone, which fed theories about retaliation. The investigation, handled first by the Kansas City Metro Squad and later by the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, produced no witnesses willing to come forward, no fingerprints or shell casings, no publicly identified suspects and no arrests. A $5,000 reward was offered for information leading to an arrest and conviction.

Anyone with knowledge of Thompson, his work, or contacts around State Avenue in December 1987 is urged to share information that could help finally solve this case.