Margie Thompson Sentenced To 95 Years For Role In Aurora Double Murder

A judge accepted a plea agreement which will send Margie Thompson to prison for 95 years for the 2018 murders of Walter Bryant Jr. and Faith Craig.

Walter Bryant, Jr.'s relatives and military veteran friends outside the courtroom follow the sentencing of Margie Thompson on Tuesday, March 26. Photo by Mike Perleberg, Eagle Country 99.3.

(Lawrenceburg, Ind.) – Walter Bryant, Jr. was a decorated Vietnam War veteran who led a life honoring his country, family, and community.

His daughter, Faith Craig, loved her dog, shopping for antiques, and going on girls’ trips with friends.

Friends and relatives believe their kind, forgiving nature was what ultimately led to their demise at the hands of grandson and son Cody Booth and his girlfriend Margie Thompson, who stabbed them to death in the Douglas Drive home they shared in Aurora in January of 2018.

According to investigators, the killers woke up “dope sick” and murdered Bryant and Craig to rob them of valuables – including Bryant’s Purple Heart medals and Craig’s wedding ring – to pawn them off for money to get the fix they craved.

Thompson was the first of the two suspects to be sentenced on Tuesday morning in a crowded Dearborn Circuit Court courtroom. The 48-year-old pleaded guilty last month to two charges of Murder.

At the request of both prosecutors and Thompson’s defense team, Judge James D. Humphrey formally accepted the plea agreement and sentenced her to 95 years with no time suspended.

Dearborn-Ohio County Prosecutor Lynn Deddens equated the sentence to a life without parole sentence for Thompson. She must serve at least 75 percent – or 71 years – of the sentence before she can be released. If Thompson does the minimal time possible, she would be 119-years-old by the time she was freed.

Prosecutors didn’t take much time in sharing evidence establishing Thompson’s guilt Tuesday. They interviewed the lead detective with the Indiana State Police, Grant Martin, who testified that Thompson was not initially a suspect, even after being caught with Booth on the run in Pulaski County, Kentucky several days after the murders were committed.

Margie Thompson. Photo by Dearborn County Sheriff's Office.

The court was shown a recorded video of Thompson giving investigators a walkthrough of the crime scene and the murders. She showed how she and Booth used a knife to stab Craig in the basement.

“I love you, Mom,” Thompson said in the video, quoting Booth from moments before they stabbed Craig to death with a large knife.

Then, Walter Bryant was pushed down a flight of stairs. Booth rolled him over, grabbed a knife with Thompson, and they stabbed him together, she described to detectives.

Before the judge accepted the plea agreement, relatives and friends of Craig and Bryant shared emotional impact statements with the court. Christine Craig, a sister-in-law to Faith’s husband, Danny, shared her love of painting colorful pictures and her little dog, Billie.

“(Billie) was there when this act of violence happened,” she said, adding that the pet was found lying with Craig’s body.

Craig recalled how Faith Craig adopted Cody Booth as her son, then welcomed Margie to the family. She called the killings selfish, hateful, brutal and unnecessary.

“Forgiveness will take time and the grace of God, but we will never forget,” she concluded.

Daniel Bryant, Bryant’s nephew, thanked police and prosecutors for their work on the murder case. He called Walter the big brother of the family who others would go to for advice.

“I forgive you as well,” Bryant said.

Others were less willing to forgive Thompson. Philimena Dabbs, Bryant’s niece and Craig’s cousin, said she knew Margie from years ago in middle school.

“I hope your hell is 10 times worse than what you have put our family through,” Dabbs said.

Faith Craig and Walter Bryant, Jr. File photos.

Bryant spent 21 years serving in the Army, including two tours through Vietnam for which he earned a number of service medals. Those included the two Purple Hearts Booth and Thompson stole then pawned away so they could buy drugs.

Jerry Bondurant and P.G. Gentrup were close friends with Bryant. They were among several fellow Southeastern Indiana Vietnam Veterans of America Lary D. Fogle Chapter 71 members in the courtroom wearing green jackets embroidered with the organization's logo.

“Walt was one of us,” Gentrup said, “and proudly wore his green jacket.”

Gentrup said Walter went above and beyond the call of duty not only for his country, but to help his grandson try and overcome his addiction.

“How can a human being stoop so low as to assassinate the two people who tried to help turn your lives around?” Gentrup wondered.

Bondurant called Walter a true American hero. There were many conversations they shared about the “living hell” Cody Booth’s drug addiction put the family through. The problem worsened when Thompson entered the picture.

The murders, Bondurant said, were “one of the worst experiences of my life… I have no mercy for Cody or Margie.”

Thompson made only a few yes-or-no comments during the hearing and showed little emotion. When defense attorney Gary Sorge asked if she was truthful and cooperate in the walkthrough video, she stated “Yes, I did.”

Deddens called it a difficult case.

“These two people were very loved. That’s very evident by those we heard here today,” she said.

Although Thompson has now been convicted and sentenced, the victims’ friends and relatives will have to wait a while longer until justice can be fully served.

Cody Booth has not pleaded guilty. His jury trial is slated to take place in September.

Prosecutors have filed to seek life in prison without parole for Booth. The decision to not pursue the death penalty was reached after consulting with the family members, Deddens said previously.

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