The State - News from Jan. 31, 1986

A 32-year-old Oceanside woman died and a male companion was wounded when each was shot in the chest Wednesday morning in the woman’s apartment, Oceanside police reported. Police found Erma Jean Thompkins and Will Battle, 35, of Oceanside, in an apartment in the 4700 block of Calle las Positas. Thompkins was taken to Tri-City Hospital where she died within an hour. Battle was taken by Life Flight to Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla, where he was reported in stable condition. The woman’s estranged husband, Rufus Thompkins, 29, who apparently had returned to the apartment to retrieve personal property, was arrested on suspicion of murder and attempted murder, police said. He was taken to the County Jail in Vista where he is being held without bail.