SPOKANE, Wash. — A judge set bail at $1 million for the man accused of killing his girlfriend, Alyssa Dodd, and fleeing to Montana during a court appearance on Monday.
Bryce Thompson, 19, was booked into the Spokane County Jail on Friday around 5 p.m., according to the jail roster. He was extradited from Montana.
He’s charged with first degree murder and his bond is set at $1 million.
Police responded to a home in the Emerson-Garfield neighborhood on July 17 after reports of a dead body. Dodd, her sister and Thompson lived in the home together, according to court documents.
When police arrived at the home, Dodd’s sister told them it was obvious she had died as a result of violence, according to court documents. She also said that Thompson, identified as the victim’s boyfriend, fled the scene in her car.
When police searched the home on July 19, a detective found a hitch ball mount that appeared to have blood and body material on it, according to court documents. A hitch ball mount is a metal insert used to attach a vehicle to a hitch.
The detective said he also believed that the hitch ball mount was used as a weapon to strike and kill Dodd, according to court documents.
The detective also found plastic sheeting wrapped around the victim’s face consistent with plastic sheeting he saw in the lining of the ceiling, according to court documents.
According to newly filed court documents, detectives found a handwritten note taped to the wall near the victim that had blood on it and read, “I went crazy.” They also saw blood spattered on the walls around the victim.
Detectives also found a large amount of cash missing from a room belonging to the victim’s sister and her boyfriend, according to court documents.
When detectives first questioned Thompson, he told them he did not recall anything that had happened and did not know why he had been arrested, according to court records. However, he later put his head down and said, “I’ve lost myself.”
According to court documents, he also told officers he had been planning Dodd’s murder “for a little bit.”
Thompson eventually admitted that he had planned to kill Dodd for several days but never said why, according to court documents.
He also admitted that he planned on murdering Dodd while she was asleep in her bed before bringing her sister down to the bedroom and tying her up with duct tape, according to court documents.
According to court documents, Thompson wanted to force the victim’s sister to unlock her bank account and transfer $20,000 to him before he murdered her.
Thompson told detectives that he waited for Dodd to fall asleep and did not kill her right away because he “wanted to cuddle with her one more time,” according to court documents.
He then told officers that he grabbed the trailer hitch found in the room and repeatedly hit Dodd in the head until he believed she was dead, according to court documents. He then covered Dodd’s mouth with duct tape and put plastic over her face.
Thompson told detectives he ransacked the bedroom of the victim's sister and found a large amount of money belonging to her boyfriend. Thompson then said that this was enough money to get to Montana or North Dakota, so he decided not to murder the victim’s sister.
Thompson told officers that he then packed a backpack with some clothes, marijuana, mushrooms, drug paraphernalia, cash and a sweatshirt belonging to Dodd before stealing the vehicle belonging to the victim’s sister, according to court documents.
Officers repeatedly asked Thompson why he felt he needed to kill the victim and his sister, but he said he did not know, according to court documents. At one point he said, “I guess I wanted to go out with a bang,” before claiming that he eventually intended on taking his own life.
