In the pre-dawn hours of a cold December day in Las Vegas, the life of 27-year-old Rhonda Lynn Ballow came to a violent end. On December 26, 2017, she and a man, later identified as 53-year-old Alfred Wilhelm, were shot to death in a temporary camp they had set up in the loading dock area of a business on West Washington Avenue. The Clark County coroner would later confirm that Rhonda died from multiple gunshot wounds, ruling her death a homicide.
Police believe the shooting occurred around 1 a.m.
The bodies of Rhonda and Alfred were discovered shortly after 7 a.m. Investigators at the scene determined that the shooter had fired six to eight shots continuously while advancing towards the victims. For a time, the case remained unsolved as authorities sought information from the public. Both Rhonda and Alfred were homeless at the time of their deaths, a fact that highlighted the vulnerabilities faced by those living on the streets of Las Vegas.
The investigation eventually led police to 32-year-old Michael Thompson. According to court documents, Thompson confessed to a neighbor that he had killed a man and a woman behind the swap meet. His alleged motive was a deep-seated hatred for sex offenders, as he claimed to have been a victim of sexual assault as a child. Nevada sex offender registry information confirmed that Alfred Wilhelm had a prior conviction for first-degree rape. Thompson reportedly told his neighbor that he killed Rhonda because she refused to leave with him.
Following his arrest in January 2018, Michael Thompson was charged with two counts of murder with a deadly weapon. A witness told police they saw a man matching Thompson's description shoot Wilhelm. After hearing more gunshots, the witness encountered Thompson nearby. Further witness accounts and security footage helped police solidify Thompson as the primary suspect in the brutal slayings of Rhonda Lynn Ballow and Alfred Wilhelm.
