Crime & Safety

Thomas Ate Lunch at Senior Center as Eskridge's Body Found

Gary Allen Thomas is accused of first-degree murder in Mary Jean Eskridge's death. Seniors say he was with them when they heard an ambulance had been called to her home.

The "trusted friend" accused of in the death of Ramona resident Mary Jean Eskridge ate lunch as usual at the senior center as Eskridge's body was discovered by paramedics, Patch has learned.

According to the prosecution, Gary Allen Thomas is alleged to have bludgeoned Eskridge, 94, to death with a hammer while she slept in her home, after he'd spent the night in her guest room. His preliminary hearing is scheduled to begin Aug. 27.

Eskridge is the founder and former owner of Jean's Dance Studio in Spring Valley. The studio, at 2731 Via Orange Way, is now owned and operated by her daughter, Suzanne Mollenhauer.

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The head of Ramona's senior center, Ray Cardona, confirmed for Patch that Thomas sat and ate with seniors at about 11:30 a.m. on May 1st. This was roughly the same time frame in which paramedics arrived at Ramona Terrace Estates mobile home park to find Eskridge with "obvious signs of trauma," according to authorities. The response was initiated by Eskridge's medic alert bracelet.

Prosecutor David Williams III said at Thomas' arraignment that the accused had awakened that morning, walked into Eskridge's kitchen, taken a hammer from her tool box, walked down the hall and repeatedly bludgeoned her to death.

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"The first blow would have killed her," he said.

Thomas, 63, used to take Eskridge to church and the senior center, according to family and friends. He was a neighbor at the mobile home park on H Street.

At Ramona Senior Center, Jan Bible told Patch about lunch with Thomas the day of Eskridge's death. A group of seniors was sitting around a table with him, she said.

"We asked him, 'Is Jean coming today?' He said, 'No.'

"We said, 'Did you look in on her? He said, 'No.'

"He kept moving his food around. His hair was ruffled up. Usually he would have his hair just so," Bible said. "He looked pale. He seemed to have something on his mind."

Bible said another senior called Eskridge's home but got no answer.

"He (the senior) used to keep an eye on her," she said. "His wife called him back and said, 'There's an ambulance there.'

"We were just all devastated," Bible said of the seniors when they heard the news of their friend's death.

Bible said Thomas was "smashing his food down that day."

"Normally he'd go to the salad bar and get Jean's salad for her. He used to eat a lot," she said.

Another senior at the center, who asked to have her name withheld, told Patch that Thomas was always "very kind" to Eskridge, who was the retired founder of Jean's Dance Studio in Spring Valley and was described as upbeat by friends and family.

Bible said Thomas was not friendly in general but was "very attentive to Jean."

"There was nothing romantic between the two of them," she said. "He told someone he liked to help her because he didn't get to help his mother."

The other senior said Thomas never talked about family.

"He wasn't a good communicator. He would grunt," she said. She recalled that he told them all about a trip he'd taken to Israel with a group once. "He talked about it a lot when he got back. He was very religious."

Bible described Thomas as "a very smart man."

"He was usually expressionless," she said. "He had no personality. You had that feeling like, stay away from him."

Thomas has pleaded not guilty to the murder charge and is being held on $3.5 million bail. If found guilty, he faces 26 years to life in prison.

Thomas was the day after Eskridge's body was found, after an interview at Ramona Sheriff's substation.


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