DAMAGEPLAN's Bodyguard 'MAYHEM' Mourned

December 12, 2004

Jeff Mosier of The Dallas Morning News reports: As "Mayhem MacGregor," Jeff Thompson was a fictional Scottish protector of the king and queen each spring at the Scarborough Faire Renaissance festival.

As just plain Mayhem, the 40-year-old Deep Ellum fixture was more recently the bodyguard for heavy metal royalty "Dimebag" Darrell and Vinnie Paul Abbott. In that last, real-life role, Mr. Thompson was fatally shot at a Columbus, Ohio, club Wednesday night by a man who had just killed Darrell Abbott and was targeting others on stage and in the audience.

While rock fans worldwide mourn for Mr. Abbott, the 38-year-old Dalworthington Gardens resident and guitar hero, others said they want people to remember Mr. Thompson, too. He wasn't known worldwide, but friends said that Mr. Thompson shared the same outgoing, generous spirit that made the Abbott brothers fan favorites.

Jeff Thompson was familiar to visitors at Scarborough Faire and the Highland Games. It wasn't clear from police accounts whether Mr. Thompson died trying to protect members of the band DAMAGEPLAN, but friends suspect that the "gentle giant" stepped in to save his friends.

"He would take a bullet for any one of us," said Randy Wothke, who played with Mr. Thompson in a Celtic band.

He and others who knew Mr. Thompson described him as a selfless, fun-loving man who was protective of his friends. If he sacrificed himself to save others at the Alrosa Villa club, it wouldn't be a shock to them. Read more.

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