MICHAEL Thompson last week laughed for the last time with his nine year-old daughter, Shyvonne, over the escapades of the Lucky Giant, a fable from her story book, Buried Treasure. Thompson and his daughter frequently worked on her school projects together and were looking forward to completing the fairytale at a later date — probably over the weekend or early this week.

That expectation was shattered Saturday night by one of two gun-toting criminals who hijacked a passenger bus, accused Thompson of resembling a policeman and shot him in his head. He was pronounced dead at the Kingston Public Hospital.

The cruel and callous murder made Michael Thompson, 42, photo lithographer employed to the Jamaica Observer, husband and father to three girls and two stepsons, the island’s 139th murder victim since the start of this year.

His murder shocked his family, friends and co-workers, many of whom spent most of yesterday trying to understand why. A pall of gloom hung over the Observer’s Fagan Avenue headquarters as Thompson’s colleagues discussed the tragedy, their faces sad.

“Any death is traumatic and when it is of someone with whom you work consistently it is more painful,” said the newspaper’s editor-in-chief, Paget deFreitas. “The Observer family, including the chairman Gordon “Butch” Stewart, expresses deepest condolences to Mikey’s family and hope that his killer will be brought to justice.”

At the time of the murder, Thompson was travelling with his wife, uncle-in-law, and brother-in law. Ironically, they were returning from Lesterfield, Clarendon, where they had gone to offer condolences for another family member who had passed on recently.

According to a police report, the two gunmen began robbing passengers of cash and jewellery as the bus, which plies the Kingston to May Pen route, turned onto Spanish Town Road, in the vicinity of Toyota Limited.

“The gunmen reportedly accused Mr Thompson of being a policeman, before firing two shots, one of which caught him in the chin,” the Constabulary Communication Network said. The shooting occurred sometime after 10:45 pm.

The gunmen then ordered the driver to go to nearby Diamond Road where they disembarked.

But even at that point, Thompson’s wife of seven years, Marlene, was unaware that he had been shot because the two had not been sitting together.

“We were both sitting in the middle of the bus, but some higglers boarded and started making a lot of noise and Michael suggested that we go to the front of the bus,” she explained. “However, I told him that I do not like to sit in the front, and so he went ahead.”

Marlene told the Observer that she recalled hearing gunshots as the bus neared the Three Miles area. “I heard shots firing, but I never knew it was coming from inside the bus… I just saw people in the bus ducking down, so I ducked too. I then heard voices telling us to hand over everything — money, jewellery, cellular phones — and they started to collect them from the passengers.

“I never knew that Mikey got shot because I was still bending down,” she continued, close to tears. “The gunmen then told the driver to take them to some area, and they got off.”

Marlene said that when she did not see Michael rushing to their section of the bus, she immediately asked her uncle to look for him at the front of the bus. “He got up and….and then he said: ‘dem shot Mikey’,” she added, her voice trailing off.

Several hours after his death, as symphatisers trekked through the family’s Havendale home, their eyes were drawn repeatedly to Michael’s three girls — Shyvonne, 9; Shayane, 7; and Shania 2. The eyes that lingered on the girls registered varying levels of shock, grief, sympathy and anger. But mostly, they registered pity.

But the two younger girls appeared oblivious to the sympathetic glances, and as far as Shyvonne was concerned, her father is in “heaven with the angels”.

“I miss him,” declared the fourth grader at Mico Practising School. “He is a nice father… he always helped me out whenever I got projects at school.”

Shyvonne went and got the last book she read to her father, Buried Treasure, and proudly opened it to the story of the Lucky Giant. She ran her hands across the pages. “I read this story for him, and he told me that I read nice…”

They had planned to finish reading the book together.

Marlene, meanwhile, said she will always treasure the Valentine’s Day card Michael gave her earlier this month.

“In all the years that we have been together, he had never given me a card before, always gifts. But he gave me the card because he could not afford it (a gift) this year, and I knew he had to sacrifice and give it to me this year… I knew he did not have any money…. but that was just the way he was… he will give his last.”

The card read: “I love you more today than yesterday, and tomorrow I’ll love you even more.”

His twin sister, Paula Thompson, also described his as a “very giving” and “caring person”.

“Michael was so caring, he would give his last without a thought for himself,” she said and added that three days before he died, he sent her a broach depicting a guardian angel. “He had promised me the broach for quite some time now, and on Wednesday he finally sent it to me… I don’t know what it symbolised.”

Paula, who said she and Michael shared a close bond, recalled that he loved to sing and listen to music.

“He always said that when he died he wanted lots of songs and flowers,” Marlene agreed.

He started working at age 16 at the Phoenix printery where he honed his skills, emerging as top-class photo lithographer. He also worked at the Jamaica Herald and did a stint with Movements Dance Company.

On November 15, 1994 Thompson started working at the Jamaica Observer and quickly gained many friends because of his affable nature. Yesterday, his co-workers described him as hardworking and jovial.

His supervisor, Brian Johnson, said he was a top class, Grade 1 photo lithographer. “He was a very good worker and a close friend,” Johnson added.

Thompson, who was on sick leave at the time of his death, was recuperating from two surgeries he underwent late last year. He was scheduled to return to work on March 1.