Georgia Woman Chopped Up 'Cash Cow' Girlfriend Into 13 Pieces, Then Stole Her Identity: DA

A woman from Georgia is being accused of murdering her girlfriend, whom prosecutors described as a 'cash cow', and chopping her body into 13 pieces after the victim tried to leave her. After dismembering the body, the woman allegedly hid the victim's head and hands and burned the remaining body parts at a street corner. She now faces 80 indictments, according to the Fulton County District Attorney's office.

Angela Tompson was indicted in Fulton County Superior Court more than six months after authorities arrested her in connection with the killing of her former partner, Nicole Alston, 24. Alston's body parts were found scattered in multiple locations in 2007.

Law&Crime obtained court records showing that prosecutors established probable cause in January and presented the case to a grand jury on February 24. The indictment includes allegations of murder, removal of human body parts from the scene of death or dismemberment, identity theft involving a deceased person, insurance fraud, forgery, aggravated assault, aggravated battery, concealing the death of another person, tampering with evidence, and numerous other charges.

"This case involves what are just horrific facts," said Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis at a press conference in August 2023 while announcing Thopson's arrest.

Nearly two decades passed before investigators identified Alston. A sheriff's deputy in Troup County found a suspicious black bag on fire at the corner of Whitfield Road and Snitcher Road in Hogansville. Inside the bag were Alston's torso and other body parts. "When they found her body, it was cut," Willis said.

"They found 13 pieces of her body, but they were not able to identify her," Willis said. "The reason they were not able to identify her is that to date, we have not been able to find her head, hands, and feet," Willis added.

Authorities reopened the case in 2023 and sent DNA evidence to Innovative Forensic Investigations in Virginia and Gene by Gene Laboratories in Texas for analysis. The results were handed over to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation crime lab. In December 2023, authorities confirmed the remains belonged to Alston. Alston had moved to Georgia from Manhattan, New York, to "start her life," WillIs said alongside Sylvia Austin, Alston's mother.

Investigators finally identified Alston through ancestry.com, after Austin's sister initiated a genealogical search. Tompson was arrested and charged with concealing Alston's death in August 2023.

Police said Tompson and Alston were living together in an apartment shortly before the killing. According to Austin, the relationship had deteriorated, and Tomspon had become abusive toward Alston, who was the primary financial provider in the household.

"This is a classic case of domestic violence, where the woman was not going to allow her lover, and I hate to use such a nasty term, but really a cash cow, the person bringing her money to go anywhere," Willis said. "And it ended tragically," Wills added.

After the killing, Tompson allegedly used Alston's identity and tried to sell her car. She even rented out her apartment, according to the Troup County Investigator Clay Bryant.