I’ve tried to put this together so many different ways to make sense of this in a shortened and condensed version…but it’s just impossible because this story has so many twists and turns that started in 1994 in a town called Alton, Illinois and just came to an end in August of 2025.
Back in 1994 in Alton Robert D. Mason III (real name) was charged with attempted murder after allegedly shooting a man 4 times. The man survived and Mason would flee, but not before he stole someone’s identity.
Before heading out of town, Mason stole the birth certificate and Social Security card of a man by the name of Dornyell Thompson.
Mason would move up to Michigan and live his life like Mason never existed and like he was Dornyell. He was so committed to leaving his old self behind and being Dornyell that Mason was caught up with conspiracy to deliver crack cocaine in Michigan.
Mason, as Thompson ended up serving 17-years in federal prison, even doing an interview with Michigan Public Radio about his run-in with the law. Now mind you, the real Thompson didn’t commit the crime, Mason did but he pretended to be Thompson – so the right man was sentenced, just under the wrong name.
So work with me – Mason filled someone full of lead four times in 1994 in Alton. Ran to escape the charges then he stole Thompsons identity and lived as him in Michigan, even breaking the law and doing 17-years on a 25-year sentence for drugs, still escaping the attempted murder charge.
It wasn’t until the real Dornyell Thompson attempted to pull a loan in 2024 that the credit check revealed Thompson already had a loan and that his name had been used for decades by Mason. In fact Mason used Thompsons identity to obtain over $10k in credit or property, with court documents saying the amount could be up to $100k in fraudulent loans.
Once the loan flagged in the system the Michigan Department of State’s Office of Investigative Services (OIS) – which is the Secretary of State investigative unit that works with ID/title/dealer fraud jumped into action.
Detectives in Alton ended up leading the investigation with U.S. Marshals (IL & MI), Kalamazoo Police, Madison County Sheriff, the Illinois AG’s Office, U.S. Probation, and investigators with the Michigan Department of State’s Office of Investigative Services all participating.
On May 24, 2024 Mason was taken into custody in Kalamazoo by Alton police and U.S. Marshals and shipped back to Illinois.
On June 6, 2024 he was indicted for attempted first-degree murder and home invasion for the crimes in 1994. Later in June of 2024 he was hit with an indictment for the felony identity theft.
Mason pled guilty in Madison County Circuit Court in Illinois to both attempted murder and identity theft.
On August 20th he was sentenced to serve 10-years in prison as part of his guilty plea.
“Prosecuting a case that dates back more than 30 years is no simple task,” Madison County State’s Attorney Tom Haine said. “Memories fade, witnesses move, and evidence can be difficult to track down. But thanks to the perseverance of prosecutors and investigators, and the willingness of victims and witnesses to come forward after all these years, we were able to secure these convictions.”
