A 42-year-old Stafford County woman was shot and killed in her driveway yesterday, and her former boyfriend has been charged with murder.

Esther Indira Thompson of 239 North Randolph Road in southern Stafford was slumped over in her Dodge Intrepid when deputies discovered her yesterday afternoon, sheriff's Maj. David Decatur said.

The car was still running and the passenger's side window glass was lying on the pavement, Decatur said. Thompson had been shot multiple times in the head and torso with a .38-caliber Smith & Wesson.

A short time later, 63-year-old Harold Dean Phillippi of Spotsylvania County was arrested and charged with first-degree murder and using a firearm in the commission of a felony.

According to Decatur, Phillippi was at his home on Thornton Rolling Road when he called his brother-in-law about 3 p.m. and told him that he had killed Thompson.

The brother-in-law called the Spotsylvania Sheriff's Office. Deputies went to Phillippi's home as Stafford authorities were notified.

Stafford deputies rushed to Thompson's home off Ferry Road in southern Stafford, and found her dead.

There are a number of homes in close proximity to Thompson's residence, but Decatur said no one reported seeing or hearing the shooting.

"We canvassed the area today and didn't find anyone who was aware that anything had happened," Decatur said.

Decatur said the shooting apparently was the result of a "domestic" situation involving Phillippi and Thompson.

Decatur said investigators believe that Thompson was getting ready to leave, possibly for work, when she was gunned down.

He said it appears that the suspect, who was intoxicated at the time, fired from the passenger's side into the driver. It was not clear yesterday how long the suspect had been at the residence prior to the shooting.

"We still have quite a bit of investigating to do," Decatur said.

Phillippi was placed in the Rappahannock Regional Jail, where he is being held without bond.