WARNING DISTRESSING CONTENT: Michael Thompson has today been jailed for life after being found guilty of raping and murdering his estranged wife Kimberley Thompson, following years of domestic abuse
Michael Thompson raped and murdered his estranged wife Kimberley last year(Image: Facebook)
With bright hopes for the future and her divorce nearly completed, Kimberley Thompson was on the cusp of escaping her violent and controlling husband before he brutally took her life.
In the early hours of August 9 last year, Michael Thompson, a former amateur boxer, raped and suffocated his estranged wife in the home they shared. The killer then faked a suicide ‘scene’ and told a web of despicable lies to try and get away with murder.
Police nearly bought Thompson’s calculated ‘charade’ that the mum-of-two had overdosed on pills washed down with alcohol after the pair had consensual sex. But jurors saw straight through the 56-year-old’s vile deceit during a six-week trial. Today, he was jailed for life with a minimum term of 33 years for murder and perverting the course of justice, and 10 years to run concurrently for rape.
Thompson and Kimberley were married for 19 years and shared two children together. They had been separated for two years when Kim, a civil servant and award-winning basketball coach, was murdered in their home in Pinewood Road, Northampton, last August.
The court had heard that the former couple had separate bedrooms in the home, as they finalised their divorce. Thomspon was aware that Kimberley had started a new relationship and was planning to move out. She had requested around £65,000 as part of a divorce settlement.
Somewhere between midnight and 3am on 9 August, Thompson, who had subjected Kimberly to years of domestic abuse, went into her bedroom and raped and suffocated her, jurors heard. The killer then staged the bedroom to make it appear as if Kimberley had taken her own life, telling police he had found her unresponsive after she had consumed alcohol and tablets.
In a chilling 999 call at 5:30am, Thompson told the operator: “I can’t wake my wife up. I need an ambulance now. I don’t know (what happened). I have just come down and seen her in bed with tablets and vodka. I need some help.”
Asked by the operator if Kim was breathing, Thompson replied: “I can’t see any movement… “Oh my gosh, I can’t see her chest.” He was then instructed on how to perform CPR, and could be heard wailing as he appeared to start chest compressions.
At one point, the killer appeared to vomit, with the sound of repeated heaving heard in the ten-minute call. Prosecutor Miranda Moore KC, however, told Nottingham Crown Court that before making the call, Thompson had ‘set a scene’, which included sending a text message to himself from Kim’s phone suggesting she wanted sex with him. He then moved empty bottles of gin and vodka and painkiller packets into her downstairs bedroom.
Ms Moore said the text was so Thompson could claim they had consensual sex, while the tablet packets and bottles were placed around Kim to suggest a suicide. Sickeningly, Thompson also placed a photograph of the couple together on the bed, along with a picture of Kim’s sister, who had died by suicide..
The thug also pretended to be Kim on social media, changing her Facebook relationship status to ‘got married’ early that morning. Within 30 seconds, he added a status about “drinking to much !” with the incorrect spelling of ‘too’ flagged by Kim’s family as something she would never do.
In the aftermath of her death, Kimberley’s family and friends claimed she would not have taken her own life because she was “cheerful”, making plans, messaging family members and arranging flights so she could go and see her daughter at college in the US. They also shared with police officers the history of domestic abuse.
Ms Moore told the court that on the night Kimberley died, Thompson had been in his room watching sex videos, ‘stewing’ about the fact Kimberley had a new boyfriend and that she was planning to move out.
A formal murder investigation was then launched on 12 August, and Thompson was arrested on suspicion of Kimberley’s death. The arrogant killer still continued to ‘maintain the fiction that she died due to drink and excess drugs’, Ms Moore said.
The court also heard that in the months leading up to the murder, coercive and controlling Thompson had been spying on his wife, tracking her movements and reading her messages. He monitored what she “did, ate, where she went and who she was with”.
A post-mortem examination showed no evidence of alcohol and only low levels of caffeine, paracetamol and codeine – the ingredients in co-codamol. A pathologist concluded the mum had been smothered, dying of external airway obstruction.
Judge Nirmal Shant KC jailed Thompson for life in front of a packed public gallery after jurors unanimously found him guilty of rape, murder and two counts of perverting the course of justice last week. Judge Shant said: “You have shown no remorse.
“Throughout the course of the trial you sat in the dock shaking your head and making audible noises of dissent. And in the ultimate act of cowardice and contempt, you have refused to come into court to hear from the family of the grief you have caused.”
At least six of the 11 jurors who returned to watch the sentencing hearing, wiped tears as Ms Thompson’s daughter, Athena, who appeared via video-link from the US, told the court her father was a “jealous, conniving, narcissistic villain”.
She said: “How could you do such an evil, selfish, malicious thing? How could you murder the mother of your own children? You couldn’t stand the fact she had so many people who cared about her.
“No amount of years rotting in prison will ever amount to what you deserve, because you deserve no life. You are a pathetic, unloved man. The day you killed my mother, you killed me too. I feel I will never be happy again.
“I have no respect for you, I have no love for you. You were meant to be my dad, how could you do this to your daughter? A dad is supposed to protect their daughter from pain, instead you caused the worst pain of my life. I will not let you defeat me, I will show up for her, my mum, and I will continue to make her proud.”
Judge Shant KC said that Thompson had made a “concerted attempt to conceal” what he had done, and “set about creating a false scene to fool the police”.
She said: “You were literally trying to get away with murder. Your deception continued when you called the emergency services. The evidence makes it clear you pretended to do CPR and you feigned distress on the phone to the emergency services.”
The judge said Kimberley was “on the eve of a new start” and had previously been a “happy, bubbly and lively person” when they first married.
She said: “You had two, beautiful, accomplished children. By killing her, you deprived your own children of their mother. You also took her from her family, friends and colleagues – a woman who was accomplished, valued and loved.
“She adored her children and she adored the fact she was about to start a new life. You deprived her of that. You deprived your children of a mother, you deprived others of a sister and a friend.”
During the trial, jurors were not told about the death of Thompson’s previous partner Rhonda Anderson, who was found dead in the bath of her home in the Briar Hill area of Northampton on 8 July 2000. But following a guilty verdict, these details can now be reported.
An inquest ruled that the 29-year-old mother-of-two’s death was an accident caused by electrocution when a radio fell into the water. But in 2025, police launched a fresh murder case and arrested Thompson on suspicion of murder. Ultimately, it was concluded that there was “insufficient evidence to take the investigation further”.
Following Wednesday’s convictions, DCI Torie Harrison, of Northamptonshire Police, said: “Early in our investigation into Kim’s death we were told of the death of Michael Thompson’s former partner Rhonda Anderson, 29, who died in July 2000.
“Rhonda’s death had been investigated at the time, and an inquest ruled it was accidental. However, after concerns were raised about the circumstances of Rhonda’s death and in light of what happened to Kim, we launched a fresh murder investigation.
“As part of our enquiries we arrested Michael Thompson, 56, on suspicion of murder. We also revisited reports from 25 years ago and issued a fresh appeal for anyone who may have known Rhonda at the time to contact us.
“This work has now concluded, and it has been determined there is insufficient evidence to take the investigation further, with no further action being taken against Michael Thompson.”
For emotional support you can call the Samaritans 24-hour helpline on 116 123, email jo@samaritans.org, visit a Samaritans branch in person or go to the Samaritans website.
For confidential support, call the 24-hour National Domestic Abuse Freephone Helpline on 0808 2000 247 or visit womensaid.co.uk. If you or your family have lost a friend or family member through fatal domestic abuse, AAFDA (Advocacy After Fatal Domestic Abuse) can offer specialist and expert support and advocacy. For more info visit www.aafda.org.uk.
