Sentence for brutal murder
A man who raped and murdered his estranged wife before staging her death to look like suicide has been jailed for at least 33 years. Michael Thompson, 56, was sentenced at Nottingham Crown Court on Tuesday for the murder of Kimberley Thompson, 43, known as Kim. The court heard that Thompson subjected his wife to years of abuse, including physical violence and coercive control.
Details of the crime
The couple had been married for 19 years and had two children. They had been separated for two years but continued to live in the same house in Northampton, occupying separate bedrooms. Jurors heard that Kimberley Thompson had made plans to move on after their divorce, which was nearing completion. Between midnight and 3:30 am on 9 August, Thompson entered her bedroom, raped her, and suffocated her. He then staged the scene to make it look like suicide, placing empty pill packets, bottles of gin and vodka, and a photograph of her sister, who had taken her own life a decade earlier.
Attempt to deceive authorities
Thompson posted messages on Kimberley's social media accounts before calling the ambulance service at 5:30 am. He claimed the couple had consensual sex and that he later found her lifeless. However, a postmortem examination found no evidence of alcohol and only low levels of caffeine, paracetamol, and codeine in her body. Friends and family expressed disbelief that she would take her own life, citing her plans for the future and the history of domestic abuse.
Court proceedings and victim impact
Thompson was found guilty of rape and murder after a six-week trial. His barrister stated he was “voluntarily absent” at sentencing. The judge, Nirmal Shant KC, 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.” Shant ordered that a bundle of victim impact statements and her sentencing remarks be sent to Thompson so he could “read of the devastation you have wreaked.”
Family's statement
At least six of the 11 jurors who returned to watch the sentencing wiped tears as the couple’s daughter, Athena, appeared via video link from the US. She called her father a “jealous, conniving, narcissistic villain” and 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.”
Police statement
Detective Chief Inspector Torie Harrison, who led the police investigation, said: “Kim had been subjected to domestic abuse for much of her relationship with Thompson, with manipulation, coercive control and physical violence the norm. Over the years, Thompson stripped Kim’s confidence away, but in the time since their separation friends and family began to see the old Kim re-emerging, with a renewed enthusiasm for life.”
