Michael Thompson has been convicted of raping and murdering his estranged wife, Kimberley Thompson, and staging her death to appear as a suicide. A jury at Nottingham Crown Court found him guilty of rape and murder, and two counts of perverting the course of justice, following a six-week trial.
Kimberley Thompson, a civil servant and award-winning basketball coach, was found dead at the marital home on August 9, 2025. The couple were sleeping in separate bedrooms as their divorce was nearing finalization. Prosecutors argued that Michael Thompson attacked his wife in the middle of the night and then created a scene involving alcohol and medication to suggest she had died by suicide or overdose after consensual sex.
Evidence presented during the trial included chilling voice notes Kimberley Thompson sent to a friend just days before her death. In these recordings, she expressed fear and concern about Michael Thompson's reaction to her pushing for a larger settlement in their divorce. In one message from May 27, she stated, "Things are going to get messy, because he's going to flip his f****** lid when he gets the letter from my solicitor." She also voiced her reluctance to be "bully[ed] into it."
In another voice note on July 31, Kimberley sounded stressed, informing her friend that Michael Thompson had accessed her phone, seen conversations about a new relationship, and was aware she was not accepting the proposed divorce terms. She anticipated needing a place to stay, saying, "Expect me to be knocking at your door for somewhere to stay over the next few days."
During his police interview, Michael Thompson denied raping and murdering his wife. When asked to explain Kimberley's death, he responded, "Do people not just die?" He claimed to have found his wife in an unnatural position, with vomit in her airway, after going downstairs for a drink. He told police he had consensual sex with her before returning to his own room at 3:10 a.m. However, the prosecution argued that a text message sent from Kimberley's phone to Michael suggesting she wanted sex was fabricated by him to cover up the rape.
Investigators initially treated the death as a potential suicide or accidental overdose. Vital evidence, including a glass with a yellow liquid, was not initially seized, and Thompson was allowed to clean the crime scene. Toxicology reports later confirmed Kimberley Thompson had not been drinking and had only low levels of codeine and paracetamol. A pathologist concluded she died from smothering, an external airway obstruction.
Prosecutors also presented evidence that Michael Thompson had planted his phone in Kimberley's car to record her conversations. On the night of her death, he allegedly sent messages from his wife's phone that suggested she had been drinking, but these messages contained typos common to him and not to her. Bottles of alcohol and empty pill packets were also moved to the bedroom where her body was found.
Jurors were informed that a wedding photo of the couple and a montage of Kimberley's late sister, who had died by suicide, were placed on the bed. The court heard that Thompson had been watching pornography and stewing over his wife's new relationship and divorce demands. This led police to re-examine the circumstances of his former partner's death.
Rhonda Anderson, the mother of Thompson's two elder children, died in 2000 after being found electrocuted in her bath with an electric radio nearby. An inquest at the time ruled the death accidental. In December, Northamptonshire Police launched a fresh murder probe into Anderson's death following new information. Michael Thompson was arrested on suspicion of her murder, but the investigation has since been closed due to insufficient evidence.
Detective Chief Inspector Torie Harrison stated that Kimberley Thompson had been subjected to "physical, emotional abuse and controlling behaviour" for years. She added that Thompson "stripped Kim's confidence away" and that he "brutally rape[d] and murder[ed] Kim, he took the time to stage her death." Harrison urged anyone experiencing similar abuse to seek help.
Michael Thompson, 56, is scheduled to be sentenced next Tuesday. He mouthed "wow" when the murder verdict was delivered and again when he was convicted of rape.