Michael Thompson, 56, has been sentenced to a minimum of 33 years in prison for the rape and murder of his estranged wife, Kimberley Thompson, 43. The former amateur boxer suffocated his wife in their marital home last August, then staged the scene to appear as a suicide.

Nottingham Crown Court heard that Thompson was angered by his wife's new relationship and had demanded an inflated divorce settlement. He claimed they had engaged in consensual sex before she died of an overdose, but a jury rejected his account, finding he had been watching sexually explicit videos and stewing over her new relationship before committing the murder.

Following his conviction, it emerged that another former partner of Thompson, Rhonda Anderson, died in suspicious circumstances in July 2000. Police reinvestigated the death of Ms. Anderson, who was found electrocuted in her bath with an electric radio in the water. Thompson was arrested on suspicion of Ms. Anderson's murder, but Northamptonshire Police later closed the investigation due to insufficient evidence.

Thompson was convicted of rape, murder, and two counts of perverting the course of justice. He was notably absent from court for his sentencing, described by his defense as "voluntarily absent." Judge Nirmal Shant KC addressed Thompson, stating he had shown no remorse and acted with cowardice and contempt by refusing to attend.

"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," the judge said. "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."

Judge Shant detailed how Thompson "set about creating a false scene to confuse the police, constructing a scene that she had taken her own life." He added, "You were literally trying to get away with murder."

In a victim impact statement, the Thompsons' 18-year-old daughter, Athena, who is studying and playing basketball in the U.S., described the profound impact of her mother's death. "Losing my mum in such a violent and senseless way has completely destroyed my world. I am in constant pain. I'm living a life I don't care for anymore. At 18 years old, I feel like there is no point in living," she stated. Athena recounted years of hearing her father degrade her mother and told him, "The day you killed my mum, you killed me too."

Kimberley Thompson, a civil servant and former East Midlands basketball coach of the year, was found dead on August 9, 2025. The divorce proceedings were ongoing, and the couple had been sleeping in separate rooms. The police investigation initially treated the death as a drink and drugs incident or suicide attempt, but toxicology later disproved this. A pathologist concluded Mrs. Thompson had been smothered.

Jurors heard that Mrs. Thompson had confided in friends about years of physical, emotional abuse, and controlling behavior by Thompson. She had once sought help from a domestic violence unit and reportedly told a friend, "If anything happens to me. Please know it was him."

Thompson was also convicted of perverting the course of justice for actions including sending text messages from his wife's phone to suggest she had been drinking and moving bottles of alcohol and medication to the scene to support the suicide narrative. He also pretended to perform CPR and feigned distress.

Detective Chief Inspector Torie Harrison commended the victim's family for their grace and paid tribute to Kimberley Thompson. She urged anyone experiencing similar abuse to seek help, stating, "Help is available. We have specialist police officers who work with survivors of domestic abuse... Please ask for help, no one will judge you, but we can help you take that first step to becoming safe."

Regarding Rhonda Anderson's death, DCI Harrison noted that while Thompson had been arrested as part of the reinvestigation, the investigation concluded with insufficient evidence to proceed further.