Michael Thompson has been sentenced to life imprisonment for raping and murdering his estranged wife Kimberley, a civil servant and award-winning basketball coach, after a judge described the killing as meticulously planned and disguised as a suicide, with chilling voice notes revealing her fears in the days before her death.
Michael Thompson, 56, has been jailed for life after being convicted of raping and murdering his estranged wife Kimberley at their marital home in Northampton in August 2025. Following a six-week trial at Nottingham Crown Court, the jury found Thompson guilty of murder, rape and two counts of perverting the course of justice, with the judge ordering he serve a minimum term before becoming eligible for parole. Sentencing him, the judge said Thompson had carried out a calculated and carefully planned attack, before making sustained efforts to disguise the killing as a suicide.
A Marriage in Its Final Weeks
Kimberley Thompson, 43, a former East Midlands coach of the year, was found dead at the home she and Thompson had continued to share while going through a divorce, sleeping in separate bedrooms in the final stages of their separation. She was discovered on 9 August 2025. Despite the forensic and digital evidence presented at trial, Thompson maintained his innocence throughout the proceedings, only accepting he had been present in the house at the time of her death. When the guilty verdict was delivered, he simply mouthed “wow” in the dock.
Voice Notes Reveal a Growing Fear
Police have released a series of voice notes Kimberley sent to a friend in the weeks before her death, offering a chilling insight into her state of mind as tensions over the couple’s divorce settlement escalated. In a message sent on 27 May, Kimberley described asking for £60,000 in the settlement rather than the £40,000 Thompson had proposed while keeping their £400,000 house, and voiced her fear of his reaction. “Obviously things are going to get messy, because he’s going to flip his f****** lid when he gets the letter from my solicitor, so let’s see how that one plays out,” she said. “I’m not looking forward to it at all, but I can’t let him just bully me into it, I’ve realised that now.”
Two months later, on 31 July, Kimberley sent a further voice note sounding visibly stressed, explaining that Thompson had gone through her phone and discovered messages relating to a new relationship. “Things are about to get really messy… Thompson went through my phone, saw everything, all my conversations between me and Nathan. He’s seen everything, knows about the solicitor, knows I’m not accepting the terms of the divorce,” she said, adding that she expected to need somewhere to stay in the days that followed. Police also released audio of Kimberley discovering Thompson’s phone hidden in her car, which he had planted there to record her conversations.
How the Murder Was Staged as a Suicide
On the night Kimberley died, Thompson sent messages purporting to come from her suggesting she had been drinking, though the texts contained typing errors typical of his own writing rather than hers. He also moved bottles of gin and vodka, along with empty strips of co-codamol tablets, into the downstairs bedroom where her body was later found. Before calling 999 to say “I can’t wake my wife up,” Thompson sent himself a text message from Kimberley’s phone suggesting she wanted sex. He told police he had gone downstairs, found her “merry,” had sex with her, and returned to his own room at 3.10am.
Prosecutor Miranda Moore KC told the court that the case against Thompson was that Kimberley had not sent the message herself, arguing it was an attempt to disguise the fact he had raped her, while the positioning of the tablet packets and alcohol bottles was intended to suggest suicide and cover up the murder. Officers who first attended the scene initially accepted the picture Thompson had presented, Moore said, treating it as “a drink and drugs incident — a suicide attempt or an unfortunate accident.” As a result, key evidence, including a glass containing yellow liquid, was not seized at the time, and Thompson was able to clean the crime scene before the true nature of Kimberley’s death was established. Toxicology tests later showed she had not been drinking and had only low levels of codeine and paracetamol in her system, while a pathologist concluded she had died from external airway obstruction after being smothered.
Investigation Initially Treated as a Suicide
Detectives have since acknowledged that the case was initially treated as a suspected suicide, a misstep that allowed valuable evidence to be lost before forensic findings confirmed Kimberley had been murdered. The investigation was only formally declared a murder inquiry three days after her body was found, when Thompson was arrested, and it took more than a month for him to be charged. The eventual case against him relied heavily on digital evidence, including extensive phone records, text messages, audio recordings and tracking data, which prosecutors used to demonstrate a pattern of coercive and controlling behaviour throughout the marriage.
Thompson’s Denials to Police
Footage of Thompson’s police interview shows him denying both rape and murder. Asked by a female detective how he explained his wife’s death, he replied: “Do people not just die?” He went on to tell officers: “Whatever she has told people, that is not true that is not the case. It never happened, it never took place, there’s been no history of violence, there’s been no rape, even when she says like we had the occasional sex, yeah we did have the occasional sex, that’s all it was.”
Tributes to Kimberley
Following the verdict, Kimberley’s family paid tribute to her, describing her as a devoted mother, talented coach and much-loved friend whose death had left an irreplaceable void in their lives. Police have highlighted the case as an example of how coercive and controlling behaviour can escalate into extreme violence, and have encouraged anyone experiencing domestic abuse to seek support.
If you or someone you know is affected by domestic abuse, support is available through the National Domestic Abuse Helpline on 0808 2000 247.
