Northampton man who staged wife’s suicide jailed for murder

The couple’s daughter Athena, who appeared via video link from the US, told the court her father was a “jealous, conniving, narcissistic villain”.

“How could you do such an evil, selfish, malicious thing?

“You couldn’t stand the fact that there were so many people who cared about him.

“No amount of years rotting in prison will ever amount to what you deserve because you don’t deserve any life.

“You are a poor, unloved man.

“The day you killed my mother, you killed me too. I feel like I can never be happy again.”

“While a father should protect his daughter from pain, you made me experience the greatest pain of my life.

“I won’t let you beat me, I will stand up to him, my mother, and continue to make her proud.”

Jurors were told Thompson was aware his wife had started a new relationship and was planning to split, and that he was demanding around £65,000 as part of the divorce settlement.

Prosecutor Miranda Moore KC said Kimberley’s claims that she had “drank too much” in jury posts she shared on Facebook and Snapchat earlier that morning aroused suspicion among her friends and family because they were spelling errors and not spelled the way she would have written them.

Shant said Thompson made “a concerted attempt to conceal” his actions and “began to create a fake scene to fool the police.”

“You were literally trying to get away with murder.

“The evidence clearly shows that you pretended to perform CPR and pretended to be in distress over the phone to emergency services.

“You also took her away from her family, friends and colleagues – a successful, valued and loved woman.

“He adored his children and adored the fact that he was about to start a new life.

“You deprived him of that. You deprived his children of their mother, and you deprived the others of their sister and friend.”

Det Ch Insp Torie Harrison, of the East Midlands Special Operations Unit, said Kimberley had been subjected to domestic violence for nearly two decades.

He expressed gratitude to his friends and family for their “kindness throughout our investigation and especially over the last six weeks.”

“The level of abuse Kim suffered was horrific and I would like to take this opportunity to say that help is possible for anyone living a similar life.”

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