Controlling husband who smothered estranged wife and tried to fake it as suicide is found guilty of her rape and murder

A former amateur boxer who faked a suicide ‘stage’ to escape justice for raping and murdering his estranged wife shook his head in the dock as he was sentenced today.

‘Coercive and controlling’ Michael Thompson attacked civil servant and award-winning basketball coach Kimberley Thompson in the middle of the night last August.

Jurors heard she watched sex videos while ‘simmering’ over her new relationship and her demand for an extravagant divorce settlement; However, it was not said that the 56-year-old woman’s ex-partner died suspiciously in 2000.

The jury heard the killer almost got away with the murder of Mrs Thompson after police believed the ‘charade’ he created that the mother of his two children had overdosed on alcohol after the couple had consensual sex.

The father of four, who wore a bracelet with the words ‘Never Give Up’ in court, raised his eyebrows and said ‘wow’ as the murder verdict was announced.

When the jury later convicted him of rape, Thompson, who did not present evidence in his own defense, raised his hand to his head, opened his wow mouth, and shook his head.

He was also found guilty of two counts of perverting the course of justice after a six-week trial. Jurors deliberated for 11 hours and 38 minutes.

Thompson, of Northampton, will be sentenced next Tuesday.

Michael Thompson staged suicide ‘scene’ after raping and killing his wife Kimberley

Rhonda Anderson died after being found electrocuted in the bathroom; There was also an electric radio next to it.

Following the conviction, the Daily Mail can reveal that following Ms Thompson’s murder, police are re-examining the circumstances surrounding the death of the mother of Thompson’s two older children 25 years ago.

Rhonda Anderson died in July 2000 after being found electrocuted in the bathroom (an electric radio in the water next to it), but coroners later ruled it accidental after the device fell into the water.

Last December, Northamptonshire Police announced it was launching a new murder investigation into the death of 29-year-old Miss Anderson after receiving ‘new information’ and today announced that Thompson had been arrested on suspicion of Miss Anderson’s murder.

However, the police said that the investigation into the death was closed due to ‘lack of evidence’.

Miss Thompson, 43, a former East Midlands coach of the year, was found dead on August 9, 2025, at her marital home in Northampton, where the couple had been sleeping in separate bedrooms during the final throes of divorce.

But the police investigation was only declared a murder investigation three days later (when Thompson was arrested) and it took more than a month to charge him.

Nottingham Crown Court heard the 56-year-old man spied, recorded and followed his wife Kimberley as she was on the verge of moving into her new home.

On the night of his death, he sent messages purporting to be from his victim, suggesting that she had been drinking, but containing spelling mistakes that he often made and she would not have made.

Kimberley and Michael Thompson were sleeping in separate bedrooms at the marital home as their divorce was finalized

Former bouncer Thompson told police he went downstairs for a drink and found his estranged wife lifeless and with vomit in her airway.

He also carried bottles of gin and vodka, along with empty strips of co-codamol tablets, to the downstairs bedroom where the body was found.

The court heard a photograph of the couple on their wedding day and a montage of Kim’s late sister, who committed suicide, lying in bed as paramedics and then police arrived.

Jurors were told that Thompson sent a text message from Ms Thompson’s phone to her saying she wanted sex, before calling 999 saying ‘I can’t wake my wife’.

The former bouncer, who worked in the motor trade, told police he went downstairs and found Miss Thompson, known as Kim, ‘cheerful’ and had sex with her before returning to her own room at 3.10am. But prosecutor Miranda Moore KC said: ‘The prosecution’s case is that he did not send (the message).’

She said the text was an attempt to cover up the fact that he had raped her, and that placing the tablet packs and drink bottles was to imply suicide and ‘cover up’ the murder.

Thompson told police that when he went to get drinks, he found his wife lying in an unnatural position. He said when he turned her over, vomit came out of her mouth.

Ms Moore said officers initially ‘swallowed’ the scene Thompson had created and ‘took the view that this was a drink and drugs incident, a suicide attempt or an unfortunate accident’.

Vital evidence, including a glass containing yellow liquid, was not seized and Thompson was allowed to clear the scene. But toxicology later proved Ms Thompson had not been drinking and only low levels of codeine and paracetamol were found.

A pathologist concluded that Ms Thompson had suffocated and died from external airway obstruction.

The court heard Ms Thompson told friends about Mr Thompson’s ‘physical, emotional abuse and controlling behaviour’ going back years and once sought help from the domestic violence unit.

She met Thompson in 2001 when she was 19 and married him five years later. But a childhood friend told jurors that Ms Thompson had doubts about the union during her own hen weekend.

Another friend, Danielle Harrison, told the court that Kim had told her and another friend about the physical attacks and rape Thompson had inflicted on her after they had an affair. He said Kim told him, “If anything happens to me.” Please know that it is him’.

The Thompsons had at one point worked side by side in the courts and supreme court services in Northampton; He’s in the mailroom, she’s in the administration.

Jurors heard they had an 18-year-old daughter, Athena, who represented her country at basketball, and a 16-year-old son, but were living ‘separate lives but under the same roof’ at the time of the murder.

Mrs Thompson had spent the evening before her death video calling her daughter, who was at university in America, and researching flights to visit her.

Ms Thompson was previously a coach for Northants Basketball Club and previously coached the Basketball England talent pathway programme, which works towards players getting into the national team.

A basketball coach friend who knows him told the Mail that it has been known on the basketball scene that the Thompsons’ marriage has been in trouble since 2020 or 2021.

The source, who asked not to be named, said: ‘Kim told me they were separated at the time but I don’t know what led to them splitting.

‘Who was really nice. ‘He loved basketball, it was a big part of his life.’

Another source recalled meeting the Thompsons at a party and said: ‘Kim was talking to my partner and I and other people and Michael were clearly unhappy that she was being ignored. It created a scene. A lot of people said, ‘He’s always like that.’

The source added: ‘I think there was an issue with his previous partner, I heard there were questions about his death,’ in an apparent reference to Ms Anderson.

Following the sentencing, Detective Chief Inspector Torie Harrison of the East Midlands Special Operations Unit said: said Mrs. Thompson. ‘She had been subjected to domestic abuse throughout much of her relationship with Thompson; manipulation, coercive control and physical violence were the norm.’

Thompson said.‘He shook Kim’s trust’ and He added: ‘Thompson not only brutally raped and murdered Kim, he also took the time to set her up at the scene of her death to make people believe she had committed suicide before calling for help.

‘The level of abuse Kim has suffered over the last two decades has been horrific and I would like to take this opportunity to say that help is possible for anyone living a similar life.

‘We have specialist police officers who work with victims of domestic violence, including coercive control and physical abuse, and there are other organizations that offer support and practical help if you don’t want to talk to the police.

‘My request to anyone who finds themselves in this situation is to please seek help; ‘No one will judge you, but we can help you take the first step to stay safe.’

Regarding the death of Thompson’s former partner Miss Anderson, DCI Harrison of Northamptonshire Police said: ‘Early in our investigation into Kim’s death we were told that Michael Thompson’s former partner Rhonda Anderson, 29, died in July 2000.

‘Rhonda’s death was investigated at the time and the inquest ruled it was accidental. However, in light of growing concerns about Rhonda’s death and what happened to Kim, we have opened a new murder investigation.

‘As part of our investigations, we arrested 56-year-old Michael Thompson on suspicion of murder.

‘We have also re-examined reports from 25 years ago and issued a new appeal for anyone who knew Rhonda at the time to contact us.

‘This investigation has now been concluded and it has been determined that there is insufficient evidence to take the investigation further and no further action has been taken against Michael Thompson.’