Man who raped and murdered his estranged wife and tried to make it look like suicide jailed

A man who raped and murdered his estranged wife before staging a scene to make it look like she had taken her own life has been sentenced to life in prison with a minimum 33 years.

A seven-week trial at Nottingham Crown Court heard how Michael Thompson, 56, had subjected 43-year-old Kimberley Thompson, his wife of 19 years with whom he had two children, to years of domestic abuse.

This included controlling, coercive behaviour, and physical violence. He also made hundreds of hours of recordings of her before he killed her.

They had been separated for two years, but still lived at the same Northampton address using different bedrooms, and jurors were told that Ms Thompson was planning to move on without him as their divorce was finalised.

The court heard how Thompson went into her bedroom in the early hours of 9 August last year, and raped and suffocated her. He then staged the scene to make it look like she had taken her own life.

He claimed they had consensual sex before he later found Ms Thompson lifeless and surrounded by tablets and bottles of alcohol.

Ms Thompson's post-mortem examination found no evidence of any alcohol and only low levels of caffeine, paracetamol and codeine in her body, the court was told.

Jurors unanimously found Thompson guilty last week of rape, murder and two counts of perverting the course of justice.

Killer refuses to attend sentencing

Thompson was not present for his sentencing hearing at Nottingham Crown Court on Tuesday. His defence barrister Jonas Hankin KC told the court he was "voluntarily absent".

Jailing Thompson in front of a packed public gallery, Judge Nirmal Shant KC said: "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.

"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."

'Pathetic, unloved man'

Ms Thompson's daughter Athena appeared via video-link from the US and told the court her father was a "jealous, conniving, narcissistic villain" and a "pathetic, unloved man".

Addressing him in her statement, she said: "How could you do such an evil, selfish, malicious thing? How could you murder the mother of your own children? You couldn't stand the fact she had so many people who cared about her.

"No amount of years rotting in prison will ever amount to what you deserve, because you deserve no life."

She added: "The day you killed my mother, you killed me too. I feel I will never be happy again.

"I have no respect for you, I have no love for you. You were meant to be my dad. How could you do this to your daughter? A dad is supposed to protect their daughter from pain, instead you caused the worst pain of my life."

The judge said she would make sure a bundle of all the victim impact statements and her sentencing remarks were sent to Thompson so he could "read of the devastation you have wreaked".

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Speaking after the guilty verdicts were delivered on 8 July, Detective Chief Inspector Torie Harrison said Ms Thompson had been subjected to "horrific" abuse over a two-decade period.

DCI Harrison added: "It became clear throughout our investigation that Kim had been subjected to domestic abuse for much of her relationship with Thompson, with manipulation, coercive control, and physical violence the norm.

"Over the years Thompson stripped Kim's confidence away but in the time since their separation, friends and family began to see the old Kim re-emerging with a renewed enthusiasm for life."

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