A former amateur boxer who faked a suicide ‘scene’ in an attempt to avoid justice for the rape and murder of his estranged wife shook his head in the dock as he was convicted today.

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

Jurors heard he had been watching sex videos while ‘stewing’ over her new relationship and her demand for an inflated divorce settlement – but were not told that the 56-year-old’s former partner had died in suspicious circumstances in 2000. 

A jury heard the killer almost got away with Mrs Thompson’s murder after police believed the ‘charade’ created by Thompson that the mother of two of his children had overdosed on pills washed down with spirits after the pair had consensual sex.

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

When jurors then convicted him of rape, Thompson, who did not give evidence in his own defence, raised his hand to his head, mouthed wow and shook his head. 

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

Thompson, of Northampton, will be sentenced next Tuesday.

Kimberley Thompson had been in the process of divorcing the defendant when she was killed

Michael Thompson staged a suicide ‘scene’ after raping and murdering wife Kimberley

Rhonda Anderson died after she was found electrocuted in the bath – an electric radio in the water beside her

Following the convictions, the Daily Mail can reveal that in the aftermath of Mrs Thompson’s murder, police re-examined the circumstances around the death of the mother of Thompson’s elder two children 25 years earlier.

Rhonda Anderson died after she was found electrocuted in the bath – an electric radio in the water beside her – in July 2000, but a coroner later ruled it was accidental after the device fell into the water.

Last December, Northamptonshire Police announced it had launched a fresh murder probe into 29-year-old Ms Anderson’s death after receiving ‘new information’ – and revealed today that Thompson was arrested on suspicion of Ms Anderson’s murder.

But the force said the investigation into the death has been closed due to ‘insufficient evidence’.

Mrs Thompson, 43, a former East Midlands coach of the year, was found dead at the marital home in Northampton – where the pair were sleeping in separate bedrooms whilst in the final throes of a divorce – on August 9 2025.

But the police investigation was only declared a murder inquiry 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 snooped on, recorded and tracked wife Kimberley, who was on the brink of moving to her new home.

On the night of her death, he sent messages purporting to be from his victim suggesting she had been drinking – but containing typos that he would commonly make and she would not. 

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

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

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He also moved bottles of gin and vodka into the downstairs bedroom where her body was found, as well as empty strips of co-codamol tablets.

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

Jurors were told that prior to dialling 999 claiming ‘I can’t wake my wife up’, Thompson had sent himself a text message from Mrs Thompson’s phone suggesting she wanted sex.

The former bouncer, who had been working in the auto trade, told police he went downstairs and found Mrs Thompson, who was known as Kim, ‘merry’ and had sex with her before returning to his own room at 3.10am. But prosecutor Miranda Moore KC said: ‘The prosecution case is she did not send (the message).’

She said the text was an attempt to cover up the fact he had raped her, while his placement of the tablet packets and drink bottles were to suggest a suicide and ‘cover up’ the murder.

Thompson told police he discovered his wife lying in an unnatural position when he went to get a drink.  As he turned her over, vomit came out of her mouth, he said.

Officers initially ‘swallowed’ the scene Thompson had created, Ms Moore said, 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 – wasn’t seized and Thompson was allowed to clean up the crime scene. But toxicology later proved that Mrs Thompson had not been drinking and had only low levels of codeine and paracetamol.

A pathologist concluded that Ms Thompson had been smothered, dying of external airway obstruction.

Mrs Thompson told friends of ‘physical, emotional abuse and controlling behaviour by Mr Thompson’ dating back years, and once sought help from a domestic violence unit, the court heard.

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

Another friend, Danielle Harrison, told the court Kim had confided in her and another friend about physical assaults and a rape that Thompson had inflicted on her after she had an affair. She said Kim had said to her: ‘If anything happens to me. Please know it was him’.

The Thompsons had at one point worked alongside each other for the courts and tribunals service in Northampton – him in the post room, her in administration.

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

Mrs Thompson had spent that evening before her death speaking to her daughter, who was at college in America, on a video call and looking at flights to visit her.

Mrs Thompson formerly coached for Northants Basketball Club and had previously been a coach on the Basketball England talent pathway programme that works towards players getting into the national squad.

A fellow basketball coach who knew her told the Mail it was known on the basketball scene that the Thompsons’ marriage had been in difficulty as far back as 2020 or 2021.

The source, who did not wish to be identified, said: ‘Kim had told me then that they were apart but I don’t know what led to them splitting up.

‘Kim was really nice. She loved her basketball, it was a big part of her 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 was obviously not happy that he was being ignored. He caused a scene. A lot of people said ‘he’s always like that’.

In an apparent reference to Ms Anderson, the source added: ‘I think there was an issue with his previous partner, I have heard there were question marks over her death’.

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

She said Thompson ‘stripped Kim’s confidence away’  and added: ‘Not only did Thompson brutally rape and murder Kim, he took the time to stage her death in order to make people believe she had committed suicide before calling for help.

‘The level of abuse Kim was subjected to over the last two decades was horrific, and I want to take this opportunity to say to anyone who may be living a similar life that help is available.

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

‘My plea to anyone who finds themself in this situation is to please ask for help, no one will judge you, but we can help you take that first step to becoming safe.’

In relation to the death of Thompson’s previous partner, Ms Anderson, DCI Harrison, of Northamptonshire Police, said: ‘Early in our investigation into Kim’s death we were told of the death of Michael Thompson’s former partner Rhonda Anderson, 29, who died in July 2000.

‘Rhonda’s death had been investigated at the time, and an inquest ruled it was accidental.  However, after concerns were raised about the circumstances of Rhonda’s death and in light of what happened to Kim, we launched a fresh murder investigation.

‘As part of our enquiries we arrested Michael Thompson, 56, on suspicion of murder.

‘We also revisited reports from 25 years ago and issued a fresh appeal for anyone who may have known Rhonda at the time to contact us.

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