Man who staged wife's suicide jailed for murder

Man who staged wife's suicide jailed for murderImage source, Northamptonshire PoliceImage caption, Kimberley Thompson was murdered in August 2025ByAlex PopeNorthamptonshirePublished14 July 2026, 13:07 BSTUpdated 9 minutes agoA man has been jailed for life after being found guilty of the rape and murder of his estranged wife and staging a scene to make her death look like suicide.Michael Thompson, 56, from Northampton, refused to enter Nottingham Crown Court for his sentencing earlier. On Wednesday he was found to have killed Kimberley Thompson, 43, at their home in Pinewood Road, Northampton, last August.Judge Nirmal Shant KC sentenced Thompson to a minimum term of 33 years and said he showed an "ultimate act of cowardice and contempt" as he refused to attend the court to "hear from the family of the grief you have caused". The couple had been married for 19 years, had two children, were separated and divorce proceedings had been initiated at the time of the killing.Image source, Northamptonshire PoliceImage caption, Michael Thompson was found guilty after a six-week trialThompson was also found guilty at Nottingham Crown Court of two counts of perverting the course of justice.The court heard how he subjected Kimberley to years of domestic abuse, including controlling, coercive behaviour, and physical violence and made hundreds of hours of recordings of her before he suffocated her at their home sometime between midnight and 03:30 BST on 9 August. More from NorthamptonshireMan charged with stab murder of teenage boyCouncil leader ends support for town's Pride eventsFirst Restore Britain councillors for West NorthantsDuring the six-week trial Thompson claimed they had consensual sex before he later found his wife lifeless and surrounded by tablets and alcohol bottles.Kimberley's family and friends told police they did not believe she had taken her own life, and they described a history of domestic abuse, leading detectives to launch...