Man accused of murdering wife before staging suicide at Northampton home will not give evidence
The man denies raping and killing Kimberley Thompson and claims he found her lifeless at their home last August
*This article contains details some readers may find distressing.
A man accused of raping and murdering his wife before staging the scene to look like she'd taken her own life will not give evidence in his trial, jurors have heard.
Michael Thompson, 56, is alleged to have made hundreds of hours of secret recordings of Kimberley Thompson over the 18 months before she died in their Northampton home in the early hours of August 9 last year.
Nottingham Crown Court heard that the defendant claimed he found Ms Thompson, 43, who had a new boyfriend, lifeless and surrounded by tablets, alcohol bottles, and photographs of her and Thompson and another of her sister, who had taken her own life a decade before.
The trial was told a post-mortem examination found no evidence of any alcohol and only low levels of caffeine, paracetamol and codeine in her body.
Today jurors heard that Thompson, who wore a dark jumper with a light grey sweatshirt tied over his shoulders in the dock, will not be called by his barrister Jonas Hankin KC as part of the defence case.
Judge Nirmal Shant KC asked Mr Hankin if he had advised the defendant that if he chose not to give evidence “the jury may draw such inferences as appear proper”.
The defence barrister said he had.
Thompson and his wife, who shared two children, were separated and divorce proceedings had been initiated by the time of the alleged rape and murder.
The prosecution allege that Thompson, who still lived with his wife at their home address in Pinewood Road, Northampton, was “coercive and controlling” and monitored what she “did, ate, where she went and who she was with”.
The defendant denies murder and rape as well as two counts of perverting the course of justice in relation to actions he took to try to “get away with” the alleged crimes, which prosecutors say include writing fake social media posts pretending to be Ms Thompson.
Prosecutor Miranda Moore KC had told jurors that the defendant had been in his room watching sexual videos of his ex, “stewing” about the fact she had a new boyfriend, was planning to move out and had asked for around £65,000 in their divorce.
The court heard that Thompson claimed his wife had sent him a sexually explicit text and was “merry” before they had sex, and he later found her unresponsive.
Prosecutors claim posts that Ms Thompson allegedly shared on Facebook and Snapchat in the early hours of that morning that she had “drank too much” raised suspicion among her friends and family because of a spelling error and the way it was written.
They claimed she would not have taken her own life because she was “cheerful”, making plans, messaging family members and arranging flights so she could see her daughter at college in the US, the trial heard.
Ms Moore alleged Thompson had “painted a wholly false picture” of what had happened to his wife.
Thompson also allegedly searched the bins and questioned his wife after finding a pair of women’s underwear and also planted devices in her car and the house so he could listen to and track her.
After he was arrested, the jury heard, Thompson claimed his wife was promiscuous and a “liar” who was unstable, and denied ever assaulting or abusing her.
The trial continues.