Mr & Mrs. Thompson

> Mitchell may have met her match when she was married to Thompson, but their violent and abusive approaches would have always had deadly consequences.
>
> T.J Williams describing the character 2019

**Stephen Thompson and Dora Mitchell** were a married couple, who tied the knot in 1961, in Stafford, England. They only had one child together named Emily, who died at the age of four, from an unexpected coughing seizure. They remained in a successful marriage for eight years, until she kissed Michael Barryman, who at the time was dating her sister Julia. She never admitted to Stephen about being unfaithful to him, until after the birth of their daughter in the following year. Although Stephen lied that he could forgive her, he never did and began having multiple affairs, including one with a woman named Karen White, who he met in the Foresters Arms public house in Stafford.

One day in 1975, Dora came home early from work and caught Stephen in bed with his mistress Karen, who she dragged out of bed by her long hair and forced her out of their house, before throwing her clothes out of the window. An argument was then started and whilst in the living room, Stephen told Dora that he never forgot her kissing another man and that he no longer loved her and planned on leaving her. She got upset and picked up an ashtray from the arm of a sofa and hit him over the head with it, which resulted in him falling to the ground. Whilst unconscious, she hit him again and again, until he bled to death. Once it was evident he had passed away, she buried his corpse in the back garden and set fire to the house the following morning, and was gone by the time the firefighters had arrived at the scene.

## Background

In the winter of 1960, fifteen year old Dorothy Mitchell is introduced to Stephen Thompson, by her older sister Carol Mitchell, who at the time was nineteen and interested in dating Carol. However, she proved that she did not feel the same for him, which led to him becoming close to Dorothy. They went on several dates before entering into a relationship.

## 1961-69

On 3 August 1961, Dorothy Mitchell and Stephen Thompson marry in Walton Hall in Stafford, England. Amongst the guests were their parents, siblings and friends. They spent their honeymoon in Greece. In the early years of their marriage, they were both happy. Stephen would buy Dorothy gifts just to cheer her up. He once brought her a silver necklace, which valued at £5,000, he claimed that he had spent all of his life savings on it, but she later discovered that he had stolen it from a neighbour of his parents. Before moving into their first home, she lived with him at his parents house in Stafford, where some of his siblings also lived. His stepfather Jeffrey Grant gave him a loan of £10,000 so he and Dorothy could move into their first house, which was located on Oldman's Lane in Stafford. The first eight years of their marriage was successful. However, whilst at her sister Julia's twenty-sixth birthday party, which was held at their parents house, she gets drunk and seduced Michael Barryman, who at the time was dating Julia, until she caught them kissing in the kitchen. Before long, she is told by a doctor that she is pregnant.

## 1970-75

On the afternoon of August 14, 1970, Dorothy gives birth to a girl, she names Emily Marie Thompson, who she gives birth to at home. Whilst holding the baby in her arms, she admits to Stephen that she kissed another man and in the fears that he would lose both his wife and new child, he lied that he could forgive her. However, he soon begins having multiple affairs, including one with Karen White, who he meets the following year at the Foresters Arms public house in Stafford. The admission resulted in the downfall of their marriage and whilst Dorothy regrets kissing someone else, she wants to keep their marriage alive. On the other hand, Stephen knows that he could never forget what she told him and could never truly forgive her, he knew that their marriage ended the moment he discovered her unfaithfulness. However, both remained together for the sake of their daughter.  In 1974, she and Stephen got into an argument whilst at home, he told her that he was falling out of love with her and wanted a divorce, she got angry and they began shouting at each other, whilst their daughter slept upstairs in her bedroom. After the argument, Stephen walked out of the house and Mitchell went upstairs to check on their daughter and found her unconscious, failing to wake her up, it was evident that she had passed away.

She called for an ambulance, and Emily's body was taken away on a stretcher. It was later revealed by a coroner, that she had died of an unexpected coughing seizure. She and Stephen buried their daughter at Stafford Cemetery. After the death of their daughter, there was an awkward silence between them and they rarely ever spent time alone together. The following year, she came home early from work one day and caught Stephen in their bed with another woman called Karen White, who he had secretly been dating for four years. She dragged his mistress out of the bed by her long brunette hair and forced her out of the house, before throwing her clothes out of the bedroom window. She and Stephen then began arguing, and he admitted to the affair and also told her that he never could forgive her for being unfaithful to him. She got annoyed, when he told her that he was planning on leaving her for good. She grabbed an ashtray from the arm of the sofa and hit him over the head with it, knocking him out. Whilst he laid on the floor unconscious, she hit him once again, this time killing him. She buried his corpse in their back garden and set fire to the house the next day. Although she called the fire department, she was gone by the time the firefighters had arrived at the scene.