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Ex-Microsoft employee found murdered hours after restaurant visit in the UK
A former Microsoft executive was found drowned in the UK on Friday, March 6, sparking a murder investigation
A former Microsoft executive was found drowned in the UK on Friday, March 6, sparking a murder investigation. Jennifer Symonds, 44, was a former senior customer success account manager at Microsoft whose body was discovered in the water in the English village of Henley-on-Thames.
A man named Nelio Gouveia, aged 44, has been charged with her murder, Thames Valley Police said in a press release dated March 10.
The hours before her death
According to a Daily Mail report, Jennifer Symonds was captured on security cameras hours before her death. She was filmed visiting a restaurant with a male friend at 9:05 pm last Thursday.
(Also read: Indian-origin CEO, wife and 14-year-old son found dead in Washington home, murder-suicide suspected)
The CCTV footage showed her talking to a staff member who informed her that the kitchen was closed. Symonds then turned and left the bistro.
The following day, her body was found within the grounds of the Phyllis Court Club, a private members' club next to the River Thames. The club is located half a mile away from the restaurant where the ex-Microsoft employee was captured on camera.
A post-mortem report showed that she had drowned.
The murder charge
Nelio Gouveia was later arrested and charged with Symonds’ murder. It is believed that he worked as a kitchen porter at the club.
“Nelio Gouveia, aged 44 of Phyllis Court Drive, Henley-on-Thames, has been charged with one count of murder and has been remanded in custody,” police said.
Gouveia appeared before the Oxford Crown Court on Wednesday afternoon, where Judge Ian Pringle set his plea hearing date as 29 May. His seven-day trial is scheduled to begin on September 1.
Who was Jennifer Symonds?
Jennifer Symonds had served as a senior customer success account manager at Microsoft and worked at the company’s UK headquarters in Reading for over six years before being made redundant in January 2025.
Prior to joining Microsoft, she held roles at several companies in London and Gloucester. She studied physical geography at the University of Gloucestershire from 2000 to 2003, where she also served as the captain of the university’s hockey team.
A friend told Daily Mail: “She was finding it tough to get a new job after Microsoft and felt that her life had begun to unravel slightly.
“She told me that she'd been to court last summer after accusing a former partner of assault but he ended up being cleared.
“I think Jennifer found that hard to take as well. Recently she'd been struggling with her mental health due to being out of work.
“But she was a really lovely, warm-hearted person who loved to chat to people around town. She was very well-liked.”
