Jemma Mitchell

2022 - 10 - 27

Post cover
Image courtesy of "BBC News"

Headless body trial: Woman guilty of murdering and decapitating ... (BBC News)

Jemma Mitchell killed her friend Mee Kuen Chong to try to inherit her estate for home renovations.

Ms Chong's decapitated body was discovered in woods by holidaymakers the next day and her skull was found in nearby undergrowth a few days later. The defendant, who had a degree in osteopathy, boasted online of her award-winning skill in human dissection and had denied having anything to do with Ms Chong's death. But CCTV footage showed her taking a large blue suitcase to Ms Chong's home, which the prosecution said had contained the murder kit, and emerging with the case and another bag five hours later. In that time, Mitchell had made a false report via email to a missing persons charity and sent a WhatsApp message to Ms Chong's lodger saying the 67-year-old had gone to spend time with her family for a year to clear her head. Ms Chong had initially offered to invest £200,000 for renovations at Mitchell's £4m dilapidated property, also in north-west London, but later changed her mind, telling Ms Mitchell she should sell the house, which had been in her family for generations, and enjoy the money instead. The jury was told the pair, both committed Christians, had met through a church group and had become close, with Mitchell also acting as a "spiritual healer" for Ms Chong.

Post cover
Image courtesy of "The Guardian"

London woman found guilty of decapitating friend over inheritance (The Guardian)

Jemma Mitchell murdered Mee Kuen Chong after victim backed out of giving her £200000 to repair home.

Mitchell is believed to have stored Chong’s remains in the garden of the home she shared with her retired mother in Willesden, north-west London. On 30 June, Mitchell made a report to a missing persons charity, saying Chong had contacted her to say she felt neglected and was staying with family by the sea. Once the body had been identified, Mitchell quickly emerged as a suspect after detectives spoke to those who knew Chong. En route, her Volvo blew a tyre and she drove into a service station to seek assistance. But when Deborah changed her mind, she callously murdered her and embarked upon an attempt to fraudulently obtain her estate.” She was captured on CCTV leaving the address, struggling to pull two large, wheeled suitcases.

Post cover
Image courtesy of "Sky News"

Jemma Mitchell found guilty of murdering and decapitating her ... (Sky News)

Jemma Mitchell, 38, had been accused of killing pensioner Mee Kuen Chong and dumping her headless body more than 200 miles away in Devon in order to inherit ...

On her website, Mitchell had claimed she was "attuned to subjects in neuroanatomy, genetics and dissection of human cadavers". On her way to Salcombe, Mitchell was forced to drive into a service station after the car blew a tyre. She also had a bag of Ms Chong's financial documents, which were later recovered from Mitchell's home. After her corpse was discovered, police found a forged will of Ms Chong's leaving the bulk of her estate to Mitchell. The cold facts of this case are shocking," he added. The prosecution suggested Mitchell had decapitated Ms Chong and stored her remains in the garden of the house she shared with her retired mother in Willesden, northwest London.

Explore the last week