Victim urged accused to sell £4m home, court hears

The body of Londoner Mee Kuen Chong was found more than 200 miles away in Devon

A devout Christian urged her friend to sell her home for £4m before being decapitated by her, a court heard.

Jemma Mitchell, 38, is accused of murdering Mee Kuen Chong after the 67-year-old changed her mind about helping to fund the renovation of her home.

The prosecution claim Ms Chong was killed at her home in Wembley before her headless body was dumped in woods, near Salcombe, Devon, in June 2021.

Ms Mitchell of Willesden, north-west London, denies murder.

At the time of Ms Chong's death, Ms Mitchell was living with her mother at a family home in Willesden, north-west London, which was in a state of disrepair, jurors previously heard.

The property had no roof and was covered in scaffolding, and Ms Chong had agreed to hand over cash to help with repairs, the prosecution claims, before she had a change of heart.

On Thursday, a statement from Ms Mitchell's mother Hilary Collard was read out in court.

Ms Collard said Ms Chong had "changed her mind" about putting £200,000 into her daughter's property project.

She said: "Deborah wanted to put some money into the house for her but decided against it so Jemma was just not talking to her any more."

A series of earlier messages in April between the two, read out in court, show Ms Chong was urging Ms Mitchell to sell up and enjoy the money, saying the house was worth £4m.

In a message, she said: "Sell it enjoy the money life is too short. Enjoy the moment."

In another message, she said: "More construction will cost more money you don't have."

Later on 8 June 2021, Ms Chong told Ms Mitchell: "Until you sold house I won't want you to come to me or my house. I'm stressed to the core."

Jemma Mitchell denies murdering Mee Kuen Chong, also known as Deborah

The prosecution claim Ms Chong, who had schizophrenia, was murdered on 11 June. Jurors have previously seen CCTV footage of Ms Mitchell going to the area of Ms Chong's address with a large blue suitcase and leaving hours later.

Later on 26 June, she is alleged to have driven a hire car to Devon, where Ms Chong's headless body was found by holidaymakers the next day.

The jury heard, police later recovered a forged will leaving the bulk of Ms Chong's estate to Ms Mitchell, who she met through church.

Ms Mitchell of Willesden, north-west London, denies murder.

The trial continues.

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