Headless body trial: Woman guilty of murdering and decapitating friend

Jemma Mitchell has a degree in osteopathy and boasted online of her award-winning skill in human dissection

A woman has been found guilty of murdering and decapitating her friend in order to inherit her estate.

Jemma Mitchell, 38, killed Mee Kuen Chong at the 67-year-old's north-west London home in June 2021, before putting her body into a suitcase and driving to Devon to dump it.

Ms Chong's headless remains were found by holidaymakers in Salcombe, 200 miles from her home in Wembley.

Mitchell forged a will in an attempt to gain money for renovations to her home.

• The cold-hearted killer who decapitated her friend

Ms Chong, who was also known as Deborah, had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and struggled with her mental health, the trial at the Old Bailey heard.

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.

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

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.

Shortly afterwards, Ms Chong went missing before her remains were discovered in woodland 16 days 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.

She also wrote Ms Chong had planned to stay "somewhere close to the ocean".

A radiologist who examined Ms Chong's injuries told the court it was likely she had been hit over the head with a weapon.

Detectives who searched Mitchell's house found Ms Chong's personal and financial documents, and a will that had been created on Mitchell's computer after Ms Chong's death.

Mitchell had named herself and her mother as the beneficiaries of Ms Chong's estate, valued at about £700,000.

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.

Police analysts found the way Mitchell had manoeuvred the blue case, which was caught on CCTV footage and shown to jurors, indicated it now contained a heavier load.

The prosecution said the smaller bag was full of Ms Chong's financial documents.

Jemma Mitchell on CCTV footage at St Thomas's Hospital in central London, where she went with a broken finger

Later that evening, the jury heard, Mitchell had gone to St Thomas's Hospital in central London to be treated for a broken finger, saying she had shut it in a door.

Fifteen days later, on 26 June 2021, Mitchell stowed the body inside the suitcase in the boot of a hire car and drove to Devon, where she dumped it before returning to London.

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.

Mitchell declined to give evidence at her trial but her defence claimed the prosecution had failed to prove her involvement or that Ms Chong was even murdered.

Standing in the dock, Mitchell closed her eyes briefly as the verdict was delivered.

Mee Kuen Chong was a committed Christian and had met Jemma Mitchell through a church group

Afterwards, Judge Richard Marks praised the police team for their "excellent and extremely thorough investigative work".

It can now be reported that she also has a conviction for a breach of a non-molestation order, relating to family members.

Speaking outside the Old Bailey, Det Ch Insp Jim Eastwood, who led the investigation, said: "Mitchell has never accepted responsibility for Deborah's murder so there are questions which remain unanswered.

"Why she kept her body for a fortnight, why she decapitated her, why she deposited her remains in Salcombe.

"What we do know is that these were evil acts carried out by an evil woman and the only motive clearly was one of financial gain."

Mitchell, who was convicted after the jury deliberated for about eight hours, will be sentenced on Friday.

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