A woman was found guilty for a dark, twisted crime that put her own friend in harm’s way.
Jemma Mitchell killed her friend, decapitated her, kept her body for two weeks, and dumped her body 200 miles away. The motivation was money. Authorities said Mitchell had fraudulently created wills and taken personal and financial documents from her victim’s address after murdering her.
Mee Kuen Chong, 67, was found decapitated in woodland in Devon- hundreds of miles from her home in north-west London. Her head was discovered a few days later nearby.
The prosecution failed to prove that Mitchell was involved in the murder of Ms. Chong, but a pathologist said her skull fractures could have been caused by being pushed on to a protruding surface or being hit with a weapon.
Ms. Chong went missing 16 days after initially offering to invest £200,000 for renovations at Mitchell’s property. However, Chong later changed her mind about the investment and went to spend time with her family.
CCTV footage showed Mitchell arriving at Ms Chong’s home carrying a suitcase containing her murder kit. Four hours later, she emerged from the property carrying a heavier suitcase. Mitchell claimed the victim had gone to visit family friends “somewhere close to the ocean”, but in reality she had been murdered.
Mitchell stowed the body inside the suitcase in the boot of a hire car and drove to Devon. However, while she was en route, she blew a tyre and had an “odd musty smell” inside the vehicle.
Oddly enough, the suspect and victim were considered to be close. The jury was told the pair had become friends, with Mitchell acting as a “spiritual healer” for Chong. Mitchell’s defense claimed there was no evidence of a violent assault, but the prosecution suggested Mitchell broke a finger while at Ms. Chong’s house.