What could be stronger than friendship? Although the answers to this question are perhaps limitless, in the case of Jemma Mitchell the answer is as simple as it is perplexing: greed.
“Mitchell is a ruthless killer. The motivation was money. The cold facts of this case are shocking.”were the words used by Jim Eastwood, intelligence inspector of the London Metropolitan Police -according to ‘BBC’-, to describe the shocking case of Jemma Mitchell, a woman who was found guilty of murdering her friend and dumping her headless body more than 200 miles away; all with a macabre goal.
The murder of Mee Kuen Chong, a 67-year-old pensioner, shocked British justice not only for its cruelty, but also for the astonishing motives behind her crime.
An exorbitant estate of 700,000 pounds -just over four billion Colombian pesos-, according to the British newspaper ‘The Guardian’, is the sum that was enough for Mitchell to betray her friend and condemn herself to spend the rest of life behind bars. This is the story of a promising friendship that ended in tragedy.
A friend with double intentions
Mee Kuen Chong and Jemma Mitchell were, in the eyes of the world, two committed Christians and, moreover, two inseparable friends. Until, on June 27, 2021, the facade fell when a group of tourists came across a decapitated body: it was the corpse of Chong, also known as Deborah, who had been reported missing for more than 10 days.
The interviews, the evidence and the investigation by the British authorities soon paid off, all the clues pointed to Mitchell. A few days after the discovery of her body, on July 6, 2021, Jemma was arrested at her home and later charged with the murder of her friend.
(Also read: Murderer asked for a DNA test to prove his innocence; the result surprised him).
As revealed at trial, it all began on June 11, 2021, when Mitchell, who had an osteopathic degree, arrived at Deborah’s home with an oversized blue suitcase.
More than four hours after entering, the Closed Circuit Television captured the therapist leaving the residence with the same blue suitcase, only this time it seemed “much heavier and more difficult to maneuver”, according to ‘BBC Mundo ‘.
According to the British newspaper ‘Evening Standard’, during that period of time, Mitchell struck her friend over the head with a gun and subsequently decapitated her using all her knowledge of medicine and experimental anatomy. Then, he proceeded to put his remains in a suitcase and drove to the house he shared with his mother in Willesden -northwest London-, to keep the body in the garden.
(Keep reading: The macabre group that abused and tortured a young woman, prompted by her nanny.)
Weeks after the gruesome murder, on June 26, 2021, Mitchell made a radical decision: drive to the coastal town of Salcombe (Devon) to dispose of the decomposing body. On the way, his car had a flat tire, so he had to go to a mechanic who later, when the investigation into Deborah’s death began, described the therapist’s behavior as “strange”.
Deborah’s remains were found by tourists on June 27 and her skull was also discovered days later in the undergrowth. The identification was delayed due to the decomposition in which her body was found; However, once it was found out that it was Deborah, the investigations began, which, of course, pointed to Mitchell.
“We were able to show that he left his own mobile phone at home while using his deceased neighbor’s phone on the way to and from Devon.”explained Eastwood, who led the investigation, according to the aforementioned chain.
Jemma Mitchell became the first woman in England and Wales to be sentenced live on television for killing Deborah Chong and dumping her headless body in woodlands more than 200 miles away. My report for @SkyNews has the details: pic.twitter.com/apmRtmbeVl
— Shaman Freeman-Powell (@Shamaan_SkyNews) October 28, 2022
Jemma was arrested by authorities on July 6, while she was at her home. Three days later, on July 9, she was indicted for the murder of her friend Mee Kuen Chong, who suffered from schizophrenia.
What is more important than a friendship? For Jemma Mitchell, money
At the trial, which took place in 2022, the judge determined that the therapist had planned the murder after Deborah retracted giving her 200,000 pounds sterling – just over a billion Colombian pesos – that would be used for reparation. from the Mitchell family home.
“The messages that passed between the two of you showed that she was very aware of her problems regarding the house and was proactive in trying to help her. This culminated in her offering to give him £200,000 to spend on the house. However, she withdrew it (the offer) a few days before you killed her, which I’m sure is what led you to do what you did.”Judge Richard Marks said during the televised trial.
(Of interest: The cruel crime that was committed in a McDonald’s with a mysterious call).
According to the ‘Devon Life’ media, Mitchell’s family home, valued at 4 million pounds sterling, needed some repairs. However, unable to take advantage of her friend’s goodwill, Jemma not only decided to plan a shocking crime, but created and signed fraudulent wills in order to take over Deborah’s estate of over £700,000, little more than four billion Colombian pesos.
These fraudulent documents were found by British Police, along with personal and financial papers that Mitchell had taken from Deborah’s home on the day of the murder.
“Mitchell, so desperate to get the money she needed to complete her home renovations, sought to take advantage of Deborah’s goodwill. But when Deborah changed her mind, she cruelly murdered her and embarked on an attempt to fraudulently obtain her property, ”said Jim Eastwood, according to ‘BBC Mundo’.
The Jemma Mitchell Trial
On October 27, 2022, more than a year after the crime, Deborah’s family, friends and acquaintances found justice: Jemma Mitchell was found guilty of the murder.
Mitchell, who refused to testify during the trial, remained impassive on the bench – according to the ‘Daily Mail’ – while the judge handed down his sentence of life imprisonment, with a minimum sentence of 34 years.
(Also: Peter Tobin: The fearsome serial killer died while serving a life sentence.)
To the crime, Judge Richard Marks found three aggravating factors: the degree of planning and premeditation of the crime, the physical and mental vulnerability of Deborah -who suffered from mental disorders- and, finally, the chilling way in which Mitchell disposed of the body .
A woman who killed and beheaded a friend was sentenced to life in prison at London’s Old Bailey Crown Court, in England’s first sentencing for murder seen on camera. Jemma Mitchell murdered her 67-year-old friend of hers at her home of hers in London in June 2021, Judge Richard Marks said pic.twitter.com/rNMHtQF0Wv
— Reuters (@Reuters) October 28, 2022
“The enormity of his crime is deeply shocking, even more so given his apparent religious devotion, as well as the fact that Deborah Chong was a good friend of his and had shown him great kindness,” Marks told those present at the legal discussion.
Although Mitchell’s future is already written, at least for the next three decades, there are questions that still don’t have answers: why did he keep his body for 15 days? Why did you choose to dump his remains at Salcombe? Why did she decide to look for the most difficult way out to get her friend’s inheritance?
(You can read: The woman who became friends with her mother’s murderer to solve his crimes).
The only certainty that is known and, perhaps, will continue to be known regarding Deborah’s crime is that “these evil acts were carried out by an evil woman and the only clear motive was for financial gain,” concludes Eastwood -de according to ‘BBC Mundo’ -, who discovered and investigated a crime motivated by greed.
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