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A woman found guilty of beheading her friend has become the first person to be sentenced on television in the UK.
Jemma Mitchell, 38, was jailed for life with a minimum term of at least 34 years after being found guilty of beheading Mee Kuen Chong, 67, and transporting her body 320km (200 miles) in a suitcase to throw in the forest.
Mitchell, who the prosecution said was motivated by money, killed Chong in London in June 2021 and later left the body in Devon.
Judge Richard Marks said Mitchell showed no remorse for the killing and it was clear the “apparently religious” killer is “extremely cunning”.
Marks added that a “chilling aspect” of the killing was what Mitchell did to Ms Chong’s body. “I have no doubt and your attorney acknowledges that this was a murder for profit,” Marks said.
Marks said Mitchell was “very clever” and took advantage of Ms Chong, who was vulnerable because of her mental health struggles.
Ms Chong’s sister Amy Chong gave a victim impact statement and joined the hearing by video link from Malaysia, along with the victim’s nieces Pinky and Yinky and nephew Ryan.
She said in her statement: “Deborah’s death was a shock to us all. It was difficult to understand how it could have happened to her, although we are not close because of certain differences of opinion regarding the religion
“I am saddened that he had to go through such a horrible ordeal and a tragic death.”
Reading his sentencing statement, Marks said Mitchell went to Chong’s house thinking about the murder.
Judge Richard Marks in court Friday
(Screenshot)
“Two weeks later you rented a car for a period of only 24 hours, you were seen on CCTV to put that large suitcase in the rental car. It was clearly heavy so you needed a trolley to get it down the road and into the car,” Marks KC said.
“That’s because it contained Deborah’s body. Your plans went awry when you got a puncture that had to be attended to by AA, that meant you had quite a bit less time down there to find a place to secrete the body of what you had planned.That’s why you couldn’t find a more remote location than you did.
Jemma Mitchell murdered Ms Chong and traveled 320km (200 miles) with her body in a suitcase where she dumped her body in a Devon forest.
(Charlotte Hodges/The Independent)
Chong’s headless body was found by holidaymakers by the side of a forest path near Salcombe on June 27 last year. After a police search of the area, Ms Chong’s skull was recovered a few meters from the body.
Gruesome images released after the sentencing showed an open suitcase, allegedly used by Mitchell to transport the body into the woods.
During the trial, the prosecution revealed that a forged will was found in Mitchell’s home, leaving most of Ms Chong’s property to him.
A CCTV image of Jemma Mitchell dragging a blue suitcase in north west London on June 11, 2021 (Metropolitan Police/PA)
(son PA)
Jurors were told he hatched the plan to kill Chong, known as Deborah, after she backed out of giving him £200,000 to pay for £4million repairs to Mitchell’s family home. free.
The osteopath, who boasted online of his award-winning skill in human dissection, had denied having anything to do with Ms Chong’s death but refused to give evidence at her trial.
It was stated on her behalf that the prosecution had not proved that she was involved or that even Ms. Chong was killed, as the post-mortem examination found the cause of death undetermined.
Jemma Mitchell, who has been found guilty at the Old Bailey of murdering Mee Kuen Chong
(Average BP)
However, a pathologist said her skull fractures could have been caused by being pushed onto an overhanging surface or by being struck with a weapon, although none were ever recovered.
Multiple rib fractures could have been caused by Chong stuffing himself inside a suitcase Mitchell was seen walking away from, or during resuscitation attempts, jurors heard.
An Old Bailey jury deliberated for seven hours before finding Mitchell guilty of murder.
Mee Kuen Chong was last seen at Wembley on June 10
(Financial support)
Mitchell had beheaded Chong and stored his remains in the garden of the home he shared with his retired mother, prosecutors said during the trial.
On June 26 last year, he put the body in the suitcase in the boot of a hire car and drove to Devon.
On the way to Salcombe, the Volvo blew a tire and Mitchell was forced to drive to a service station and call for help.
The mechanic who called to change the tire described Mitchell’s “confused” demeanor and a “strange musty smell” inside the vehicle.
Jemma Mitchell was seen entering a petrol station shop near Bristol on CCTV
(PA)
Jurors heard that none of the people who came to her aid saw the large blue suitcase in the suitcase, suggesting she had hidden it somewhere nearby, according to the prosecution.
Detective Chief Inspector Jim Eastwood, who led the investigation, described it as a “truly despicable crime”.
He said: “The motivation for Jemma Mitchell’s actions was money and she showed a significant degree of planning and calculation as she tried to cover up her horrific actions. The cold facts of this case are shocking.”
Mitchell had grown up in Australia, where his mother worked for the British Foreign Office and set up an osteopathy business there before returning to the UK in 2015.