Australian osteopath Jemma Mitchell guilty over beheading for inheritance

Jemma Mitchell faces life in jail for the murder and decapitation of a vulnerable friend in order to inherit an estate worth more than $1.2 million.

Jemma Mitchell’s studies for her degree in human sciences included a module in which she was taught how to dissect the human body and another in anatomy. Picture: The Times

A former osteopath is facing life in prison after she murdered and decapitated a vulnerable friend in order to inherit the bulk of her estate, worth an estimated £700,000 ($1,254,666).

Jemma Mitchell, 38, assaulted Mee Keun Chong, 67, with a blunt object before using her skills to remove the victim’s head between June 11 and June 27 last year.

Mitchell, who was born in Australia, then drove the body parts more than 320km from Chong’s home in Wembley, northwest London.

Holidaymakers made the “gruesome discovery” of Chong’s headless body on a public footpath in Salcombe, Devon, on June 27 last year.

Four days later her badly decomposed head was found wrapped in a grey woollen headband.

The prosecution claimed that Mitchell plotted to murder Chong, known to friends as Deborah, and create a fake will to claim most of her estate.

Mitchell denied murder but did not give evidence during her trial. Her barristers claimed the prosecution had not proved Mitchell’s involvement – or that Chong had been murdered, because pathologists were unable to give a cause of death owing to the level of decomposition. But a fracture above her right eye socket suggested Chong had been hit with a “blunt object very shortly before her death”. The weapon has not been recovered.

Mee Kuen Chong, 67, met Mitchell at church. Picture: Central News/The Times

The court was told that Chong had several rib fractures that could have been caused during attempted resuscitation or from being put inside a suitcase Mitchell was seen pulling along.

Mitchell, of Brondesbury Park, northwest London, closed her eyes and showed no emotion as the jury returned a unanimous guilty verdict at the Old Bailey.

Judge Richard Marks will pass sentence on Friday.

“The motivation for Jemma Mitchell’s actions was money and she showed a significant degree of planning and calculation as she attempted to cover up her horrific actions,” he said. “The cold facts of this case are shocking.”

It can now be reported that Mitchell had previously been convicted of breaching a non-molestation order relating to family members. In 2016, she received a conditional discharge at North West London magistrates’ court for flouting the order in respect of her sister and brother-in-law.

Mitchell received a first-class degree in human sciences from King’s College London, the court was told. Her studies included a module in which she was taught how to dissect the human body and another in anatomy. She was awarded the Hamilton Prize for “anatomical excellence”.

The court was told that she was long-term unemployed. Mitchell lived with her retired mother, who wanted to add a third floor to the property but had been ripped off by “rogue builders”.

Mitchell flirted with the idea of becoming a property developer and took on the building project. But it was plagued with problems and she soon ran out of money. The property was left without a roof and covered in scaffolding.

The court was told that Mitchell met Chong at a church in August 2020 and conversation soon turned to her renovation project. Within weeks, messages showed the pair had discussed Chong’s will and who would inherit her home.

During the trial, the court was told that Chong had suffered from paranoid schizophrenia. Six months before she died Chong met Mitchell’s mother and agreed to give £200,000 for renovation on condition that the house was used for “Christian worship”. However, Chong later changed her mind.

Jemma Mitchell was seen with a suitcase shortly before 6.30am on June 11. Mee Kuen Chong was reported missing that night. Picture: PA/The Times

The court viewed CCTV footage of Chong’s last known movements on June 9 last year.

Shortly before 6.30am on June 11, Mitchell was captured on camera leaving home carrying a large blue suitcase, arriving at Chong’s home at 8am. After changing clothes Mitchell left at 1.13pm with a blue suitcase that appeared bulkier and heavier. Mitchell had killed Chong and then hid the body in the garden of her home for at least two weeks, the prosecution suggested.

On June 26 last year, Mitchell transferred the body into the boot of a hire car and set off for Devon.

Mitchell was arrested on suspicion of murder on July 6 last year.

Officers searched Mitchell’s home and discovered a will in Chong’s name, dated October 27, 2020. It purportedly appointed Mitchell as a trustee and left the bulk of Chong’s estate to her and the remaining 5 per cent to Mitchell’s mother. When police searched Chong’s home they found an entirely different will leaving her home to the church. Witnesses confirmed that it had been signed “three or four years” earlier.

Following her arrest, Mitchell’s computer was examined and investigators found a “Word document of the same will that was created on July 1, 2021 when Chong was already dead”.

The Times