‘Evil’ UK osteopath who decapitated friend gets 34 years

A UK osteopath who used her medical dissection skills to decapitate a friend she murdered in an “evil” attempt to inherit her estate was on Friday jailed for 34 years.

In a crime that has shocked Britain, Jemma Mitchell hatched a plan to kill Mee Kuen Chong after the 67-year-old widow changed her mind about funding a renovation of Mitchell’s home.

The trial at London’s Old Bailey court was shown footage of Mitchell, 38, arriving at the home of her victim, known as Deborah, in June 2021 with a large blue suitcase.

When she left over four hours later, she was captured struggling with the suitcase which then appeared full and heavy.

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Sentencing Mitchell, Judge Richard Marks called her crime “chilling” and “profoundly shocking”.

Two weeks after the murder, Mitchell drove to the picturesque town of Salcombe in southwest England.

Chong’s headless body was later found by holidaymakers beside a woodland path close to the town. Her head was found nearby following a police search.

‘Many questions which remain unanswered’

The prosecution said Mitchell plotted to murder the widow after befriending her through a church group.

When Chong backed out of giving her £200,000 ($230,000) to pay for repairs to the dilapidated £4 million home she shared with her mother in London, Mitchell killed her and forged a will to inherit the bulk of her estate –- worth more than £700,000.

Mitchell stood impassively in the dock as she was found guilty of murder on Thursday while Chong’s sister and other relatives in Malaysia watched via a video link.

Following her conviction, detective Jim Eastwood, who led the murder investigation, said Mitchell had never accepted responsibility for the killing leaving many “questions which remain unanswered”.

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“Why she kept her body for a fortnight, why she decapitated her, why she deposited her remains in Salcombe,” he said.

“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,” he added.

In an unusual move, osteopath Mitchell’s sentencing was shown live on television. It is only the second time cameras have been allowed into an English criminal crown court to record a sentencing.