BBC reported on Friday that a British woman was sentenced to life in jail for decapitating her former acquaintance and disposing of her body last year. Jemma Mitchell, 38, was sentenced one day after authorities announced she had been guilty of murder.
The BBC stated that on Friday, Judge Richard Marks KC sentenced Mitchell to life in prison, with a minimum period of 34 years to be served. This was the first broadcast murder sentencing of a woman in England and Wales.
Mitchell, a resident of northwest London, is suspected of murdering Mee Kuen Chong, also known as Deborah Chong, in June of 2021 at the Chongs’ residence in nearby Wembley. Chong, 67, became friends with Mitchell after meeting him through a church group, and Mitchell “also served as Deborah’s spiritual healer” during this time, according to authorities.
According to investigators, Chong struggled with her mental health prior to her death. Mitchell was renovating her home at the time, and investigators say she approached Chong for money to assist fund the project. According to investigators, although Chong initially agreed to repay Mitchell approximately £200,000, she finally retracted the offer, which “led to the pair falling out” days before the murder.
Deborah Chong was a vulnerable woman; in the weeks preceding her murder, she sought care for her deteriorating mental health, according to Jim Eastwood, detective chief inspector and main investigator in Chong’s investigation for the Metropolitan Police. Mitchell, however, was so anxious for money to complete the repairs on her home that she attempted to take advantage of Deborah’s generosity. When Deborah changed her mind, Mitchell brutally murdered her and began a scheme to fraudulently collect her fortune.
Chong was last seen alive on June 10, 2021, and authorities believe she was “likely murdered” the following day by Mitchell. The inquiry into Chong’s killing found June 11 CCTV footage showed Mitchell at Chong’s residence. Video footage also showed Mitchell going out from the apartment while carrying two huge, wheeled luggage that “from Mitchell’s actions… seemed to be heavy,” according to the police.
Authorities suspect Mitchell returned home with Chong’s body and stored it there for almost two weeks before travelling to a coastal location in southern England to dispose of the remains.
“During that time, Mitchell emailed a bogus complaint to a missing persons organization and sent a WhatsApp message to Deborah’s lodger, claiming she had gone to spend a year with her relatives to clear her head,” police said. “Perhaps most chillingly, given where Deborah was ultimately discovered, Mitchell also noted that she intended to stay’somewhere near the water.’”
According to authorities, Chong’s remains were discovered in Salcombe, a beach resort, on June 27, 2021, with the head separated from the body and located some yards away. A second autopsy verified that Chong had assault-related injuries, including a fractured skull, and established that the head was removed by a human, not an animal. According to investigators, Mitchell had a degree in osteopathy and experience with human dissection.
Mitchell, according to authorities, phoned the U.K.’s missing people charity days after Chong’s remains were discovered and stated that Chong had previously informed her that “she felt ignored and was staying with family near the sea.”
When Mitchell was caught less than a week later, officials discovered a falsified copy of Chong’s will, which gave nearly all of her wealth to Mitchell, along with “other valuables belonging to Deborah” and identification credentials belonging to the victim. Mitchell, according to the police, “used this person’s name as a witness to the forged will and reactivated their mobile phone to rent a car to transfer Deborah’s body to Devon.”
Mitchell was charged with murder immediately after her detention on July 9, 2017; she was arrested on that date.