Woman accused of beheading friend, dumping corpse in woods over money

A 38-year-old woman has been accused of murdering and decapitating her friend before dumping her body in the woods in Devon, UK.

The woman, identified as Jemma Mitchell, allegedly killed 67-year-old Mee Kuen Chong after they had a falling out over money last year.

Chong was reported missing from her house in Wembley, London in June last year. A search was launched by the police and her headless body was eventually discovered more than 200 miles (320km) away in the woods near Salcombe, Devon.

Opening Mitchell's Old Bailey trial, Deanna Heer KC said: "It is the prosecution case that she assaulted and killed the deceased, and then transported her body to Salcombe in a large blue suitcase where she attempted to dispose of it in the woods."

The prosecutor claimed that Mitchell had met up with the victim the day she went missing. She was caught on CCTV walking out of Chong's house carrying two suitcases.

"The larger of the two was obviously very heavy and difficult to manoeuvre. It is the prosecution case that it contained the body of Mee Kuen Chong," Heer said.

She added that Mitchell travelled to Salcombe with the suitcase in a rented car and that the vehicle was captured driving towards the area where Chong's body was later found.

The woman's torso and her head were found 10 metres apart, the court was told.

A post-mortem examination later revealed that her body had signs of assault. including a skull fracture. According to a BBC report, Mitchell had studied osteopathy and had a first-class degree in Human Sciences from Kings College London.

Her professional website stated that she was "attuned to subjects in neuroanatomy, genetics, and dissection of human cadavers."

Mitchell returned to Britain in 2015 after having worked in Australia for seven years. She was living with her mother at their dilapidated family home in Brent at the time of the killing.

It is being reported that Chong had agreed to give £200,000 to help Mitchell with house repairs, but later had a change of heart. Mitchell has denied murdering her friend in June last year. The trial in the case is still on.