A taxi driver has described how he unwittingly helped Jemma Mitchell transport the body of her decapitated victim in a suitcase, after she told him it was filled with books. Moideenkutty Vadakkhatil even offered to assist with the heavy luggage when he saw the killer struggling to lift it.
Mitchell, 38, was found guilty of murdering 67-year-old Mee Kuen Chong at the Old Bailey on Thursday, after a jury deliberated for seven hours. The former osteopath had cut off her victim's head and stuffed the body into a blue suitcase, later dumping it in Devon.
Mr Vadakkhatil picked up Mitchell outside a library in Sudbury, west London, last June. He noticed her hand was bandaged and she was struggling with the case and another bag. 'The large suitcase looked heavy and I saw that she had a bandaged hand so I asked her if I could give her some help,' he said. 'She was a little reluctant but that's what we do, we help customers with their luggage, and so I grabbed hold of the case. But it was so heavy that I struggled to get into the boot on my own.'
When he asked why it was so heavy, Mitchell replied 'just books'. During the 25-minute journey to Brondesbury Park, she avoided eye contact and read a book that shielded her face. The fare was £12.50, but she gave him £10, saying that was all she had. After she got out, she handled the suitcase roughly, causing the wheels to buckle.
Mr Vadakkhatil only discovered the grisly contents when police later visited him at home. He said he was 'horrified' to learn what was inside. Mitchell had been captured on CCTV leaving Chong's home with the empty suitcase at 8am on June 11 last year, and returning with it full five hours later. She later told police she had injured her hand on the taxi's sliding door, but the driver said she already had the injury when he picked her up.
