Pick Me Up! – 30 May 2019

Antoine

postedon

hervictim’s

Facebook

wall:Where

areyou?

The

beltused

tostrangle

hermate

M

iteshPatel,37,was

livinga doublelife

whenhemurdered

hiswifeJessicaPatel,

34,witha Tescocarrierbagat

theirhomeinMiddlesbrough

inMay2018.

Thecouplerana successful

pharmacytogetherbuttheir

marriagewasunhappy.Patel

repeatedlycheatedonhiswife

withmenhemetthrough

sexualencountersonthe

populardatingappGrindr.

Atthetimeofhiswife’s

death,Patelhadbeenina

relationshipforsixyearswith

a manheclaimedtobehis

‘soulmate’,whohademigrated

toSydney.SomethingJessica

wasawareof.

WantingtomovetoAustralia

tobewithhislover,Patel

begana plottokillJessica

toreceivea £2millionlife-

insurancepayoutanduse

embryosJessicahadfrozen

whensheunderwentthree

coursesofIVF,tostart

a familywithhim.

Onthefatefulnight,Patel

injectedJessicawithinsulin

andstrangledhertodeath

withthecarrierbag,before

ransackingthehousein

anattempttoblameher

deathonburglars.

CCTVfootagefrom

outsidethecouple’shome

showedJessicaentering

thepropertyforthelast

time,andno-oneelse

comingandgoinguntil

herbodywasdiscovered,

boundwithducttape.

Patel’slieswereundone

wheninvestigatorsexamined

hismovementsusingtheApple

iPhoneHealthapp,whichboth

Words:

Niamh

BurNs.

photos

(phoNE

is

LiBrarY

imaGE):

aLamY,

pa

imaGEs,

rEX

Double

life:Patel

Thefriends

earlierthat

fatefulnight

Brittneytodeathwitha wide,

blue woven belt she was

wearing and dumped her

body in a nearby landfill in

Saskatchewan, Canada. Police

found the belt she’d used next

to her victim’s body.

Chillingly, just six hours

herbestfriend.

Afterthekilling,Antoine

thentooktohervictim’s

Facebookwallandposted

Whereareyou?Haven’t

heardfromyou.Hope

youmadeit homesafe...

tocoverhertracks.

Thatputheronthe

radarof investigators,

whofoundtheselfieand

noticedshewaswearing

thesamebelt,whichledto

Antoinebeingquestioned.

Sheinitiallytoldpolice

thatthepairhadbeenout

drinkingonthenightof

Brittney’sdeath,andthat

shehadgonehomewith

anunknownmanat theend

of thenightanddidnotknow

whathadhappened

toherfriend.

ButAntoinelater

confessedtoa

friendthatshehad

hitandstrangled

Brittneyduring

a rowafter

consumingalcohol

andmarijuana.

Shehadtold

thesamestory

toanotherfriend,

whichthenhelpedpolice

leadauthoritiestoAntoine

heandwiferegularlyused.

Sincetheapptracksa

person’sphysicalactivity,

investigatorswereable

totracePatel’ssteps

throughoutthedayofthe

murder,whichdisproved

hisliethathiswifewas

murderedbyanintruder.

MinutesbeforeJessica’s

death,Patel’sphone

monitoredfranticactivity,

racingaroundthehouse

ashestagedtheburglary,

runningupanddown

stairs,whileJessica’s

remainedstill.

Pateldeniedmurderbut

wasconvicted,sentenced

tolifebehindbars,andtold

hewouldservea minimum

of 30 years.

Victim:

Brittney

before the killing, Antoine had

posted a selfie of herself and

Brittney – the photo showing

Antoine wearing the very

same belt that was used to kill

as a suspect.

Antoine accepted

responsibility but claimed she

did not remember

the actual killing.

Her legal

representatives said

she had suffered

years of abuse

growing up in care

and had reported

being abused by her

foster parents.

Antoine was

charged with

second-degree murder, but

admitted manslaughter and

wasjailedforsevenyears.

• SELFIE

HER KILLER

UK – FROM GRINDR TO MURDER