Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Ga y wife killer snared by iphone health app
He faces 30 years in prison after tech exposes murder
A HUSBAND who killed his wife to get £2million life insurance and start a new life with his gay lover was caught by his health app.
Mitesh Patel, 37, was found guilty of murder yesterday and is believed to be the first killer to be brought to justice in a UK court with the help of the iphone software.
Pharmacist Patel suffocated Jessica, 34, with a Tesco bag then tried to make it look like she had been killed by burglars.
But his phone showed he had been climbing stairs as he tried to make their home look ransacked.
Jessica’s phone had not moved from the moment he left the house at 7.44pm on May 14 when he dumped it near the front door.
He returned at 8.18pm and his phone showed him going upstairs, where he hid a hard drive holding CCTV of his movements in a suitcase under a bed.
Police also found he had made online searches including, “I need to kill my wife” and, “How long does it take to die from strangulation?” There were life insurance policies in Jessica’s name worth £2million. Days before the murder Patel asked for advice on how he would inherit the money.
Nicholas Campbell QC, prosecuting, told Teesside crown court Patel planned a new life in Sydney, Australia, with doctor Amit Patel, “the person he really loved [and] regarded as his soulmate”. There was evidence of online contact between them in the months prior to the murder, the jury heard. Patel also used websites to meet men. It was claimed his wife found evidence of his intimate messages to Amit. Patel, of Middlesbrough, faces a life sentence of at least 30 years when sentenced today. Jessica’s family said: “All she wanted was to fall in love, have a family and live happily ever after. We are relieved at the outcome of the trial, this will help to bring us a little peace.”