Indian-origin man in UK gets 30 yrs in jail
LONDON : Mitesh Patel, a Yorkshire-based gay pharmacist who murdered his wife Jessica in a premeditated attack so he could start a new life in Australia with his boyfriend, has been jailed for a minimum of 30 years.
Cleveland police said Patel, 37, strangled Jessica, 34, with a plastic bag after planning her murder so he could cash in on her £2 million life insurance and use her frozen embryos to have a family with his lover in Sydney.
The Teesside Crown Court was told Jessica was aware for six years her husband was in love with another man and was having casual sex with men he met on a dating app.
Detective chief inspector Matt Murphy-king said: “During the course of the murder investigation, significant evidence emerged which proved Mitesh Patel had researched and planned Jess’s death for a number of years, which culminated in Jess’s murder on May 14 of this year.” Patel staged the murder scene to make it appear as though Jessica was murdered during a burglary while he was out walking, he said. The investigation “categorically proved (this) to be a lie - one of the many lies which Mitesh spun to conceal his guilt and devious lifestyle”, he added.
When the 30-year sentence was pronounced in court, Patel showed no emotion as Justice James Goss told him: “You are a selfish man, business driven, wanting a very successful life and wishing to retire at 40.
“You were also wanting to commit to a life with another man on your own terms and you well knew that insurance policies would realise £2 million on Jessica’s death,” he said. The jury was told how Patel subdued his wife with an insulin injection before strangling her at their home in Linthorpe. Patel carried out online research about strangulation and the effects of insulin.
After the murder, Patel ransacked the couple’s home in an attempt to make it appear as if intruders had murdered Jessica. His deception was uncovered after police examined the iphone health app, which tracks the user’s steps throughout the day, on his and his wife’s phones.