Gay pharmacist Mitesh Patel found guilty of wife Jessica's murder

Mitesh Patel, 37, stood to gain £2m from a life insurance policy taken out on his partner, Jessica Patel, who he strangled in their marital home as part of a murder plot five years in the making.

The scene inside the home after Mitesh Patel staged a break in

The serial liar became increasingly detached from reality, using online gay dating apps to avoid the mundane of his relationship and his job at the successful pharmacy he jointly owned with his 34-year-old wife.

His insatiable need to contact and hook up with men he met online began in 2017. However, Patel was already deeply in love with his “soulmate”, Dr Amit Patel, who emigrated to Sydney, Australia after divorcing the woman he married.

Teesside Crown Court heard during a three-week trial that Patel yearned to move to the other side of the world to be with his gay lover, whom he planned on bring up his and Jessica's IVF baby with after her death.

The Middlesbrough pharmacist’s desire to be with Dr Patel that led him to plan to kill his wife so they could live together. Less than a year before Jessica’s murder, Patel sent a chilling text, saying his wife’s days were “marked”.

CRIME SCENE: Police outside the home of Jessica Patel, in Middlesbrough. Picture: Joanna Morris

It was inside the Patel’s marital home on The Avenue, Linthorpe, Middlesbrough, on May 14, 2018, that Patel subdued Jessica, 34, with insulin, before restraining her with duct tape wrapped at least four times around her wrists and ankles.

A post mortem examination revealed that Jessica, who worked as a pharmacist alongside her husband in the Roman Road Pharmacy, Middlesbrough, had been strangled and suffocated with a plastic shopping bag.

Jurors at Teesside Crown Court heard that Patel stage-managed a “burglary” at their home, making it appear an intruder had ransacked the house and murdered his wife while he was visiting the pharmacy and picking up a takeaway pizza between 7.44pm and 8.18pm.

But Patel’s web of lies was ultimately untangled by the technology he desperately clung to, with data from his phone and his wife’s phone showing their physical movements the night she died.

The couple both had the Apple Health app downloaded on their phones, tracking any exercise or steps taken as they walked during the day.

For the first time ever in major a UK court case, the data recovered from the Health app by a team at Cleveland Police was used by the Crown Prosecution Service to show jurors Patel’s and Jessica’s movements.

Complete inactivity on Jessica’s mobile phone showed she was likely killed between 7.04pm and 7.44pm that night – a time when Patel was also inside the house and recorded by Health app to be going upstairs and frantically moving around the home.

Analysis of Jessica’s phone found the handset moved 14 steps at 7.44pm – the exact time Patel left his wife’s lifeless body and fled the house to create an alibi.

He claimed his wife was still alive when he ventured out, but his story crumbled when the health app showed her phone remained motionless outside the couple's Middlesbrough home until 8.40pm that night.

That was when a police officer picked it up near their front door, where it had been left by Patel, 37, to make it look like it had been dumped by an intruder.

ALIBI: Mitesh Patel in the moments after murdering his wife attempting to create an alibi by visiting his regular takeaway, Romano's

The husband was convicted of her murder at Teesside Crown Court after the jury heard Patel had made internet searches dating back years, including "I need to kill my wife", "insulin overdose", "plot to kill my wife, do I need a co-conspirator?", "hiring hitman UK" and "how much methadone will kill you?".

High court judge Mr Justice James Goss QC told the jury a life sentence was mandatory and he will determine the minimum term Patel must serve behind bars on Wednesday morning.

However, a maximum life sentence would not be sufficient punishment for the gay pharmacist who murdered Jessica, her family has said.

Her loved ones, who were present in court, issued a statement via Cleveland Police, which read: “Jessica was beautiful both on the inside and out. Her soul was pure, her heart ever so kind and the love and generosity she afforded to everyone in her life was second to none.

“She had simple dreams, all she ever wanted was to fall in love, have a family of her own and live happily ever after.

“Losing Jessica has devastated our family. Over the last six months we have agonised over what could have happened and the truth we have learnt over the last few weeks is truly painful and traumatic.

“Never could we have ever imagined anything like this. The man we welcomed into our family, who promised to look after and protect her, betrayed her in every sense of the word, cheating her of her dreams, robbing her of her life and robbing us of her.

“No one in this world has the right to take someone else’s life. Although even a maximum life sentence is not punishment enough, we are relieved at the outcome of the trial and this will help to bring us a little peace.”

Police said they have spoken to killer pharmacist Patel’s boyfriend as a witness during the investigation into his wife’s murder.

POLICE: Detective Chief Inspector Matt Murphy-King outside Teesside Crown Court. Picture: Charlotte Bowe

Senior Investigating Officer, Detective Chief Inspector Matt Murphy-King said: “Jessica Patel was a wonderful daughter, sister and friend, loved and respected by many, who tragically had her life cut short by the man who should have been there to love, cherish and protect her. 

“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.

“In an effort to disguise his crime and seek to fool the murder investigation team into believing that Jess had been murdered whilst Mitesh was out walking, Mitesh went to the extreme of staging the murder scene making it appear as though Jess had been murdered during a burglary, something which the investigation categorically proved to be a lie - one of the many lies which Mitesh spun to conceal his guilt and devious lifestyle.

“Whilst nothing can be done to bring Jess back or lessen the pain and suffering caused to Jess’s family, I sincerely hope that by bringing Mitesh Patel to justice for his despicable crime it at least brings some solace to them.

“Today’s conviction reflects the enormity of Mitesh Patel’s crime, who for his own devious reasons, which included pre-planning the murder for financial gain to the tune of two million pounds, took Jessica’s life. 

“Even when faced with overwhelming evidence, Mitesh chose to inflict further pain and suffering upon Jess’s family by not admitting his guilt, thereby exposing Jess’s family to his deceitful, dishonest and wicked ways throughout trial. 

“I’m very grateful to the CPS and prosecution team for their excellent work which has enabled the investigation team as a whole to present the best possible case for Jess, which has ultimately led to Mitesh Patel’s conviction."