Gay Husband Convicted of Killing Wife for £2 million life insurance and to marry his Boyfriend

Mitesh Patel, 37, A gay pharmacist who plotted for years to kill his wife so he could start a new life in Australia with his boyfriend and a £2 million life insurance payout has been convicted of her murder.

He injected his wife Jessica with insulin and strangled her with a Tesco bag-for-life at their Middlesbrough home, then staged a break-in to make it look like an intruder had attacked her and bound her with tape.



The couple ran a successful pharmacy together but their marriage was unhappy, with the gay husband repeatedly seeking with men he met on the Grindr dating app.



And he was secretly in a relationship with his “soulmate” Dr Amit Patel, who had emigrated to Sydney and with whom he hoped to bring up his and Jessica’s IVF baby after her death.

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?”.

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

He will hear victim statements from Jessica’s grandmother, father and a joint one by her siblings and cousins before he sentences.

The jury unanimously found Patel guilty after deliberating for around three hours on the 12th day of the trial.

The judge told Patel: “You have been convicted by the jury and you will be sentenced to life imprisonment and that will happen tomorrow morning.

Nicholas Campbell QC, prosecuting, said: “From various life insurance policies Mitesh Patel stood to profit from his wife’s death to the tune of £2 million.

“He was planning to use that money to start a new life in Australia shared with the person he really loved … another man named Dr Amit Patel.”



Weeks before he carried out his plot, Patel told a neighbour his wife was very trusting and that “one day she would end up getting murdered”.

And during a family holiday to the Canaries only days before the murder, he messaged Dr Patel to say: “You know this plan, do you think we will succeed?”

Dr Patel replied: “Only you know the answer.”

The defendant got no reply when he responded: “Do you think it is a bad plan?”

After staging the break-in, Patel dialled 999 and said: “Oh hiya, I think we’ve been burgled and my wife’s been attacked.”

During the call, despite knowing she was long dead, Patel implored her: “No, Jess, come on baby, wake up.”

During cross-examination, Patel said he had not tried CPR because he lost his “bearings” and panicked.

Mr Campbell replied: “And you weren’t going to waste your time trying to revive the dead, were you?”