Parole Board Reviews Case of Millionaire's Daughter Who Killed Elderly Woman

Kemi Adeyoola, who was 17 when she murdered 84-year-old Anne Mendel, is seeking release more than 20 years after the crime. The Parole Board has confirmed her case is under review, raising the possibility of her freedom in the coming months.

Adeyoola stabbed Mrs. Mendel 14 times in what prosecutors described as a rehearsal for a planned killing spree targeting wealthy pensioners. She had hoped to accumulate £3 million through murder and robbery. In June 2006, she was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 20 years.

During her sentencing, Judge Richard Hone deemed Adeyoola a continuing danger to the public and questioned the feasibility of her ever being safe for release. Her case is now being evaluated by experts who will assess her progress in prison, her behavior since her sentence, and her interactions with other inmates.

In 2023, the Parole Board had recommended Adeyoola be transferred to an open prison, a move that often precedes consideration for release. The review process will consider these developments.

Adeyoola developed her murder plans while serving a sentence for shoplifting at a young offenders' institution. Her 18-page handwritten manual, titled "Prison and After: Making Life Count," outlined personal ambitions alongside schemes for murder and robbery. Her targets were wealthy elderly women, whom she planned to study and approach under the guise of conducting a survey. The manual detailed methods for extracting financial information before killing them, and even suggested framing a victim's husband, dismembering the body, and disposing of the remains.

Prison officers discovered the manual during a cell search in October 2004. Adeyoola claimed it was a fictional crime thriller plot, inspired by authors like James Patterson and Martina Cole. A psychiatric evaluation at the time did not predict she would act on these plans.

Five months after the manual's discovery, Mrs. Mendel was found murdered in her North London home. Mrs. Mendel, who was deaf, had previously lived next door to Adeyoola's family and had shown her kindness. She had a history of community involvement, including volunteering and assisting neighbors.

Her husband, Leonard, discovered her body. Detectives apprehended Adeyoola after identifying a trace of her DNA on Mrs. Mendel's hand. Adeyoola claimed the DNA transfer occurred when she assisted Mrs. Mendel crossing the road the previous day, but the jury rejected this explanation and convicted her of murder. She was also convicted of conspiring to pervert the course of justice for arranging a false alibi.

At the Old Bailey, the judge characterized Adeyoola as a remorseless killer, suggesting she may have sought to experience killing or to boast about it. The defense's arguments about her troubled childhood were rejected. Adeyoola's father, property tycoon Bola Adeyoola, publicly disowned his daughter, stating she was "no longer my daughter" and that "what she did was evil." He was later convicted of fraud in 2014 and served a two-year prison sentence.

In 2016, Adeyoola's attempt to have her minimum sentence reduced was denied. The High Court noted instances of theft from fellow prisoners, intimidation, and substance abuse, concluding that her progress was not exceptional. The judge emphasized that Mrs. Mendel's prior kindness towards Adeyoola made the targeting particularly egregious, stating, "There is clearly a lot of work still to be done."