Pexton slashed and stabbed her 69-year-old sister 10 times at her flat in Mornington Place, Camden. The attack was so ferocious that Judge Anuja Dhir KC said she was sure Pexton intended to kill. Ms Abbott's body was discovered on 13 June after a neighbour forced open the door, concerned that he could not hear her corgi, Prince, barking.
The neighbour found Ms Abbott on the living room floor with a large, gaping slash-type wound across her neck and gaffer tape across her mouth. Her corgi had been locked in the bathroom and was freed by firefighters, in desperate need of a lavatory but otherwise in good health. A post-mortem examination found that Ms Abbott had sustained a number of stab and slash wounds and a single defensive wound.
Ms Abbott was last seen alive on a doorbell camera returning from walking Prince at 7:36am on 10 June. Pexton spoke to her by phone at 11:36am and travelled by bus to the flat at 12:45pm, leaving an hour later. There was no evidence that Ms Abbott was alive after that visit.
The killing was a monstrous and heinous act.
Pexton then called her GP, reported taking an overdose, and was taken to hospital, where she stayed until her arrest on 18 June. When police recovered a diamond-encrusted Rolex from Pexton's bag, she claimed her sister had given it to her to 'look after'. Ms Abbott was greatly attached to the watch and never usually took it off.
The judge said Pexton took the watch because it was valuable and because she was jealous of her sister's greater financial security. Messages from months before the killing revealed Pexton's jealousy and animosity. According to Metro, Pexton wrote that she was planning to kill her sister, whom she loved but who had destroyed her life, adding that loose lips sank her ship.
Judge Dhir described taping up her sister's mouth as a 'deliberate act of degradation' which was 'callous, demeaning and cruel'. She said Pexton's actions after the killing showed an absence of remorse and a callous attitude. Ms Abbott's son, Brad Carlson, described the killing as a monstrous and heinous act, and said the loss of his mother was an unbelievable nightmare.
The loss of my mother is an unbelievable nightmare.
He described his mother, a US citizen, as his hero and role model who bought property, wrote books, and made movies. Pexton sent her own daughter to check on Ms Abbott, knowing she would find her dead. The victim's niece, Mai Pexton, had gone to the property and banged on the door, screaming for her auntie.
Pexton, of no fixed address, was found guilty of murder at the Old Bailey. The court heard that Pexton taped her sister's mouth with adhesive tape before the attack. Ms Abbott was not wearing her Rolex watch, which she was greatly attached to and never usually took off, when her body was found.
Pexton claimed she got blood on her clothes when she hugged Ms Abbott during a nosebleed. The judge said taping up her sister's mouth was a deliberate act of degradation that was callous, demeaning and cruel. In the two days after Ms Abbott's death, there were numerous missed calls from her son Brad Carlson, who lives abroad.
My mother was my hero and role model who bought property, wrote books, and made movies.
The victim's niece, Mai Pexton, had gone to the property and banged on the door, screaming for her auntie. A neighbour decided to break down the door with a scaffolding pole because he could not hear Ms Abbott's corgi dog Prince barking, which he found unusual. The neighbour called emergency services after discovering Ms Abbott's partially naked and decomposing body on the floor.
Ms Abbott's corgi had been locked in the bathroom and was freed by firefighters. The dog was in desperate need of a lavatory but was fed and watered and given to Mai to take away in good health. Ms Abbott usually wore her Cartier bracelet and gold diamond-encrusted Rolex watch, which was of real sentimental value.
A post-mortem examination found that Ms Abbott had sustained a number of stab and slash wounds and a single defensive wound. Pexton was taken to hospital by ambulance where she stayed before her arrest on 18 June. Pexton was found guilty of murder at the Old Bailey.