Jennifer Abbot’s niece reportedly raised the alarm after having not heard from her aunt for four days, with a neighbour’s son forced to break down the door of her Camden home
A woman police fear was stabbed to death “for her diamond-encrusted Rolex” was discovered after the son of a neighbour tore her door down after she was not seen. Jennifer Abbot, also known as Sarah Steinberg, was found stabbed to death at her Mornington Place home in Camden, north London, after police were called to the scene last week.
The Metropolitan Police, which arrived at the scene following a call at 6pm on Friday night, fear she may have been killed for her expensive timepiece. Locals have been urged to come forward as investigators launch a manhunt for the perpetrator after a June 15 post-mortem found she died by “sharp-force trauma”.
Police manhunt as woman murdered in Camden home ‘for diamond encrusted Rolex’
The killing of Ms Abbot, 69, has already terrified her neighbours, one of whom said her son found her lifeless body. Speaking to the PA News Agency, a neighbour who lives near where a 69-year-old woman was found stabbed in her north London home said her son found the body after her niece raised the alarm.
The neighbour, who didn’t want to be named, said: “My son broke the door down. We heard her niece shouting: ‘Somebody help me, somebody help’ and we went out and asked what’s wrong.
She said: ‘I haven’t heard from my auntie in four days. Something’s wrong; break the door down.
“I was holding the door open downstairs and my son was upstairs and then I heard her niece screaming and saying: ‘Oh my God, she’s been murdered’. She had tape across her mouth.”
Ms Abbot was last seen walking her dog on June 10, with the pooch, a corgi, having spent several days locked inside a bathroom, where it wasn’t able to eat or drink.
She said: “Her corgi was locked in the bathroom for three days. That poor dog, he couldn’t even drink any water, it’s amazing he was even still alive.”
Police are now working urgently to track down the perpetrator, with Met Police Chief Superintendent Jason Stewart, who leads policing in Camden, saying investigators are working urgently to understand “exactly what happened”.
He said: “We are working closely with our colleagues in the homicide team to establish exactly what happened and it’s incredibly important that we hear from anyone who may have knowledge about how this awful death occurred.
“Were you out in Camden on Friday? Perhaps you had been coming home from work, or at an event nearby? Did you see or hear anything around Mornington Place that struck you as being unusual?
“Someone must have seen or heard something and no piece of information is too small. It could be the crucial clue that leads us to identify Jennifer’s murderer.”
