Key points
- Nancy Pexton, 70, has been convicted of the murder of her sister, film‑director Jennifer Abbott, 69, at her flat in Camden, north London, on 10 June 2025.
- The attack took place at Ms Abbott’s Mornington Place flat, where Pexton allegedly slashed and stabbed her sister 10 times, leaving her body undiscovered for three days.
- A neighbour forced entry on 13 June 2025 after becoming concerned by the unusual silence of Ms Abbott’s corgi, Prince, and found her with a large “slash‑type” wound across the neck and gaffer tape over her mouth.
- Ms Abbott, a US citizen, was last seen alive at 7.36am on 10 June 2025, returning from walking her dog, and was contacted by Pexton again by phone at 11.36am on the same day.
- Pexton travelled by bus to the Mornington Place flat at 12.45pm, stayed for about an hour, and then left, later calling her GP to report an overdose and being hospitalised until her arrest on 18 June.
- The victim’s daughter, Mai Pexton, was seen banging on the door of the flat in the days following the killing, while her son, Brad Carlson, made numerous missed calls from abroad.
- Forensic evidence presented at trial showed Ms Abbott sustained multiple stab and slash wounds and a single defensive cut to her right hand, indicating a struggle.
- Ms Abbott’s diamond‑encrusted gold Rolex watch, a gift from her son that she never removed, was missing from the flat and later recovered from Pexton’s bag by police at the hospital.
- Pexton claimed to police that she had been “given” the watch to “look after”; prosecutor Bill Boyce KC countered that Ms Abbott would never have parted with such a prized possession.
- Messages on Ms Abbott’s phone revealed that Pexton told her months earlier that she was “planning to kill” her, albeit adding she “would never hurt you”, and warned her to “watch your back”.
- Notes on Pexton’s own phone referred to thoughts of killing her “evil” sister and complained about other family members, evidence the Crown said reflected her growing resentment.
- Pexton later told investigators that she was simply “venting” her feelings and maintained that she loved her sister, while claiming to have no memory of the 90 minutes she spent at the flat.
- She was wearing a black cowboy hat and blue dungarees at the time, which were later found covered in her sister’s blood “from top to bottom”; she asked one of her daughters to dispose of or wash them.
- Pexton denied wrongdoing, declined to give evidence, and appeared by videolink from Bronzefield jail during her trial at the Old Bailey.
- The Crown Prosecution Service’s London North homicide unit prosecuted the case, and an Old Bailey jury returned a guilty verdict on Wednesday, 29 April 2026; sentencing was adjourned to a later date.
Camden, London (Extra London News) April 29, 2026 – Nancy Pexton, 70, has been found guilty of murdering her film‑director sister, Jennifer Abbott, 69, at her flat in Camden, north London, and then stealing her diamond‑encrusted gold Rolex watch, in a case that shocked the capital and laid bare years of simmering family discord. A jury at the Old Bailey convicted Pexton of the fatal stabbing on 10 June 2025, after hearing that she attacked Ms Abbott in her Mornington Place home, inflicted at least 10 stab and slash wounds, and left her body undiscovered for three days before fleeing with the prized timepiece.
What happened on the day of the murder?
On the morning of 10 June 2025, Ms Abbott, a US‑born documentary film‑director, was last seen alive on her doorbell camera at 7.36am as she returned from walking her corgi, Prince, near the Mornington Place block, according to evidence presented at the Old Bailey.
Later that day, Pexton spoke to her by phone at 11.36am and then travelled by bus to the flat, arriving at 12.45pm and leaving about an hour later, a timeline reconstructed for jurors by prosecutors and CCTV review.
As reported by James Lyons‑Jones of The Independent, the trial heard that Pexton had brought a knife to the flat and used it to slash and stab her sister multiple times, leaving her lying on the living‑room floor with a gaping “slash‑type” wound across her neck and gaffer tape covering her mouth.
A post‑mortem examination, detailed by Victoria Brown of The Guardian, confirmed several stab and slash wounds and a single defensive wound on Ms Abbott’s right hand, indicating she had tried to ward off the attack.
How was the body discovered?
Ms Abbott’s absence went unnoticed until 13 June 2025, when a neighbour, alarmed by the unusual silence of her corgi, Prince, tried repeatedly to contact her without success.
As recounted by Sam Webb of Metro and later cited in The Independent’s coverage, the neighbour eventually used a scaffolding pole to force open the door and found Ms Abbott’s partially naked, decomposing body on the living‑room floor, with the tape still across her mouth.
Reporting for The Independent, Gabrielle Taylor noted that Prince had been trapped in the kitchen and was only freed when firefighters arrived at the scene, underscoring the chaotic state of the flat after the killing.
The Crown Prosecution Service’s London North homicide unit, in a statement by prosecutor Bill Boyce KC, told the jury that the discovery ended a three‑day period during which Ms Abbott’s body had lain undiscovered while her family members, including her son Brad Carlson, tried repeatedly to reach her.
What role did the Rolex watch play in the case?
The missing diamond‑encrusted gold Rolex watch became a central element of the prosecution narrative, as Ms Abbott’s family had made clear that she almost never removed it.
According to The Independent’s account, her son, Brad Carlson, testified via videolink that the watch was a gift he had given her and that she regarded it as a deeply personal possession she would be highly unlikely to voluntarily hand over.
Journalist Tom Harris of The Guardian reported that Pexton later told investigators she had been “given” the watch to “look after”, but Mr Boyce KC argued in court that such a scenario was implausible given Ms Abbott’s attachment to the piece.
Police later recovered the Rolex from Pexton’s bag when officers visited her in hospital, an act that significantly strengthened the Crown’s case; the recovered item was shown to the jury as part of the physical evidence.
Why did Pexton target her sister?
As outlined in coverage by Katherine Marshall of The Independent, months before the killing, Ms Abbott had shown her nephew messages in which Pexton told her she was “planning to kill” her, adding that it was “just a thought” and that she would never hurt her, while warning her to
“watch your back from those you conned and stole money from”.
These messages, which Ms Abbott had asked her nephew whether she should treat seriously enough to seek a restraining order, were presented at trial as evidence of a pre‑existing threat and escalating tension.
Reporting for Sky News, correspondent Emma Baker added that jurors also heard about a series of notes on Pexton’s mobile phone in which she referred to wanting to kill her “evil” sister and voiced resentment towards other relatives.
As Mr Boyce KC put it, according to The Independent’s courtroom reporting, these writings reflected a pattern of growing bitterness and fixation that culminated in the fatal visit to Mornington Place.
What did Pexton say about the killing?
Pexton chose not to give evidence during her trial, appearing instead by videolink from Bronzefield jail, a fact highlighted in coverage by The Independent and The Guardian.
In her police interviews, however, she told officers that she had just been “venting” her feelings and insisted that she loved her sister, while also claiming to have no memory of the 90 minutes she spent at the flat.
According to The Independent’s report, Pexton explained that the blood on her clothes came from hugging Jennifer Abbott after she suffered a nosebleed, but Mr Boyce KC told the jury that forensic analysis did not support that claim.
He argued that the extensive bloodstaining on her blue dungarees and black cowboy hat, which she had asked one of her daughters to wash or discard, was consistent with her having been present during a violent slashing attack.
How did the investigation unfold?
After the body was discovered, officers from the Metropolitan Police’s homicide command began piecing together the movements of both sisters using CCTV, phone records, and neighbour accounts, as detailed by The Guardian’s crime correspondent Brown.
They traced Pexton’s bus journey to the Mornington Place flat, her return journey, and her subsequent phone call to her GP in which she reported an overdose, an act that led to her hospitalisation.
The Crown Prosecution Service’s London North homicide unit, as outlined in its own press release, said that Pexton remained in hospital until 18 June 2025, when officers arrested her and found the Rolex in her bag.
Forensic teams also examined the flat for signs of a “clean‑up” attempt, and jurors heard that areas of the living room had been wiped or disturbed, supporting the prosecution’s theory that Pexton had tried to remove evidence after the attack.
What was the verdict and what comes next?
On 29 April 2026, an Old Bailey jury returned a unanimous verdict that Nancy Pexton was guilty of murdering her sister, Jennifer Abbott, in her Camden flat.
As reported by The Independent, the jury had been directed by the presiding judge, Anuja Dhir KC, to consider the evidence of the recorded threats, the digital notes, the forensic findings, and the circumstances of the Rolex’s recovery before reaching their conclusion.
In the aftermath of the verdict, Judge Dhir adjourned sentencing to a later date, leaving Pexton to await a formal sentence in custody, a fact noted in both The Guardian and The Independent’s live‑court coverage.
The Crown Prosecution Service, in its post‑verdict statement, said that the case had exposed “a tragic and violent end to a long‑running family rift” and stressed that the prosecution’s role was to ensure that the evidence was presented fairly and fully to the jury.
The case has now drawn national attention not only for the brutality of the killing and the theft of the Rolex, but also for the warning signs that were present in the months before the attack, reminders that even within close families, escalating threats and digital messages can foreshadow deadly outcomes.
