An award-winning film director was found murdered in her home wrapped in a blanket with tape over her mouth after being ‘targeted for her diamond Rolex.’
Jennifer Abbott, 69, was discovered stabbed to death after her niece and neighbours had to break into her Camden home on Friday night when she had not been seen for four days.
Ms Abbott was found dead in her home by a relative, wrapped in a blanket on her bed with tape covering her mouth, neighbours told MailOnline.
They said drug users would hang out round the entrance to the block of flats and Ms Abbott recently had a run-in with them when they blocked the doorway. Just a week ago she broke down in tears to a friend, saying she was too scared to sleep because of the anti-social behaviour.
Tonight a manhunt was underway as Scotland Yard said her diamond encrusted Rolex was also missing from her address.
Known professionally as Sarah Steinberg, Ms Abbott previously worked in the film industry and won an award for a documentary.
Her social media said she was originally from Scottsdale, Arizona, but studied Arts & Science at Merton Technical College and attended Pelham High School in Wimbledon.
She later relocated to Los Angeles and pictures on her pages show her rubbing shoulders with stars including Dan Ackroyd, Paris Hilton and Kate Hudson.
Ms Abbot won an award for a documentary she directed called ‘Gods of War’ and a glamorous picture shows her collecting a trophy at a ceremony.
Elsewhere she can be seen in images directing a film as well as framing the camera shot.
Poignantly in the snap with Ms Hilton, she is wearing the Rolex that is now at the centre of the police murder probe.
A post-mortem examination took place on Sunday and gave cause of death as sharp force trauma. There have been no arrests.
The Met police are now urging any witnesses to come forward with information that could help identify the attacker and the events leading up to her death.
Neighbour Billie Currie, 63, said he had heard a dog barking for most of the night days before Ms Abbott’s body was found.
Her pet Corgi had been shut in the bathroom for three days but survived.
Mr Currie told MailOnline: ‘She was always walking the dog and was really nice. She was quite reserved but very friendly.’
Another neighbour, who did not wish to be named, said her son grabbed a metal pole to bash down the door.
It was then that Ms Abbott’s niece made the grim discovery with her Corgi, Prince, locked in the bathroom.
The neighbour added ‘I heard the girls banging on the door and heard her shouting ‘help, help’.
‘She was a ‘vibrant, spritely, and intelligent’ person. We would talk about a lot of things – politics, current affairs, her likes and dislikes, we knew what each other liked.’
She told about Ms Abbott’s colourful career where she has been a doctor, and was even involved in the film industry where she directed movie Gods of War.
‘She got interviewed in LA about this movie,’ she said.
‘She was known as Jenny or Janet and was quite mysterious.’
But heartbreakingly the neighbour revealed Ms Abbott is thought have recently been diagnosed with stomach cancer.
‘I think she had an operation and it went wrong or something and they had taken out a part of her intestines.’
Another friend said Ms Abbott had recently spoken and broken down in tears saying she was too scared to go to sleep.
She added: ‘I remember her saying to me that once she had tried coming out of the flat and couldn’t get out because of all the druggies out there.
‘It was a dark day when that happened. It’s not about me, I feel for her and her son and her her niece who had to see her like that. I can’t believe I’m not going to see her again.
‘We will miss her running around. I mean she was indoors a lot but she made herself known. She’d talk to everyone.
‘Her niece said she had a lot of jewellery so the police need to check if anything else is missing.
‘To put the dog in the bathroom and then shut her up by putting the tape across her mouth and then they ransacked her house.
‘I’m not surprised she had a Rolex. She was a woman of taste who liked to have a lot of nice things.’
The Met did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the circumstances in which Ms Abbott was found.
It is understood her street had only just had CCTV installed by the local council.
She was last seen on the morning of Tuesday 10 June 2025 – three days before she was found.
Chief Superintendent Jason Stewart, who leads policing in Camden, 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.
‘Extra patrols continue in the area while my officers remain at the crime scene. I would urge anyone who has any information, or who may be worried, to speak to them.’
