Chloe Mitchell faced ‘cruel and brutal death’ before dismemberment, jury told

Chloe Mitchell was the “victim of a sustained assault with weapons whilst alive” before being “mutilated and dismembered in death” the first day of a murder trial has heard.

Jurors at Belfast Crown Court were also told that Brandon Rainey, who is accused of murdering the 21-year-old, told police a “catalogue of lies” and had a fascination with Jack the Ripper.

The court also heard that Rainey attempted to order “amputation knives” online from surgical companies.

Ms Mitchell’s body was found dismembered and put into two residential bins in Ballymena days after she went missing in June 2023.

Rainey, 30, formerly of James Street in the town, has been charged with murdering Ms Mitchell and attempting to prevent the burial of her body.

He pleaded not guilty to the charges at a hearing in 2024.

A large number of Ms Mitchell’s family and friends attended Belfast Crown Court on Wednesday.

Rainey was in court wearing a grey hoodie and grey cargo trousers.

The court heard that Ms Mitchell’s cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head and stab wounds to the chest.

Outlining the case against Rainey, prosecution barrister David Russell KC told the jury there is a “body of evidence that we say points clearly to Mr Rainey being the perpetrator in the killing of Chloe Mitchell”.

“It was a cruel and brutal death at his hands and we say given the nature of the attack he clearly intended to kill her,” he said.

“She had been the victim of a sustained assault with weapons whilst alive and then mutilated and dismembered in death.

“And we say that when you stand back and hear all the evidence in this case you’ll be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that Brandon Rainey murdered Chloe Mitchell.”

Mr Russell described Rainey and Ms Mitchell as being in “an on/off relationship” at the time of her death, adding that she was a young woman with “significant addiction issues”.

He read the recollection of two of Ms Mitchell’s friends who had been with her when she was last seen alive on June 3.

One recalled an incident when they had been at Rainey’s home and he had “become aggressive with Chloe and wouldn’t let her leave”, and another when he grabbed her by the hair and “threw her against the shutter of a shop so hard she fell”.

On the evening of Friday June 2 Ms Mitchell and two friends went to Rainey’s flat in James Street, where they drank with him for a short time, before the friends left Ms Mitchell alone with him.

During this encounter one of the friends recalled Rainey saying “I would love to chop someone up and melt them in the bath”, and when challenged on this saying he was “only joking”.

Jurors were shown CCTV of a man taking three journeys to and from the direction of James Street carrying black bags at around 5.20am on June 3.

Mr Russell outlined the moment an officer found Ms Mitchell’s remains on Sunday June 11 in two residential bins in the James Street area.

He said the officer was alerted by a “smell emanating from the back” of a neighbouring property.

“The bin was full, it smelled putrid and other resources were sought to carry out a search of that bin,” Mr Russell said.

The officer then identified a further bin in the alley and “when he opened it a large number of flies came out of the bin”.

Mr Russell read graphic descriptions from the post-mortem report describing the condition of Ms Mitchell’s dismembered body that had been split between the two bins.

A number of those in the public gallery with Ms Mitchell’s family left or became visibly emotional as the intense injuries were outlined.

“The severe decomposition and dismemberment of her body precluded her from being visually identified,” Mr Russell said.

“Her teeth were compared to dental records and a tattoo correlated with one described by family members.”

Mr Russell said the post-mortem report noted that incisions related to the dismemberment were “relatively clean cut, consistent with having been cut with a sharp object such as a knife”.

Ms Mitchell’s ears were not found with her body or in either of the bins.

There were further descriptions of injuries to the 21-year-old’s head, with fractures to the right side of her skull and “probable bruising to skin” that would be “consistent with at least some of the blows, if not all, having occurred while Chloe was alive”.

A fracture to the right side of the jaw “could have been a punch but could also have been the result of a kick or a stamp”, again with bruising indicating this may have occurred while Ms Mitchell was alive.

Mr Russell said she also suffered “at least 55 stab wounds to the skin’s surface consistent with having been caused with a bladed weapon such as a knife” and it was “apparent bruising associated with some of the stabbings suggesting they took place when Chloe was alive”.

The barrister went on to outline what he described as a “very substantial forensic connection between Brandon Rainey and 22 James Street and Chloe Mitchell”.

He described a number of areas of Rainey’s flat where blood spots or smears matching Ms Mitchell were identified including the front door handle, meter box, utility room wall, living room armchair, bedroom wall and beside table.

Items with blood matching Ms Mitchell were also recovered and examined by police including three blood stained plastic bags and a blood stained Nike trainer found on the outside window sill.

Mr Russell described police findings from the examination of Rainey’s phone, where he had made repeated attempts to order “amputation knives” online from surgical companies.

Also on the defendant’s phone were repeated searches for Jack the Ripper, and it was heard that his username on one online gaming profile was “randotheripper”.

Testimony was read from a man who recalled attending a barbecue in Ballymena on June 1 when Rainey stripped to his boxer shorts revealing he had a large knife in a sheath.

This witness also claims to have overheard the defendant saying to his mother: “Would you still love me if I dismembered 50 people and hid their parts?” and could not be sure if he was joking.

Mr Russell read jurors some of the contents of Rainey’s interviews with police in June 2023, both before and after the discovery of Ms Mitchell’s remains.

When the defendant was asked by police if he knew where Ms Mitchell was, he answered “I don’t know”, which the prosecution barrister described as the “first of a catalogue of lies”.

He said Rainey “repeatedly lied to police” in saying he did not know where Ms Mitchell was and “repeatedly denied harming her”.

The trial continues on Monday.