Sister of film director, 69, found dead in her Camden home wrapped in a blanket with tape over her mouth appears in court charged with her murder
Jennifer Abbott, 69, was found in her north London home on June 13 after not being seen for days.
This morning her sister Nancy Pexton, 69, of Westminster, appeared at Highbury Corner Magistrates' Court.
She did not enter a plea and was remanded in custody ahead of a crown court appearance next week.
Officers from the Met Police had been called by the London Ambulance Service to a report of an unresponsive woman in a flat in Mornington Place.
Ms Abbott, who was professionally known as Sarah Steinberg, was found wrapped in a blanket with tape over her mouth, neighbours claimed
The award-winning director was last seen by neighbours walking her beloved corgi Prince, who was described as 'her life'.
Prince was found locked in the bathroom after being on its own for up to three days but survived.
A post-mortem examination gave Ms Abbott's cause of death as sharp force trauma.
Neighbours said they regularly saw her walking her pet corgi in the area with one describing her as 'exuberant' and 'vivacious'.
Her next door neighbour Laura, 34, said: 'She was a movie star. She was in a couple of movies. She used to live in Beverly Hills.
'I live right next door to her. She was a friend of mine. I used to walk her dog when she was sick.'
Another Neighbour Billie Currie, 63, said: 'She was always walking the dog and was really nice. She was quite reserved but very friendly.
A friend had told how Ms Abbott had been in Hollywood earlier in her career where she directed the movie War of the Gods.
'She got interviewed in LA about this movie,' she said.
'She was known as Jenny or Janet and was quite mysterious.'
Scotland Yard previously said officers were investigating whether Ms Abbott's death was linked to a diamond-encrusted Rolex missing from her home.
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