Who Confessed to the Murder?

[John]

what has been your actual involvement in this investigation John?

A thorough look at the facts, the movements, the terrain, the evidence and the characters involved. I think I've probably forgotten a lot of it now after so many years. I used to debate it in some depth with Sandra Lean and Billy Middleton on the now defunct Wrongly Accused Person forum.

[John]

And Jodi’s clothes?

We’ve all seen the photographs of Luke straight after the murder and at court and apart from the hair length he looks just the same.

I personally don't believe Andrina Bryson saw Luke and Jodi.

[DanniCash]

What we saw in the Ch5 documentary took place at the other end of the path at Easthouses. It was a reasonable reconstruction.

If it was the wrong end it doesn't sound that accurate Would the witness have had the same view at the other end?

[DanniCash]

I personally don't believe Andrina Bryson saw Luke and Jodi.

Wouldn't the people have come forward by now if Andrina saw them? This is a small town wouldn't they have realised?

[John]

Wouldn't the people have come forward by now if Andrina saw them? This is a small town wouldn't they have realised?

One would think so but the public are generally scared to approach the police. I should know being a former cop.

[faithlilly]

I personally don't believe Andrina Bryson saw Luke and Jodi.

Me neither.

[DreadPirateGagarin]

If it was the wrong end it doesn't sound that accurate Would the witness have had the same view at the other end?

I could be mistaken but I think the reconstruction was in the right place? Bryson saw them at the Easthouses end, this streetview shows the Easthouses end, matches the doc:

https://www.google.com/maps/@55.8771305,-3.0686397,3a,75y,42.81h,63.86t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s-_BRr3C_qqj7Kkj5qxnBkg!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

[John]

If it was the wrong end it doesn't sound that accurate Would the witness have had the same view at the other end?

No, the other end was several hundred yards away at Newbattle.  To clarify, Andrina Bryson in her car saw a boy and a girl talking at the Easthouses end of the path. Two other women in another car passed feet from Luke Mitchell standing near the other end of the path just down the road from Newbattle

[Nicholas]

Huge RED FLAG for me Sandra Lean referring to John Lamberton as a ‘malevolent troll’

My mistake - it was Jay Mack (the guy on the right) who called John a ‘malevolent troll‘ - Sandra Lean agreed with him
(Around 47.18)

John’s question was:
‘Another point conveniently missed by Sandra is the route back to the Mitchell home which require walking along the main road (sic)

Sandra Lean replied:
“This guy will try to discredit everything I say. So Mr Lamberton there is no other route back to Luke’s house that he can get there without walking up the main road because there’s only one point of entry to the house and that’s the front door - back gardens all back onto each other so he cannae get in the back door without coming through somebody else’s house”

[William Wallace]

Wouldn't the people have come forward by now if Andrina saw them? This is a small town wouldn't they have realised?

It's logical and reasonable to assume that if these 2 people were NOT connected to the murder they would have been traced. Andrina Bryson saw 2 people at the path whilst driving past, but as there was no reason to pay much attention she would only have had a fleeting glimpse, which will be why she could not identify LM in Court. I would suggest that the 2 people she saw were Jodi Jones and the person who killed her who has never been traced. It wasn't Luke M because it would be completely IMPOSSIBLE for none of his DNA to be found at the murder scene or in his house despite 3 forensic searches. Therefore, the explanation for the 2 people at the path apparently not being traced is because one of them is deceased and the other disappeared when the Police focussed only on LM and failed to consider who else the male could have been.   LM has been clearly  "fitted up" to avoid the Police having an ongoing "maniac on the loose scenario".
                                                     

One of the key pieces of evidence against LM was the statements of the search party who said in Court that LM went straight to the V in the wall, implying he knew where the body was already. However those statements had been changed from the one's they gave at the time of the murder which all said that LM's dog alerted them near the V in the wall. The Jury were never told that the statements had been changed because the law in Scotland allows for the original statements not to be mentioned if they have been altered at a later date. Not only were the statements all changed, they were all changed to say the same thing......that LM went straight to the V in the wall. The chances of 3 people's recall being changed to end up saying the exact same thing are virtually nil.

[Venturi Swirl]

Strange that this "local maniac on the looose" didn't go on to murder others in such a grisly way.  Wonder what made him start and finish with Jodi Jones?

[William Wallace]

Strange that this "local maniac on the looose" didn't go on to murder others in such a grisly way.  Wonder what made him start and finish with Jodi Jones?

I would suggest the reason for that is because the killer was not a Peter Tobin/Angus Sinclair type killer who preyed on complete strangers. It is also very unlikely that a deranged psychopath would decide to hide in the woods in broad daylight in a place where there are cyclists and walkers and attack someone randomly. He was someone known to Jodi who wanted to kill her and only her.

[Venturi Swirl]

I would suggest the reason for that is because the killer was not a Peter Tobin/Angus Sinclair type killer who preyed on complete strangers. It is also very unlikely that a deranged psychopath would decide to hide in the woods in broad daylight in a place where there are cyclists and walkers and attack someone randomly. He was someone known to Jodi who wanted to kill her and only her.

And what would be the motivation for that?

[William Wallace]

The reasons for it are impossible to speculate on as only LM has been thoroughly investigated by the Police and only LM has been constantly discussed in the Press and other public domains for 17 years. Not much is publicly known about the backgrounds of other possible suspects.

[faithlilly]

The reasons for it are impossible to speculate on as only LM has been thoroughly investigated by the Police and only LM has been constantly discussed in the Press and other public domains for 17 years. Not much is publicly known about the backgrounds of other possible suspects.

I have read that there was several people in Jodi’s orbit with an interest in knives/drug use/violent outbursts.