Luke Mitchell Theories

[Parky41]

The path area is used by 'occasional' dog walkers, probably repeat ones who stay close enough to it, such as where DD stayed (Reeds Drive). The line of houses where the back gardens adjoined the field. The rest of that street in general, talking something like 20 buildings, 4 in block? Other areas of Newtongrange not so much, far more places closer to hand to use than that field/paths. Park, waste ground, woodland and many more fields.

The same does not apply to Easthouses at all. Not counting for recent new builds next to the lane of that AB sighting. Two parks and complex, other fields, an expansive grass area (Off Lothian Drive) leading into the golf course/Abbey woods. Most residents would really be going out of their way to use the RDP area to walk their dogs on a daily basis. Not to say some don't but generally that would account for a small % of them.

So, it is as it is - Used by dog walkers who stay next to it (which consists of little) Used as a cut through like we see with LK going home, the boys on the moped the same. DD who used an entry point to gain further access into the golf course/Abbey woods. Others from his street would use Lady path and enter off the lane of the AB sighting if heading into the Abbey woods. [Name removed] with LM, joining two areas together. But to note here, on the Newbattle side there is nothing, not one single house next to that path entrance/exit. People going for long walks further afield, using it as part of the Esk Trail. It is not the busy thoroughfare applied.

Newbattle Road is over a mile long. It is split into three areas, Newtongrange, Newbattle and Eskbank. Newbattle is tiny in comparison to the others. It consists of the Abbey/grounds/small industrial estate. Church, scattered cottages and the estate LM stayed in, which sits in off the road. Not a lot of reasons at all for anyone using the RDP as a short cut to Newbattle. It would be very selectively used, depending on locality of residence, for anyone to be using it as a short cut to Eskbank/Dalkeith or vice versa?

An isolated path in relevance to proximity to anywhere. The nearest houses are beside the top half of the field, across the expanse of it, then nothing at all. So again, the reason for that ban, the isolated nature of the path. A girl who 'only' had reason to know of the path because of the boy she had began to go out with. Her sister was not brought up in the area. Neither attended the school. But scrape people do attempting to apply lies to a girl who was telling the truth. She knew of some path, assumed it was the Lady Path, had not used the RDP before, ever. Had absolutely no reason to lie not any reason to have been using that path.

[William Wallace]

They were chased from the Toolhire place after it closed at 5pm. The drove up the path stalling several times before getting it going and heading home. No one witnessed them on the path and they admitted the bike was against the wall at one point (not the exact V). The bike was unreliable and taken to Melrose scrapyard shortly after where it lay for weeks before being collected by the main metal merchant.

Anyone trying to hide DNA etc would have doused it in petrol, not left it out in a scrapyard for weeks. Just 2 lads mucking about on a moped, nothing more. You seem to be following the SL/SF magic carpet theory with the blood soaked killer being whisked away. Do you really think the killer would rely on a clapped out stalling moped to make a getaway or the simplest explanation that he was already on the woodside of RDP and didn't need to return to the main path at all.

If you are implicating the moped lads, why were they at the Toolhire place in full view? Were they then summoned by your killer asking for a lift home? Why would your killer need a lift on a moped if he could walk?

I'm not sure why you think this moped lay in Melrose Metals for weeks. It didn't, because that's the first place even the Lothian Police who were clearly not too bright would have looked. That moped disappeared off the face of the Earth before [Name removed] and [Name removed] even came forward. Think about it.....when they were interviewed when they came forward after 5 days, the Police would have asked them immediately where that moped is. The Police did try to find it and failed. They also failed to find out where it was disposed of. It's known now where it went, but at the time the Police were not able to find out where it went.

Yes, [Name removed] and [Name removed] were told by a staff member to get out the yard just before closing time so that was about 4.55-5.00pm. After that they went back up the RD path on that bike. It's interesting that they were at Tool Hire at that time, because they didn't get there from Easthouses on that illegal moped by going along public roads. They obviously drove it from the Easthouses end of the path along the path to Tool Hire at Newbattle. Even if they went straight there without any stops, that would mean they entered the path on that moped at about 4.45-450pm, which is exactly when they would have passed Mitchell walking towards Easthouses if he was on that path.

No I don't think the killer would have relied on that moped, as in it was planned. [Name removed] and [Name removed] were not planning anything going by their erratic behaviour drawing attention to themselves, but they ended up at that V at the exact time of the murder (although even that time is by no means certain). They saw or heard something which is why they lied in Court that they couldn't remember anything about that day or what they were doing at the V.

Walking away after a murder like this would be very high risk with regard to being seen. Disappearing would be very easy on the back of a moped.

[Parky41]

They were chased from the Toolhire place after it closed at 5pm. The drove up the path stalling several times before getting it going and heading home. No one witnessed them on the path and they admitted the bike was against the wall at one point (not the exact V). The bike was unreliable and taken to Melrose scrapyard shortly after where it lay for weeks before being collected by the main metal merchant.

Anyone trying to hide DNA etc would have doused it in petrol, not left it out in a scrapyard for weeks. Just 2 lads mucking about on a moped, nothing more. You seem to be following the SL/SF magic carpet theory with the blood soaked killer being whisked away. Do you really think the killer would rely on a clapped out stalling moped to make a getaway or the simplest explanation that he was already on the woodside of RDP and didn't need to return to the main path at all.

If you are implicating the moped lads, why were they at the Toolhire place in full view? Were they then summoned by your killer asking for a lift home? Why would your killer need a lift on a moped if he could walk?

The theories applied around those boys, the utter nonsense and off the wall scenarios. Around 20mins on those paths. As you point out, a clapped out bike. Zero evidence of them being in that woodland. Even IF they had nipped over that wall they would have seen absolutely nothing, LK's evidence shows us the deed was all but done. Absolutely no view point from behind that V, as we see from the lies that LM was to tell of his time over it. The evidence from others and the timings.

What drugs are people on, seriously? - 'Hey look at you, what a state you are in, did you just kill someone? Yes. Oh dear, hop on the bike and my buddy here will run down the path, up Newbattle road and take that gigantic knife off your hands and pop in in a skip for all to see. He will cut his hair off so as not to look like you, mind your helmet? What helmet? Oh never mind, I'm sure you will easily be taken for my buddy anyway. Be prepared to push mind because this bike is for the knackers yard!  But wait a moment? The murder did not take place there they say, the blood was not soaked up by the ivy, running all the way along that wall for Mia to scent. - That really is enough.

But they believe that LM could not possibly have met that girl, killed her, managed to put alibi in place and be rid of incriminating evidence. Far too boring it would seem. Doesn't quite work with overwrought imaginations. I have lost count of the endless scenarios, the amount of killers, the accomplices, the place of murder changes randomly from one moment to the next. But above all, the two chief enablers of fallacy can't even agree on what their so called star witness said. That will be because most of it is made up anyway!   

[William Wallace]

The path area is used by 'occasional' dog walkers, probably repeat ones who stay close enough to it, such as where DD stayed (Reeds Drive). The line of houses where the back gardens adjoined the field. The rest of that street in general, talking something like 20 buildings, 4 in block? Other areas of Newtongrange not so much, far more places closer to hand to use than that field/paths. Park, waste ground, woodland and many more fields.

The same does not apply to Easthouses at all. Not counting for recent new builds next to the lane of that AB sighting. Two parks and complex, other fields, an expansive grass area (Off Lothian Drive) leading into the golf course/Abbey woods. Most residents would really be going out of their way to use the RDP area to walk their dogs on a daily basis. Not to say some don't but generally that would account for a small % of them.

So, it is as it is - Used by dog walkers who stay next to it (which consists of little) Used as a cut through like we see with LK going home, the boys on the moped the same. DD who used an entry point to gain further access into the golf course/Abbey woods. Others from his street would use Lady path and enter off the lane of the AB sighting if heading into the Abbey woods. [Name removed] with LM, joining two areas together. But to note here, on the Newbattle side there is nothing, not one single house next to that path entrance/exit. People going for long walks further afield, using it as part of the Esk Trail. It is not the busy thoroughfare applied.

Newbattle Road is over a mile long. It is split into three areas, Newtongrange, Newbattle and Eskbank. Newbattle is tiny in comparison to the others. It consists of the Abbey/grounds/small industrial estate. Church, scattered cottages and the estate LM stayed in, which sits in off the road. Not a lot of reasons at all for anyone using the RDP as a short cut to Newbattle. It would be very selectively used, depending on locality of residence, for anyone to be using it as a short cut to Eskbank/Dalkeith or vice versa?

An isolated path in relevance to proximity to anywhere. The nearest houses are beside the top half of the field, across the expanse of it, then nothing at all. So again, the reason for that ban, the isolated nature of the path. A girl who 'only' had reason to know of the path because of the boy she had began to go out with. Her sister was not brought up in the area. Neither attended the school. But scrape people do attempting to apply lies to a girl who was telling the truth. She knew of some path, assumed it was the Lady Path, had not used the RDP before, ever. Had absolutely no reason to lie not any reason to have been using that path.

The chances of walking that whole path at 5pm in summer and seeing nobody are virtually nil. Why did F and D who were at Tool Hire at 455pm not pass LM on their way along the path which they must have entered at Easthouses at about 445pm? Mitchell supposedly arrived at Easthouses at 455pm, so was on that path when F and D were driving towards Newbattle. Don't tell me, Mitchell walked through the woods and re-appeared at the Easthouses end, miraculously missing F and D?
 
Nobody believes JaJ didn't know the path except you. She lived 300 yards from it and didn't just live there for a fortnight. :-) Keep it real.

[William Wallace]

The theories applied around those boys, the utter nonsense and off the wall scenarios. Around 20mins on those paths. As you point out, a clapped out bike. Zero evidence of them being in that woodland. Even IF they had nipped over that wall they would have seen absolutely nothing, LK's evidence shows us the deed was all but done. Absolutely no view point from behind that V, as we see from the lies that LM was to tell of his time over it. The evidence from others and the timings.

What drugs are people on, seriously? - 'Hey look at you, what a state you are in, did you just kill someone? Yes. Oh dear, hop on the bike and my buddy here will run down the path, up Newbattle road and take that gigantic knife off your hands and pop in in a skip for all to see. He will cut his hair off so as not to look like you, mind your helmet? What helmet? Oh never mind, I'm sure you will easily be taken for my buddy anyway. Be prepared to push mind because this bike is for the knackers yard!  But wait a moment? The murder did not take place there they say, the blood was not soaked up by the ivy, running all the way along that wall for Mia to scent. - That really is enough.

But they believe that LM could not possibly have met that girl, killed her, managed to put alibi in place and be rid of incriminating evidence. Far too boring it would seem. Doesn't quite work with overwrought imaginations. I have lost count of the endless scenarios, the amount of killers, the accomplices, the place of murder changes randomly from one moment to the next. But above all, the two chief enablers of fallacy can't even agree on what their so called star witness said. That will be because most of it is made up anyway!

Leonard Kelly's evidence? You mean the "I heard branches rustling" which changed into "strangling noises" at the Trial? Seriously? Have you ever heard trees rustling that sounded like strangling noises?

[Venturi Swirl]

The chances of walking that whole path at 5pm in summer and seeing nobody are virtually nil. Why did F and D who were at Tool Hire at 455pm not pass LM on their way along the path which they must have entered at Easthouses at about 445pm? Mitchell supposedly arrived at Easthouses at 455pm, so was on that path when F and D were driving towards Newbattle. Don't tell me, Mitchell walked through the woods and re-appeared at the Easthouses end, completely missing F and D.
 
Nobody believes JaJ didn't know the path except you. She lived 300 yards from it and didn't just live there for a fortnight. :-)

If they were the murderers and knew LM was a suspect a) why did they come forward to the police and b) when they did why didn’t they lie and say they saw LM on the path to dob him in further?  Did they come armed with bleach knowing they were going to commit a murder beforehand?

[William Wallace]

so is it your view that two people were involved in Jodi’s murder?  Are the two people you mention by initial the same people as the moped rider(s)?  Sorry, I find the use of initials and nicknames confusing and tend to switch off when they are dragged into the discussion.  What’s your opinion on his / their motive for the murder?

The initials F and D were the 2 people on the moped yes. I don't think they did it, but they were parked at the V at the time the murder was alleged to have taken place. Their responses in Court, that they couldn't remember what they were doing were just ludicrous. I think it's possible more than one person carried out the murder yes.

[William Wallace]

If they were the murderers and knew LM was a suspect a) why did they come forward to the police and b) when they did why didn’t they lie and say they saw LM on the path to dob him in further?  Did they come armed with bleach knowing they were going to commit a murder beforehand?

I don't think they did it, but they knew something or saw something. It's interesting that those 2 were on that path between 445 and 500pm going towards Mitchell's end but they didn't see him at the exact time he would have been on it walking towards Easthouses. As we know, nobody saw him doing that walk and these 2 didn't either.

The bleach would have been put down some days after the murder on the ground where the victim was killed to stop dogs scenting blood. The dogs came from England, but it took about 10 days which would allow someone time to bleach certain areas.  As I said already I think, there was very little blood where the victim was found, she had been moved. Blood that's over 8 years old has been known to be found in soil using Luminol, you can't make blood disappear but you can stop dogs finding it by using bleach!

[Venturi Swirl]

The initials F and D were the 2 people on the moped yes. I don't think they did it, but they were parked at the V at the time the murder was alleged to have taken place. Their responses in Court, that they couldn't remember what they were doing were just ludicrous. I think it's possible more than one person carried out the murder yes.

You obviously believe they were involved (otherwise why bring them up) which means if more than one person carried out the murder then a minimum of 4 people were guilty of a murder/cover-up. 

[Venturi Swirl]

I don't think they did it, but they knew something or saw something. It's interesting that those 2 were on that path between 445 and 500pm going towards Mitchell's end but they didn't see him at the exact time he would have been on it walking towards Easthouses. As we know, nobody saw him doing that walk and these 2 didn't either.

The bleach would have been put down some days after the murder on the ground where the victim was killed to stop dogs scenting blood. The dogs came from England, but it took about 10 days which would allow someone time to bleach certain areas.  As I said already I think, there was very little blood where the victim was found, she had been moved. Blood that's over 8 years old has been known to be found in soil using Luminol, you can't make blood disappear but you can stop dogs finding it by using bleach!

if they weren’t involved then a) why would they need to dispose of the moped in a hurry and b) that still leaves other(s) to leave the scene of the crime on foot allegedly covered in blood.  As for the bleach I don’t get why anyone would risk going back to the scene AFTER the body had been discovered to leave more potentially incriminating evidence to disguise blood that would have been there - to what end?  The police knew she was murdered there and that her blood would be in or around the area where she was found so - why use bleach on it? 

[William Wallace]

You obviously believe they were involved (otherwise why bring them up) which means if more than one person carried out the murder then a minimum of 4 people were guilty of a murder/cover-up.

Involved in that they saw or knew something. There is something seriously wrong with this case

[Venturi Swirl]

Involved in that they saw or knew something. There is something seriously wrong with this case

Maybe they watched Mitchell commit the murder and felt guilty for not doing anything to stop him. 

[faithlilly]

Involved in that they saw or knew something. There is something seriously wrong with this case

I always find it interesting that while Parky and his compadres ridicule the idea of [Name removed] and [Name removed] becoming unwittingly embroiled in a murder of their friend’s making they see nothing wrong with believing that Luke, a fourteen year old boy with no previous criminal experience, was able to commit a horrific murder, a murder where even the police said that the perpetrator would be covered in blood, without a spec of unexplained DNA on him. Not only that but managed to change his clothes, if the eyewitnesses were to be believed, at least three times in the space of around 20 minutes without anyone seeing him return to the house where he lived to retrieve clean clothes or get cleaned up. That the three witnesses who were with him when he found the body didn’t no, really, honestly didn't change their story, even though it’s obvious that they did. Astonishing!

And yet after all the subterfuge used to create an alibi he lets it slip that his mother had a fire that night. Shoddy!

[William Wallace]

if they weren’t involved then a) why would they need to dispose of the moped in a hurry and b) that still leaves other(s) to leave the scene of the crime on foot allegedly covered in blood.  As for the bleach I don’t get why anyone would risk going back to the scene AFTER the body had been discovered to leave more potentially incriminating evidence to disguise blood that would have been there - to what end?  The police knew she was murdered there and that her blood would be in or around the area where she was found so - why use bleach on it?

They obviously were involved, at least to the extent they knew something, hence unable to remember anything in Court. Disposing of moped - equally suspicious. One of them had a lot of his hair cut off before he came forward, apparently because he didn't want to be mistaken for the killer. How did he know the killer didn't have short or shaved hair too?

As for the bleach, well that had it's desired effect because the dogs were unable to find where there was any blood. So as there was no blood hardly at the murder scene, it was obviously somewhere else and the body had to have been moved. The result of the bleaching was that no possible other location where the murder may have happened was ever identified. If the actual murder location had been identified, numerous pieces of evidence may have been found that won't be found where there was no struggle because the person was already dead. That could be why the body was moved.

That whole area should have been cordoned off immediately for forensic examination. Instead there was people trampling all over it all night for 8 hours and they even moved the victim's body and left her uncovered in the rain all night. Disgusting behaviour as well as being completely inept to a level that's hard to imagine. Ineptitude that continued by failing to investigate other possible suspects properly.

[Venturi Swirl]

They obviously were involved, at least to the extent they knew something, hence unable to remember anything in Court. Disposing of moped - equally suspicious. One of them had a lot of his hair cut off before he came forward, apparently because he didn't want to be mistaken for the killer. How did he know the killer didn't have short or shaved hair too?

As for the bleach, well that had it's desired effect because the dogs were unable to find where there was any blood. So as there was no blood hardly at the murder scene, it was obviously somewhere else and the body had to have been moved. The result of the bleaching was that no possible other location where the murder may have happened was ever identified. If the actual murder location had been identified, numerous pieces of evidence may have been found that won't be found where there was no struggle because the person was already dead. That could be why the body was moved.

That whole area should have been cordoned off immediately for forensic examination. Instead there was people trampling all over it all night for 8 hours and they even moved the victim's body and left her uncovered in the rain all night. Disgusting behaviour as well as being completely inept to a level that's hard to imagine. Ineptitude that continued by failing to investigate other possible suspects properly.

If they didn’t commit the murder then why the need to dispose of the moped?  Did he say he had his haircut so as to not be mistaken for the killer and if so where was this reported?  Where precisely was this bleach found? How far from the site of the body was this?  Why is it not possible that Mitchell introduced bleach to the scene?  How did the murderer covered in blood leave the scene?  Previously it was suggested on a moped - how would that have been physically possible when that would have meant at least 3 people leaving the scene on a clapped out old banger?