If he got changed between 18.30-19.20 why was he not wearing the fabled parka jacket but the bomber jacket he admitted wearing when seen by those witnesses earlier?
I think he either had the bomber Jacket on underneath the parka, hid the parka in the woodland between 1740-1800 (i.e. between the f&w sighting & the pushbike boys trio sighting or the mo&dh sighting). I think, before he left to meet Jodi, he looked at the overcast weather and put the parka on top of the bomber just in case it rained (this could also explain why the parka looked, according to AB, bulging at the pocket). If this was the case, he may have started panicking whilst on the N’battle rd, as the parka was probably slightly blood-stained (not heavily blood-stained, not enough blood for passers-by to notice), but he couldn’t take any chances because there were still traces of blood on it. He knew at that point he had to get rid of it (and he knew also that someone might have seen him over on Easthouses with it on — two wrongs don’t make a right; very incriminating for him and he knew it). Ideally, Luke would have been hoping no one had seen him at that time on the N’battle rd, but they did, so he had to act cool and unflustered (casually hanging onto the gate, but he was looking angry and peeved underneath his hair, not making eye contact with people in the passing cars, instead staring at the ground). So, what he did next was one of two possibilities: he either started panicking and hid the jacket somewhere in the woodland at the Eskbank river, cleaned up slightly there at the river (and, no, it’s not ridiculous to suggest this, as Luke was the outdoor David Crockett type and had already been exposed to camping, hunting, the cadets, survival, etc, at an early age). Or else he went home very quickly, just after 1740 (just after the F & W sighting), gave Corrine the parka to destroy, and then was back on the N’battle rd for 1800 (for the pushbike trio’s two sightings, the couple sighting (mo & DH) and the Scottish executive employee sighting). Luke also knew that people seeing him in the bomber jacket on the N’battle rd would work in his favour, especially as it was not bloodstained and he had worn it to school that day, and, more importantly, it would throw a spanner in the works in terms of eyewitness evidence (I believe Luke was already thinking about this and wanted to be seen at this point with it on — this was the start of the alibi being set in motion).
Regardless of what happened to the parka (and he did own a parka before the 30.06.03 ... a teacher, friends and school friends all testified to this in court), I think he definitely went home between 1830-1930, before he met up with his mates in the abbey. I think he told his mum all of what happened, took a shower and changed all his clothes and footwear (though, I am surprised no neighbours saw him going home at this time, even if he did go home via the Eskbank river route ... perhaps he got lucky, and of course the Mitchell house was well covered at the front with plants, bushes, trees and climbing ivy). Remember, Luke said he was on the N’battle rd for about 2 hours waiting on Jodi, and yet there was not one single solitary sighting of him on this road between 1830-1930. Very peculiar, especially as this was during the height of summer and at a time when the road would have been particularly busy with traffic, walkers and joggers. Also significant was the words of one of his mates who said that Luke was more kempt than normal that evening (anyone have the article containing this mate’s account? I read it a few months back, but haven’t been able to find it again).
So, basically, Luke hid twice on the N’battle rd. Firstly just after 1740 until 1800. And secondly between 1830-1930. He got rid of that parka after the f&w sighting (he knew, though trying to act cool on the gate, he was panicking and looking at the ground, looking pissed off and angry and therefore also looking suspicious; he knew this, was aware of looking suspicious, so had to dispose of this slightly blood-stained jacket, not only because it contained incriminating dna evidence, but also to nullify eyewitness evidence; changing jackets or appearing with another jacket on soon after the f&w sighting would be an effective way to achieve this. Notice how, despite it being the height of summer and a particularly busy road at a time when the volume of traffic would’ve been heavy, there was not one sighting of Luke. It’s very strange, imo.
