0:00

What's up, you guys? I'm Hailey. And

0:03

I'm Andrea. And this

0:05

is Inhuman, a true crime podcast.

0:26

Welcome back, everybody. Today's

0:28

case that I'm going to share with you guys

0:30

is one that I've been thinking about for about

0:33

a solid week now since I started

0:35

researching it. So if you guys

0:37

are listening to this in real time, we

0:40

took a week off because we have had

0:42

a lot of sickness. And of course, now

0:45

that the week off is done, I'm sick. So

0:47

I apologize if you hear like a sick voice,

0:49

but I promise I'm fine. I'm just

0:52

like a little congested. I

0:54

will try not to cough or sneeze in your ears. But

0:57

I had already done the research or started

0:59

the research for this case before we took

1:01

the week off. And so I

1:03

have been like thinking about it

1:05

for quite a while. And it's one

1:07

that is solved. But there's

1:09

questions about if the right person is in prison.

1:14

So it's it's an interesting one.

1:17

And I'm very curious to hear what your guys thoughts are.

1:20

OK. OK. And

1:23

this case actually came from

1:25

one of our listeners. Our

1:27

listener, Emma, from Scotland

1:30

suggested this case. And

1:33

she said, I'm

1:36

just going to read you her little note that she said,

1:39

because this is what really like intrigued me to want to

1:41

cover it. So Emma

1:43

said, hi there. My name is Emma from

1:45

Edinburgh, Scotland. I love your podcast. Listen

1:48

to it almost every day, which thank you, Emma. Thank

1:50

you. Yeah. I'd

1:53

love to hear the story of Luke Mitchell

1:55

and the murder of Jody Jones. Lots of

1:57

conspiracies around it. He is in prison but

1:59

still withholds his. So

2:02

I just think it's interesting that like somebody from

2:04

Scotland is saying that

2:06

because it's like, you know, obviously,

2:08

like I think people around the world have

2:10

heard this case, but not as much. And

2:12

it seems like people in Scotland are kind

2:14

of divided of if they think he did it

2:16

or think he didn't do it. So I'm going

2:18

to give you guys all the facts and all

2:21

the details. And then at the end, we can,

2:23

Andrea and I will kind of discuss what we

2:26

think after I share

2:28

everything and then Andrea hears everything. And

2:30

then I'd love to hear your guys thoughts on

2:32

either Instagram or Facebook when we post about this

2:34

case, because I don't know, it's

2:36

interesting. That's all I'm gonna say.

2:40

All right. Jodi Jones

2:42

was born in 1989

2:44

in East houses in mid, mid Lothian,

2:46

Scotland to James and Judy Jones. Jodi

2:50

was the youngest of three children. She

2:52

had a brother and a sister and

2:54

she has been described as headstrong, but

2:56

level headed and a smart child who

2:58

loved painting and poetry. She

3:03

was especially close with her older

3:05

sister Janine and her mother affectionately

3:07

called her we mentor, which is

3:10

just so cute.

3:12

I know I love I love Scotland.

3:14

Oh, I know. The

3:17

Jones family was a working class family with both

3:19

of her parents working for the Royal Mail, which

3:22

is the British Postal Service. But

3:25

in 1998, the Jones family experienced

3:28

a tragedy when Jodi's

3:30

father James took his own life.

3:33

Oh, no. Jodi was

3:35

just nine years old at the time.

3:37

And of course, that caused a lot

3:39

of heartbreak and distress for the family.

3:41

And after this, Judy stopped working to

3:44

care for her children.

3:46

That's so sad. That's truly so

3:48

sad. I know. As

3:51

a teen, it's reported that

3:53

Jodi rebelled, although I'm not

3:55

sure how much of it is like

3:58

rebellion versus just being a teenager. finding

4:00

yourself that kind of thing.

4:03

Yeah. But this quote

4:05

unquote rebellion is described as her dying

4:08

her hair colors like pink and green,

4:10

which like, maybe it's

4:13

I still do that belly in it's like,

4:15

yeah, like, you know, maybe if your your

4:17

mom is saying don't do it and you do it

4:20

anyway, that could be rebellion. But like, I feel like

4:22

that's just like, just hair

4:24

like at my mom was like that when I

4:27

was growing up, like you can dye your hair,

4:29

you can't do this can't I was like, just

4:31

hair, it's gonna grow back, it's gonna turn back

4:33

the color it was meant to be but it

4:37

was also reported that she became

4:39

interested in heavy metal bands like

4:41

Metallica, which again, like, is that

4:44

rebellion? Yeah,

4:48

yeah, and that will come into play kind of. But

4:52

it is noted that at just 14 years

4:54

old, she also had experimented with

4:56

alcohol and marijuana. So I

4:58

guess that's a little bit more of like a

5:00

rebellion. Yeah, it's

5:03

kind of just being a teenager. But like, yeah,

5:05

that could be more of described as

5:07

this like rebellion. Yeah, because

5:09

that's more problematic as opposed to like dying

5:11

your hair pink. Exactly.

5:15

One other thing that Jodi started doing was

5:17

that she started dating, and

5:19

she got into a relationship with a boy

5:21

named Luke Mitchell, who was just in the

5:23

grade above her. But at first,

5:25

actually, and during this whole thing,

5:27

they were the same age. So

5:29

they were like both 14. Okay,

5:32

at first, she kept the relationship a

5:34

secret from her family, which like, I

5:36

get I've been there.

5:38

We've all been around her age,

5:41

I totally kept relationships a secret

5:43

and like, or didn't

5:45

tell all the details or things like

5:48

that. Yeah, usually not a good

5:50

a good sign, though. No,

5:52

and she eventually did confide in

5:54

her older sister Janine about the

5:57

relationship and Janine told their

5:59

mother And

6:01

after that, Luke actually

6:03

met the Jones family. They

6:05

had interacted and I don't

6:07

think that they necessarily. Have any

6:09

like. Issues with him

6:12

per se by any. Let's.

6:14

Talk a little bit about who whoop Mitchell is.

6:17

Loot. Mitchell was born on July twenty

6:20

fourth, Nineteen Eighty Eight, in New Battle

6:22

Midlothian, Scotland. His. Heard separated

6:24

when he was eleven years old and he and

6:26

his older sibling were raised. By. Their mother

6:28

current. As

6:30

a kid, Luke was described as

6:32

well mannered and smart, and he

6:35

was interested in hobbies like army

6:37

cadets, horseback riding, And. Motorbikes,

6:40

Pay. When he was a teenager

6:42

he started to adopt a more

6:44

goss lifestyle. Which. Again

6:46

is not an indication of anything. Other

6:49

than like be coming yourself.

6:51

Yeah, individualism or whatever.

6:53

Hear ya enormously. Kids?

6:56

Exactly. But. Luke started

6:58

wearing black clothes and growing out

7:00

his hair, and he also developed

7:03

an interest in Satanism an Marilyn

7:05

Manson. Me:

7:07

I: yeah I mean. Again,

7:11

It's. A nerd. It is because it's

7:13

like as a parent like you don't

7:15

want your kids listen and you're fourteen

7:17

year old listening to Marilyn Manson. I

7:19

much very much. I was listening Mermaids

7:22

and at twelve. For

7:24

like you know and like singing I was

7:26

aware to nino doing all the silly stuff

7:28

that like Also it's just like. A

7:30

Most of the time it's. Harmless? Yeah, and

7:33

it's hard because we like

7:35

know obviously. What? Happened as

7:37

an easy easy to be

7:39

like. That's why that like

7:41

me, that's not necessarily why.

7:44

Yeah, Saturn eleven. Know,

7:46

But teachers did say that this kind of

7:48

started to permeate. His school work, so

7:50

it was definitely kind of something that

7:53

was becoming more than just his personality.

7:55

And. In particular, his English teacher was

7:57

concerned about the violence and satan.

8:00

Them references in his essays.

8:02

And. She was so concerned that she referred

8:04

him to a guidance teacher. Okay,

8:07

yeah, so in one, as a he

8:09

wrote quote, just because I am more

8:12

violent than others and taught myself, does

8:14

that justify some pompous get. Of a

8:16

teacher to refer me to a psychiatrist. Just

8:19

because I had chosen to follow the

8:21

teachings of Satan doesn't mean I need

8:24

psychiatric help. I mean, I beg to

8:26

differ. But. Yeah

8:28

yeah and you know that having

8:30

your to hurling. Said younger

8:32

brother you love. Yeah they

8:35

they they are marrying. Everything

8:37

that they could to. Help.

8:39

Out. Here. But

8:42

he was also known to get into trouble

8:45

at school off in fighting with classmates

8:47

and being physically violence, and at one point

8:49

he reportedly showed someone at school a

8:51

nice and told them that he knew the

8:53

best way to slit someone's throat. My

8:56

goodness, see, that's a less extreme,

8:58

but that's also attention seeking to

9:00

I feel like yes. Third, there's

9:03

definitely more. Than just like. Obsession.

9:06

With silence I feeling. In

9:11

February two thousand and Three luke. And Jody

9:13

who again, we're both fourteen, but we're

9:15

one great apart. Started dating. And.

9:18

Luke was jody his upper serious

9:20

relationship and. She was met. And.

9:24

It's not clear how much Jody his

9:26

mom knew about Luke like about all

9:28

these other things. That he was

9:30

involved day and because they definitely.

9:33

Like. Or her her mom definitely

9:36

didn't like. Say no, you can't

9:38

The ham and like totally. Make her

9:40

go away because she kind of brought login

9:42

and nhat hanh and all that kind of

9:44

stuff. Yeah. Which honestly as.

9:47

By. Mean and my opinion as the

9:49

better route because if you push them

9:51

apart they're they're get where there's a

9:53

will, there's a way. Yeah no I

9:56

agree. Like a letter to like except day and

9:58

will get on with their light. Yeah.

10:00

Burglary. Yeah. But

10:04

A does seem like some of the same type

10:06

of things that Luke was interested in were. Also

10:08

entering into jody life as they started

10:10

dating. So she

10:12

also became goth. Starting were black

10:14

clothes and some reports say that

10:17

she was known to self harm.

10:19

although this hasn't. Been fully

10:21

confirmed. Additionally,

10:23

both. Lucan. Jody were smoking

10:25

marijuana. And. Often

10:27

times doing it on school premises.

10:31

That. Jody seem to be infatuated with Luke

10:33

as she wrote in one diary entry. Quote:

10:36

I think I'm actually in love with Luke.

10:38

Not in a stupid may way. I

10:40

mean real Love. God. I think I would

10:42

die if he finished with me. And

10:46

I just couldn't which I recently

10:48

that so like adorable little fourteen

10:51

year old love ah was often

10:53

There's no yeah, but. She said

10:55

if I'm crying, he hugs me. And strokes

10:57

my face. He is. Just so sweet. No

10:59

matter what he says, I believe him.

11:02

Which. Is like. Obviously that's the

11:04

type of. Romance. You

11:06

Why? You know when you're

11:08

sexually when? yeah like yong

11:10

in yeah, we love yeah.

11:14

Unfortunately though, unbeknownst to her he

11:16

was in another relationship at the

11:19

same time. Oh lord and.

11:21

The other young girl that luke was beating

11:23

who she's been named and like. One

11:25

source that I sound, but I'm not gonna

11:28

share her name because it's not. Necessary

11:30

said the story. Yeah, but she

11:32

also believed that she was in

11:35

a relationship with Luke and. Like

11:37

she was the only wine and

11:39

that she was has railings. Yeah

11:41

and she didn't find out until

11:43

after Jody smarter that Luke had

11:45

been cheating on her. Allow

11:47

the he does. She nods and the

11:49

same school I'm assuming. No, we don't

11:51

know any details of her. Yeah I don't think

11:54

she was at the same school. I think she

11:56

was actually and like a different town not far

11:58

but lane she was in. The Same

12:00

area. I'm back. In June

12:03

two thousand and three, Jody, his mother, learned that

12:05

she had been doing. Drugs so essentially seen

12:07

grounded her and didn't let her go

12:09

out with her friends or luke for

12:11

a couple of weeks. That

12:14

lasted until June thirtieth, when Jody left

12:16

her home to go hang out with

12:18

her boyfriend. and she left around five

12:21

Pm telling her family she. Was going

12:23

to see Luke. Sometimes

12:31

when I don't feel. Like reading or watching

12:34

Tv. I. Just want to sit back and

12:36

play a fun game on my phone. And

12:38

I recently started playing June's Journey and when

12:40

I tell you I'm loving it, that is

12:43

an understatement. I'm already on the fourth chapter

12:45

and have only been playing for. A

12:47

few days June's journey. Is

12:49

a hidden object mystery game and I

12:51

love it because it brings up my

12:53

inner detective. You play as June Parker

12:55

in the Nineteen twenties trying to solve

12:57

her sister's murder. It's so much fun

12:59

to travel the world of the twenties

13:01

looking for clues that are indicating that

13:03

she and family has some. Dark Secrets.

13:06

You also get a cretin decorate

13:08

your own. As the island which I.

13:10

Loved because it made me feel

13:12

really fancy. An important. In

13:14

my last chapter I discovered a big family

13:16

see great and there was an unexpected death

13:19

but I won't. Ruin it for you. You

13:21

can discover your inner detective and play

13:24

yourself by downloading June's Journey for Free

13:26

today on Ios and Android. You can

13:28

find the link to download Dunes Journey

13:30

for Free in. The show notes of this

13:32

episode. But

13:39

later that evening Jody hadn't come home

13:41

and her mom and sister started to

13:43

worry. And. When no one had

13:45

heard from her or seen her by

13:48

around ten pm, they actually organized a.

13:50

Search party to go out and look for her. While.

13:54

Jody had said that she was going

13:56

to hang out with Luke that evening.

13:58

He also. Said that he. The heard from

14:00

her and that she never showed up and he

14:02

joined in on the search party. So

14:06

they were searching through the woods a long

14:09

road dykes Pass which. Is basically this

14:11

long stretch of blood woodland

14:13

of trail that both. Her and

14:15

loop would often take to each other's houses

14:18

the like that with kind of the the

14:20

like short. Cut that they took to walk

14:22

to each other's houses. Can you know? Hey,

14:24

Fourteen? not driving? The. Finest

14:27

or go nuts. But

14:30

loop, it's all. Lead the search

14:32

party and. I had around

14:34

ten thirty pm. He led them straight.

14:36

To the gap in a tall

14:38

ball bordering Round Dykes Path. And

14:41

he climbed to the gap. And found

14:43

Jody Spotty. Jody.

14:47

Had. Been stabbed to death and it

14:49

is believed that she had been. Dead

14:51

for at least a couple of hours. Investigators

14:55

immediately noted the silent said

14:57

the crime scene indicated. They

15:01

said the jody had died from a

15:03

quote dishes and frenzied attack involving a

15:05

knife or similar weapon. And.

15:07

They believe that the killer was likely

15:09

in a quote disturbed and. Extremely.

15:11

Angry State. They

15:15

also noted that Jody

15:17

his injuries closely resembled

15:19

Elizabeth. Short ak the Black Dahlia,

15:22

which by the way, we covered

15:24

her case in episode One Thirty

15:26

eight. Very,

15:29

very brutal. Attack.

15:33

Very brutal injuries and they

15:35

noted how similar Jody Say

15:37

injuries were to Elizabeth Short.

15:40

So. That I'll come back in a little bit.

15:43

Like. To the extreme. Of her

15:45

been. Cut.

15:47

In half. Not fully

15:49

cut in half. By

15:52

see. Was had several caught

15:55

like on her breasts, on

15:57

her stomach and in different

15:59

places After. He was killed. In

16:01

Iraq and. So

16:04

a forensic psychologist on the case noted

16:06

that the attack indicated an eruption of

16:08

anger. Saying quote, it sounds like an

16:10

argument had taken place. Either someone who

16:13

is extremely upset has come across Jody

16:15

or someone was there with her and

16:17

there. Has been a violent dispute. The

16:19

severity of the killing suggests the motive

16:21

may have been more person All, but

16:23

whoever carried this out was angry, upset,

16:25

and disturbed. At the time of the

16:27

attack, the person would have been frenzied

16:29

and very. Worked. Up they would not

16:32

have been in control, would have completely

16:34

lost control. With it's frenzied

16:36

nature, it could easily be a spur

16:38

of the moment reaction and eruption of

16:41

anger. So. Investigators believe that

16:43

the killer was in their teens or

16:45

twenties and that they had local knowledge.

16:47

To two hundred the remoteness of

16:49

the location where Jody with sound.

16:52

Me: They

16:54

also found the initials L Am

16:57

and Jj. Luke Metal

16:59

and Jody Jones car into

17:01

a tree near the crime

17:03

scene. I

17:05

do want to note that it's unclear

17:08

like how fresh this carving was, so

17:10

this could have been something. He.

17:12

Ever done before. Because again, they took

17:14

this path back and forth often. Try

17:17

and probably together some of the time. Yeah.

17:20

Exactly. Like. I'm kind of

17:22

history men like meeting up in the words

17:24

in. In here. A traitor

17:26

name on the street? He: he's a anything.

17:30

Within ten days of doesn't have the discovery

17:32

of Jody his body over. Fourteen hundred

17:34

people had been spoken to as

17:36

either witnesses, persons of interest or

17:38

suspects. And this

17:41

included five hundred and seventy people in

17:43

nearby. Homes during door to door

17:45

inquiries. And eight hundred and thirty nine

17:47

motorists who are in the area. On the third

17:49

year. There

17:52

were several suspects that we will talk. About

17:54

in a little bit are not suspects

17:57

sorry witnesses. So they did

17:59

get some. witness accounts from all of

18:01

these inquiries. Okay. But

18:04

investigators were quick to identify their main

18:06

suspect, Luke Mitchell. He

18:11

was initially questioned as a witness, but

18:13

he quickly became the main suspect in

18:15

the investigation. With suspicions starting

18:17

to fall on Mitchell, school authorities were

18:19

concerned for his safety and tried to

18:21

prevent his return to school, but they

18:23

couldn't stop him from coming back. And

18:26

just two months later, he ended up

18:28

getting suspended after objecting to being separated

18:30

from his classmates. So one

18:32

of the things we talked about earlier led

18:35

to more suspicion falling on Luke, especially in

18:37

the media. So things

18:39

like his taste in music, his fascination

18:41

with Satanism and Marilyn Manson, things like

18:45

that, photos of his

18:47

school books that had phrases like Satan

18:49

master lead us into hell and I

18:52

offer my flesh, blood and soul to

18:54

the dark Lord of hell. So

18:57

like school books with these phrases written on them

18:59

were shown in the press and the

19:02

media was really painting him as

19:04

like a Satanist who had sacrificed

19:06

his girlfriend, talking about

19:08

his goth lifestyle, his violence,

19:10

fascination with weapons, things like

19:12

that. Once Mitchell

19:14

became a suspect, his home was searched

19:16

and in his room, they found more

19:18

evidence that continued to paint this

19:21

narrative of him. This

19:24

included a copy of the Golden Age

19:26

of Grotesque by Marilyn Manson, which

19:28

he had purchased two days after the

19:30

murder. And

19:33

they also found a short

19:35

film Doppler's, which in

19:38

which paintings by Manson depict

19:41

the black Dalia's body after

19:43

she was murdered. It

19:47

was also determined that at the time of the murder in

19:49

2003, Manson had a Golden Age of

19:53

the Grotesque exhibition on his

19:55

website that again featured images

19:57

depicting the mutilation and murder of the

19:59

black Dalia. Dahlia. So

20:02

while Luke Mitchell was quickly named the

20:04

main suspect in the case, the investigation

20:07

spanned 10 months before

20:09

an arrest was actually made. But

20:12

in April 2004, then 15 year old Luke

20:15

Mitchell was arrested on charges of

20:17

murder, possession of a knife or

20:19

knives in public places, and supply

20:22

and cannabis. Mitchell

20:24

maintained that he had nothing to do

20:26

with the murder, claiming that he was

20:28

at home cooking dinner at the time that

20:31

it took place. Okay,

20:33

did he have an alibi, like an eyewitness

20:35

alibi? He did not. Yeah,

20:42

so he was maintaining his innocence.

20:44

So he went to trial at

20:46

the High Court of Justiciary

20:48

in Edinburgh. So we're

20:51

going to go through both the

20:53

prosecution and defense's cases during the

20:55

trial. Okay. First, we'll

20:57

discuss the confirmed version of

20:59

events that led to Jodi's murder. So

21:03

determined by forensic evidence, it is

21:05

believed that the perpetrator, obviously

21:07

believed to be Mitchell, punched

21:09

Jodi in the face several times and

21:11

then attempted to strangle her with his

21:13

hands. She fell

21:15

to her knees and at that point he

21:17

began to use the knife, severing a major

21:20

artery in her neck that led her to

21:22

bleed out. Jodi

21:24

was then slashed 20 times. Her

21:27

clothes were removed for her

21:29

pants to bind up her

21:31

body. Then he stabbed her

21:33

in the abdomen, breasts, and mouth

21:35

and slit her eyeballs. Oh

21:38

my God, that is so brutal. Absolutely

21:41

horrific. So the

21:44

prosecution alleged that Mitchell had met up with Jodi

21:46

on the easing of June 30th, that

21:48

they had gotten into an argument and

21:50

that it had turned violent. He

21:53

then killed her with a knife that he

21:55

was known to carry around and then

21:57

left her body to go home and pretend that he

21:59

was dead. The never met up with her. The.

22:02

Biggest piece of evidence against natural

22:04

was that nice alcohol can ask

22:06

where's the knife so they never

22:08

found a nice but he was

22:10

known to carry around this knife

22:13

regularly and after the murder it

22:15

mysteriously had gone missing. The

22:18

though he couldn't account for where it was. He.

22:21

Claimed he lost it. But

22:23

the prosecution alleged. That. He had dispose

22:25

of it after the murder. Know.

22:28

That. House for this missing knife

22:30

was found at Mitchell's home. And

22:34

on it he had carved. Jj showed

22:36

his initials. And then Nineteen

22:38

Eighty Nine to two thousand and three, her

22:40

birth and death. And. Then

22:43

a quote from the lead singer

22:45

of Nirvana Jody favorite Band that

22:47

said the finest there ever had

22:49

was when tomorrow never came. So

22:53

prosecutors allege that he had carved this

22:55

into the pouch with the night after.

22:57

The murder but before he disposed of

22:59

the weapon. Pay.

23:03

Another key pieces evidence was that a

23:06

camouflaged code that Mitchell is known to

23:08

were. Regularly. Had

23:10

disappeared as well. So.

23:13

Several witnesses testified that they saw him

23:15

wearing that coat off in and he

23:17

was even seen wearing it on the

23:19

evening that the murder happened. But

23:22

the jacket with nowhere in his house and

23:25

again he claimed that he had lost it.

23:28

Salish and Go Brother. Yeah.

23:31

What an odd that you asked

23:33

to important. Pieces. Of

23:35

evidence in emergencies, they few

23:37

went into a frenzied rage

23:39

and murdered somebody wearing that

23:41

jacket. There's going to be

23:44

an insurmountable amount insurmountable now.

23:46

a bloodless. Think

23:49

that's a. Double. Entendre or

23:51

something on but yeah like that with

23:53

the that would make all the sense

23:55

in the world by voters things are

23:57

missing. here and And

24:00

a neighbor of the Mitchells testified

24:03

for the prosecution, saying that on the

24:05

night of the murder, they had seen

24:08

Mitchell's mother Corin burning items in

24:10

her garden. No, girl. So

24:13

the prosecution alleged that this was her

24:16

burning evidence, likely that coat. However,

24:20

Corin claimed that she

24:22

was burning pompous grass that night

24:24

and not any other items and unfortunately

24:26

no forensic evidence

24:30

was able to be recovered from the

24:32

like incinerator where it was all burned.

24:36

Interestingly months after the murder,

24:38

Corin bought a replacement coat

24:40

and knife for Mitchell for

24:42

Christmas. And

24:44

she actually denied the existence of the previous

24:46

coat saying like, no, this is the only

24:48

coat, even though so many witnesses said like,

24:51

no, he was known to wear this jacket

24:53

a lot. Yeah. But

24:55

Mitchell himself was never able to explain

24:58

the disappearance of the coat and the knife.

25:01

Now to go back,

25:03

sorry to backpedal a little bit, when

25:06

you said that the prosecution thought

25:08

that he had carved the initials

25:10

and the quote into the pouch

25:13

after the fact, would the

25:15

knife, would there, I mean, wouldn't

25:17

there, if that's what, if that was the case, wouldn't

25:19

there be like blood evidence? There

25:22

might be unless he cleaned the knife off.

25:25

True. But also I was like, he

25:28

could have done that with another knife. With

25:30

anything. Yeah, literally. So, just

25:33

trying to make it sound like, but

25:35

prosecutors believed. Yeah. Yeah.

25:37

So one witness testified for the prosecution that she

25:39

had seen a man resembling Mitchell near the

25:41

murder scene on the night of the murder. The

25:45

man she saw was wearing a khaki

25:47

green hip length jacket that matched the

25:49

description of that camouflage jacket. He

25:52

was known to have and was seen

25:54

wearing the night of the murder by others. Phone

25:57

records also indicated that Mitchell had called

25:59

to a speaking clock service, like, you know,

26:01

one that tells you like, this is what time

26:03

it is. Which

26:06

that brought me back so much. Like, I

26:08

remember you used to do that from like

26:10

our home phone before everybody has a phone

26:12

to just like look at the time. Yeah.

26:15

But he called to that

26:17

at 454pm, which was right

26:19

before when Jodi left to go

26:22

meet up with him. So this

26:24

challenged his alibi of being at home

26:26

because if he had been home, why

26:29

wouldn't he just look at a clock? Yeah,

26:32

I was thinking like, I remember when we

26:34

used to call that number back in the

26:36

day, it would be to stop

26:38

your phone from ringing at home because your

26:41

friend or your boyfriend or whoever was. Oh,

26:44

getting another call in. So that's where

26:48

my mind went was like trying to

26:51

block a call from being heard

26:53

or something. But yeah, that's interesting.

26:55

That's a good point, too. Yeah. But

26:58

the prosecution was saying this shows he wasn't

27:00

at home because if he was at home,

27:02

he could have just looked at the clock. True. Very

27:05

true. When asked about this,

27:07

Mitchell couldn't give any explanation.

27:09

Another witness testified that

27:11

they saw people matching Mitchell and

27:13

Jones on that path

27:16

around the time that they had agreed to meet

27:18

up. The

27:21

next aspect the prosecution focused on was

27:23

how quickly he Mitchell found Jodi's body

27:26

during the search. Yeah, that was

27:28

my thing. It's like, I mean, it sounds like

27:30

they searched for a couple hours before that, but

27:32

still, it was just so quick.

27:36

And it was straight

27:38

to it. Yeah, he went

27:40

straight to it. So witnesses who were also

27:42

part of the search party described how he

27:44

had taken them straight to the gap in

27:46

the wall as they walked along that path.

27:49

And again, they're walking along this path searching,

27:51

and he goes off

27:54

to the gap in the wall, goes through it,

27:56

and that's where her body is. So it's

27:58

not like it was just on the path. He

28:00

went off the path. Yeah,

28:03

where like it's hidden. So you

28:05

wouldn't necessarily know that anything would

28:08

be there, including the gap, but

28:10

also they take that route so

28:12

frequently, he would know the gap was there.

28:15

But why search there? I don't know. Yeah. And

28:17

he like, if you know, if he

28:19

didn't know her body was there, he could have been

28:21

like, Oh, wait, we sometimes go in here. Let me

28:23

go over here. So that is right ability.

28:26

Yeah, but it

28:28

was interesting. He people

28:32

who were part of the search party said that

28:34

once he went through the gap, he immediately

28:36

looked to the left exactly where Jodi's body

28:38

was. And he seemed to

28:40

be able to easily tell that it was

28:42

a body despite the darkness and the relatively

28:44

thick woodlands surrounding the area.

28:47

So he like alerted everyone like there's her body.

28:49

Yeah, exactly. He was

28:53

also able to tell later tell police

28:55

the type of tree her body was

28:57

found under even though it was dark

28:59

when they found her, which

29:01

again, that could be that he knew that

29:03

area, but the

29:06

prosecution is bringing everything they can to like

29:08

try to prove that he

29:10

knew what he was looking for. Right.

29:13

Now to explain this, Mitchell had

29:15

claimed that his dog who was

29:17

searching with him was trained

29:19

to track and that the dog had

29:22

stopped at the gap, sniffed

29:24

and basically indicated to go

29:27

that there was something there. And so

29:29

that's why he climbed through it. Okay,

29:34

okay. Fair. Because dogs

29:36

are gonna especially like something

29:38

like that, like someone's body who has

29:40

there's large amounts of blood, I assume.

29:42

Yeah, they're gonna they're gonna sniff

29:45

it out. But also, it's he's not like a

29:48

cadaver dog. Like, even if

29:50

they train to find stuff, unless he's

29:52

like an actual cadaver dog, I'm not

29:56

necessarily going to be like alert alert

29:58

like body to the left. You

30:00

know, exactly and members

30:03

of the search party disputed this account

30:06

and said that Mitchell had gone straight

30:08

to the gap without being notified or led

30:11

by the dog. So if the

30:13

dog did alert, it was not an obvious alert

30:15

to like others in the search party, which again,

30:17

you know, maybe Mitchell knew his dog well and

30:19

knew what that meant.

30:22

But people in the search

30:24

party were like, no, the dog

30:26

didn't indicate. Yeah, it's

30:29

just too, too much of a gray area for

30:31

me. I agree. They

30:34

also reported that when Jodi's body

30:36

was found, Mitchell did not appear

30:38

to show any emotion or surprise,

30:41

unlike other search party members who

30:43

became upset and hysterical. Yeah,

30:45

I mean, to see that poor young

30:47

girl in that condition, number one, to

30:49

find out that she is deceased, and

30:51

then the number two to see how

30:53

brutally she has been attacked. Now,

30:58

devil's advocate, we could say he's

31:00

desensitized because of what he's witnessed

31:03

from Marilyn Manson and, you know, whatever

31:05

else he's looked on the internet. But

31:10

that's your girlfriend, bro. Like, have some

31:12

emotion a little bit, even if it's

31:14

shock, like, you know, like,

31:16

oh my God, like, you know, maybe you're not.

31:18

Yeah, like it seems like a bit of a

31:20

fear. Yeah. The

31:25

prosecution also pointed to Mitchell's police interviews

31:27

in which he claimed that he didn't

31:29

contact Jodi when she failed to meet

31:32

up with him, because again, everybody knew

31:34

that they were going to meet up that night and she just

31:37

didn't show up. So police were like, why didn't

31:39

you call her? Why didn't you reach out to

31:41

her trying to figure out where she was?

31:44

And he just said that he believed she had met

31:47

with someone else and had gone off with them. But

31:52

they pointed how odd this was given that,

31:54

quote, these two youngsters had met up every

31:56

night if they could, and she had only

31:58

once before failed to meet up. to keep

32:00

an arrangement. And again,

32:03

this was after her being like basically

32:06

grounded for a couple of weeks. So

32:08

yeah, why would you think that she

32:10

decided to do something else? Yeah,

32:12

she wouldn't have just decided to not meet up. But

32:14

like if she got in trouble or something like that,

32:16

but she would still call and be like, Hey, like

32:19

what happened? Yeah, still call and try to find out

32:21

where she is. Yeah. Yeah. Unless

32:23

you knew that she

32:25

wouldn't be available. Exactly.

32:31

They also pointed out contradictory

32:33

claims that Mitchell made during his

32:35

interviews, including changing his story to

32:37

say that he assumed she had

32:39

been grounded again, like you just

32:41

said. But

32:43

apparently one of her relatives had told

32:45

him by phone that she was on

32:48

her way to meet him. So the

32:51

prosecution presented that and said like, you

32:55

should have known that she was coming to meet you. Yeah,

32:58

you didn't know. I mean, that's what that

33:00

says. I mean, it's their word against his

33:02

but still. Yeah. And

33:05

then Mitchell's brother testified

33:08

for the prosecution. He

33:11

claimed that that night he had been

33:13

and just like, not

33:16

even a trigger warning, just warning that I'm

33:20

just gonna keep going. He

33:23

had been viewing internet pornography at

33:25

their home, which was

33:28

verified by computer records.

33:30

Okay. But he testified

33:32

that he would only have done that if

33:35

he believed the house was empty. And he

33:37

claimed that he did not see Mitchell in

33:39

the house that night. Okay.

33:42

So he's basically saying, I know I

33:44

was home because I was watching porn.

33:46

And I would only do that if

33:48

I was home alone. Alone. Yeah. Which

33:53

thank you. Yeah. But

33:56

the brother actually initially supported

33:58

Mitchell's alibi claiming in an

34:00

early police statement that he had seen

34:02

Mitchell in the kitchen that night. But

34:06

then during the trial, he testified that

34:08

he had lied to police during that

34:10

initial statement and that he had discussed

34:12

with his mother what to tell police

34:14

in the days after the murder. Okay,

34:18

that doesn't look good because now I

34:20

just like don't know what to believe.

34:22

I mean, I think that he

34:25

was telling the truth at the

34:27

trial, just because I'm sure they

34:29

grilled into him the fact that

34:31

this was under oath, perjury is

34:33

a thing, you can go to

34:35

jail if you lie. So

34:38

I, to me, it seems

34:40

like his initial police statement was him

34:42

trying to cover his brother's ass because

34:44

he had talked about it with his mom, he didn't know.

34:47

And then once he actually talked to investigators,

34:49

police and like, they were like, hey,

34:51

you actually can't lie because you're going

34:54

to be under oath. He

34:56

told the truth. Right. That's

34:58

just my opinion. That makes sense. No, that makes more

35:00

sense. It's like, yeah, I thought the

35:02

same thing. Like initially he probably want to try to cover,

35:04

even if he didn't think his brother was guilty. Yeah.

35:07

Yeah. But

35:11

yeah, you have a lot more to lose when

35:13

you're on the stand and you're under oath, you

35:16

know, perjury and all that. Yeah, you can go to jail for

35:18

that. Now

35:21

Corinne, Luke's mom claimed

35:23

under oath that he had been at

35:25

home cooking dinner at the time of

35:28

the murder. So

35:30

of course this goes against the

35:32

brother because the brother said no, he wasn't

35:35

home. Right. So

35:38

the prosecution was trying to discredit

35:40

Corinne because, you know,

35:42

it's her word against the brothers technically,

35:44

because they're both under oath. So

35:47

technically they shouldn't be, either

35:50

of them should be, shouldn't be lying. But

35:53

the way they discredited her was pointing out

35:55

that in October, 2003, she had gone with

35:59

Her son, Luke, To get for him

36:01

to get a tattoo. and at

36:03

the appointment she lied that he

36:05

was eighteen. He. Was only

36:08

fifteen, but apparently at the

36:10

appointment she. Likes. The like,

36:12

oh yeah, yeah yeah, he's eighteen and

36:14

this was confirmed by witnesses from the

36:16

tattoo parlor. Gray.

36:20

Ha Again, it's

36:22

like. If

36:24

if he didn't do what he did or what we think

36:26

he did. I. Wouldn't even be like

36:28

batting and I really to the abbey her life.

36:31

I feel like. Pair. Of parents

36:33

do that. you know, like as a

36:35

tattoo like is hop murder riot it's

36:37

it's it's a harmless quote unquote harmless

36:39

saying they just want to like. Be

36:42

with your bow. Also like watershed the like a to sign

36:44

for your kids again I know I hello like I let.

36:47

Him die. Maybe. In

36:49

Scotland you have to be eighteen to get it

36:51

has you. I don't know their laws but yeah

36:53

I know that like here you can just sign

36:55

for your kids to get stuff like that. Yeah

36:58

after for an age I think it as fifteen

37:00

but he I think the right. but yeah it's.

37:03

It was just weird. but they

37:05

were using this to prove like

37:07

she would lie for her desire.

37:09

Yeah, yeah, so prosecutors said quotes

37:11

this demonstration. This demonstrated an unhealthy

37:13

relationship between Mitchell on his mother

37:15

and that she was pampering him

37:17

and lying for Ham. And. That

37:19

from this the jury could consider her alibi.

37:21

For her own signed to be on

37:24

trustworthy. Yeah and and that

37:26

coupled with the fact that she

37:28

was like mysteriously burning something the

37:30

night of the murder at at

37:32

me as a huge red flag

37:34

and the fact that the brother

37:36

said she. we discussed what to

37:38

tell police and then he ended

37:40

up initially line to police. So.

37:45

Korean was actually charged. With perjury.

37:47

For. Lying to provide Mitchell with an alibi,

37:50

but. This perjury charge was later dropped.

37:54

Prosecutors. Positive that the source of

37:56

the fight between Jody and Mitchell could

37:58

have been her finding out. About

38:00

his other girlfriend. So.

38:05

This other girl again didn't know that

38:07

Mitchell with with Jodie until news of

38:10

the murder came out. He

38:13

allegedly had plans to go away

38:15

with this girl for two weeks,

38:17

starting just a few days after

38:20

the murder. So

38:23

the process prosecution alleged that this a

38:25

fair could have been the source of

38:27

conflict. Between Jody and Mitchell, they

38:29

got into a fight. Mitchell turned

38:31

violent. And

38:34

then everything happened. Man.

38:37

Now, Mitchell had claimed and police

38:39

interviews that he hadn't spoken with

38:41

the other girl in months, but

38:43

his phone records showed that they

38:45

spoke, rate spoke regularly. There were

38:47

seventy nine calls between the two

38:49

in the weeks. Before the murder

38:51

alone. Cheese.

38:54

One witness testified that on the night of

38:56

the murder, Mitchell had made a comment to

38:58

them that Jody couldn't come out that he

39:00

thing even though this was after the relative

39:02

called him to tell him that she was

39:04

on her way. So. Now

39:07

how would he know that prosecution

39:09

argued that this comment he commented

39:11

best because. He knew she was

39:14

already dead. Air He killed her Marine.

39:17

Finally, The prosecution pointed out mitchell

39:19

interest in the Black Dahlia case with

39:21

the evidence like the Marilyn Manson exhibit

39:23

and a film down at his home.

39:27

And. They pointed to how jody

39:29

injuries summer. Centuries men act some

39:31

of lift the short. New.

39:35

The prosecution, state Aid, and

39:37

Mitchell confirm that after Jody

39:39

death, his use of cannabis

39:41

escalated, with Mitchell estimating that

39:43

he was going through six

39:45

hundred joints. Or week. Why?

39:48

it's yeah? So

39:51

after the war I know still

39:53

that in excess the alive he

39:55

just saying that the law or

39:57

like know I think that they.

40:00

like confirmed this. Okay,

40:02

okay. I was like, I

40:04

believe I didn't write this down. But I believe

40:06

one officer was like, that is the most I've

40:08

seen in like my 20 year

40:11

career. Yeah, that's a lot.

40:13

I mean, that's like, caught like, constantly

40:16

being a chain smoker of

40:18

marijuana. Yeah, joints. You know, some

40:20

could argue that that was because of grief or

40:22

whatever. But the prosecution

40:24

was trying to paint him as like,

40:27

not even not a drug addict necessarily. But you

40:29

know, that kind of

40:31

can paint him in a bad light, especially. Yeah.

40:33

And he also Yeah.

40:35

And he also could have been, you know, had he

40:38

done this, he could have been maybe having

40:40

some regrets, maybe having some guilt.

40:42

And that was a way to

40:45

numb that. Oh, yeah. No feeling.

40:47

Yeah, I'm sure. Yeah. So

40:49

that was the prosecution's whole

40:51

case. The

40:54

defense mainly focused on the lack

40:56

of physical evidence connecting Mitchell to

40:58

the murder. So

41:00

there had been Mitchell's DNA

41:02

found on Jodie's bra. And

41:05

then DNA, her DNA found on

41:07

his pants. But since

41:10

they were in a known intimate relationship,

41:12

it was agreed on by both the

41:14

prosecution and defense for the DNA to

41:16

not be discussed at trial. Yeah,

41:19

which is insane, because how do

41:22

you murder someone so violently and have

41:24

no evidence?

41:26

I know. But since

41:28

they were together, they

41:31

could basically explain away any DNA.

41:34

Unless Yeah, his blood was found, which

41:36

I don't think it

41:38

I don't think it was because I don't think he

41:41

was cut at all or anything. Yeah. Any

41:44

of him, his DNA on her

41:47

can be explained. Yeah.

41:50

How did he just like, I'm just

41:52

it's just so crazy. Because like, how does

41:54

he not have any of her like blood

41:56

under his fingernails or like defensive wounds or

41:58

anything, you know. They grow by

42:01

I think for a defensive wounds

42:03

I think he just it was

42:05

almost like a blitz attack. like

42:07

he just attacked her blue Italy

42:09

last Guy or rage. Now.

42:13

By. Know pieces of evidence from

42:15

the murder scene contained any other Dna

42:18

evidence to connect Mitchell. And

42:20

like I mentioned earlier as well,

42:22

there was no forensic evidence found

42:24

from that incinerator where his mom

42:26

was burning something that night. So.

42:29

There. Wasn't any actual real evidence to

42:31

connect him? They didn't find the nice

42:34

they didn't find my coat. No

42:37

way to for actually physically connect him.

42:40

Now. And. Again, Mitchell claim that

42:42

his dog had led him to the gap

42:44

in the wall and that's how he found

42:46

Jody so quickly, which. May.

42:48

Or may not be true but also has

42:51

we've had a mention if they had been

42:53

there before he could have easily been like

42:55

oh sometimes we go behind this wall let

42:57

me go check their that could have been

42:59

a thing Yeah. Yeah cause

43:01

you know teenagers go behind walls

43:03

to do the exactly yeah now

43:05

care sir. Where dismay.

43:08

Authors or whatever he in am a.

43:12

Maybe some other so feel on

43:14

those on any smarter idea assessed

43:16

nothing else only kissing and say

43:18

i. Felt

43:21

like what you. Would they'll find a wall?

43:23

You're a. Teenager

43:25

behind a wall either killings by

43:28

others. As the. Assisted.

43:32

By. The. Defense

43:35

was bringing up the lack of

43:37

physical evidence and they also brought

43:39

up the intense press coverage before

43:41

the trial because the media was

43:43

really like painting Mitchell as this

43:45

killer that was a satanist that

43:48

was interested Marilyn Manson. he was

43:50

got. he listened the heavy metal

43:52

you know, like painting this whole

43:54

but it's like the satanic panic.

43:57

Yeah. that's exactly what i was about to say the

43:59

same panic panic of like the 70s and the 80s and or 60s

44:01

70s and 80s, I guess. Yeah, that was definitely

44:06

happening here. Yeah. And

44:08

that, you know, all those things

44:11

combined don't make you a murderer,

44:13

though. Exactly. And it's frustrating that

44:15

that's what like the media was

44:17

focused on because, you know,

44:21

that he might be a killer, but that's

44:24

not an indication that he's

44:26

a killer. No, no. And

44:28

even just being a Satanist, I mean, that

44:31

people think devil

44:33

worshiping and Satanism are not even really one

44:36

in the same, you know, like, you

44:38

know, that makes up but yeah, and

44:40

people, you know, you

44:42

and I would never want to

44:45

like endorse that. But to

44:47

each their own, you know, like people can

44:49

do what they want. So that doesn't mean

44:52

I love the Lord. So I'm against Satan

44:54

at all costs. But I'm not going to

44:56

be like, Oh, you are Satanist. Well, you

44:58

must be a murderer because that's absurd. Exactly.

45:01

And so the media really just took that and

45:04

ran with it. So at the trial, the defense

45:06

was bringing this up and saying like, he was,

45:08

you know, even though the jury is supposed to

45:10

be impartial and not

45:12

like, no, all of them, they're saying

45:15

like, it still obviously was a thing.

45:17

And yeah, that should mean a time

45:19

and time again. And it

45:21

muddies the cases and it muddies

45:24

evidence and it muddies outcome. And

45:27

it's unfair. I mean, even if

45:29

he is a murderer, he needs

45:31

to be tried and charged based

45:33

on the evidence, even if it's

45:35

circumstantial, not on what he

45:38

wears, what music he listens to, what

45:40

his interests are. Exactly. And I

45:42

mean, we're, that's why now there's like gag

45:44

orders and things like that, that are more

45:47

common. We're seeing that in the Brian Coberger

45:49

case in Idaho, they're keeping so much close

45:51

to the chest because they don't want to

45:54

influence the jury pool because that's such

45:57

a national case. Now we

45:59

would have seen the same thing had Brian Laundrie

46:02

been caught before he

46:04

died, would they have found an

46:06

impartial jury because it was

46:08

all over the country. So whole world of

46:10

the world. But that was part

46:14

of the defensive strategy in Mitchell's

46:17

trial. Okay,

46:32

so the trial lasted for 42

46:34

days and the jury

46:36

deliberated for five hours over a

46:38

two-day span. On

46:40

January 21st, 2005, almost a year

46:42

and a half after Jodi's murder,

46:45

Luke Mitchell was found guilty.

46:50

He was found guilty on the count

46:52

of murder and guilty on the count

46:54

of supplying cannabis. When

46:56

the verdict was read, Mitchell showed no

46:58

emotion, which I,

47:01

as much as

47:03

I, whenever I hear that, as much as I

47:05

want to be like, Oh, that means they're guilty.

47:07

I mean, who freaking

47:10

knows, if you're being sentenced, or

47:12

if you're being found guilty, and you didn't do

47:14

it, you might not show

47:16

emotion either, because you might just be

47:18

in like, such a state of like,

47:20

disbelief, especially after a 42-day trial. Yeah,

47:24

it's just hard for me because he's a

47:26

child. And I feel like on

47:29

average, teenagers are very emotional. That's true.

47:31

So to have no reaction is just,

47:33

it is odd. And I mean, it

47:35

is odd. Just it is like, you

47:38

know, defense could have coached him and

47:40

then like, you know, like prepared him

47:42

for it. Yeah, don't get in that

47:44

or, you know, who knows, but yeah,

47:47

yeah, that's very true too. Because I'm sure they

47:50

do like, you know, don't get

47:53

enraged and, you know, flip a table

47:55

or anything. Yeah, exactly. You still are going to get sent

47:57

in. And

48:00

the judge is gonna look at

48:02

like everything everything he he ha

48:04

yeah. I'm fine. After

48:07

the verdict was read the judge address Mitchell

48:09

same quote it lies the on any skill

48:11

of mind to look into the Black Death.

48:14

Black. Depths of your mind. I

48:16

can only. Look at what you have done. You.

48:18

Have been convicted of a truly evil murder

48:21

one of the most appalling crimes the any

48:23

of us can remember, and you will rightly

48:25

be regarded as wicked. On

48:28

February eleventh, two thousand and five

48:31

Judge Lord Nemo Smith sentence Loop

48:33

Mitchell to life in prison with

48:35

the possibility of parole after twenty.

48:37

Years. At

48:40

his sentencing, he discussed how Mitchell's

48:42

use of cannabis slightly blurred his

48:44

understanding of fantasy and reality, and

48:46

that his relationship with the other

48:48

young girl with likely the catalyst

48:50

to his argument. With Jodie that led

48:52

to her murder. He.

48:55

Also discussed Mitchell's lack of emotion

48:57

during the entire trial. Same clothes,

48:59

It may be that a lack

49:01

of emotional response made you more

49:03

readily able to inflict harm on

49:05

others. So he was

49:07

kind of said referencing like you clearly

49:09

have. Have a very big lack of

49:12

emotional response. To things so that likely

49:14

how you were able. To do something

49:16

so violent to somebody you supposedly

49:18

loved. But

49:21

Lord Nema Smith said the metal quote and I

49:23

just wanna read this whole thing to you because

49:26

it was. I. Just love when

49:28

judges like. Rip.

49:30

I'm a new one. Yeah, didn't

49:32

have health? Yeah, so yeah said

49:34

and let you dead with the

49:36

subject Jody to a horrible death.

49:38

And oh, and one can only

49:40

hope it was mercifully quick. There

49:43

must however have been a time

49:45

before she became unconscious when she

49:47

knew that you her boyfriend, whom

49:49

she held in affection and trust

49:51

and whom she left joyfully to

49:54

me. Had. Turned into a fiend.

49:57

She still had her life ahead of her and you

49:59

snuffed it. out. She was

50:01

loved by her family and you have left

50:03

them bereft. The horror

50:05

of what you have done has changed

50:07

many lives and will last far beyond

50:09

any sentence I can pass on you.

50:13

So awful. She was so young, so impressionable,

50:17

just a girl in

50:19

love with a boy who obviously had a

50:21

lot of control over her and

50:23

changed who she was as a person and

50:27

you know for him to do this extreme thing to

50:29

her and to and to see

50:31

I mean she had to have seen him

50:33

and looked him in the eye at some

50:35

point while he was doing this doing this

50:37

and known what was happening yeah.

50:41

So Luke Mitchell was sentenced to life in prison

50:44

and he went to jail. Doesn't

50:46

end there though because of course

50:49

he appealed. Yeah. After

50:51

he was sentenced, Marilyn Manson actually

50:53

spoke out and he disagreed

50:55

with the claims that his work had

50:58

influenced Mitchell to murder Jodi and

51:00

he blamed Mitchell's lifestyle instead and

51:02

saying it was quote all about

51:04

his upbringing which

51:07

like nobody is blaming I

51:10

mean maybe people are blaming him but like nobody's

51:13

blaming you and saying like you're

51:16

the one who made him murder I mean I'm

51:18

sure there were people. Yeah lots

51:20

of people blame Marilyn Manson for lots of

51:22

things and yes he

51:24

has an influence especially for younger

51:28

you know impressionable non fully

51:32

developed minds but I think

51:35

it's weird to speak out about it because it's

51:38

almost like admitting to having

51:40

some kind of responsibility to

51:43

it in a way. Yeah and he's trying to say

51:45

like no it was all his upbringing and it's like

51:47

no I think it was a mix of everything it

51:50

was yeah it was definitely nature versus nurture in

51:54

my opinion but that's so

51:56

weird just I know right I was

51:58

like what I thought he's done that before though I

52:00

feel like he's done that he's had to do that a

52:02

lot. Well, yeah, he doesn't want

52:05

his work to be like

52:07

influencing murders, which like, duh, but

52:10

yeah, and it's not just his

52:12

fault. Like, you know, there's

52:14

plenty of people who view his work

52:17

who don't commit murders, but yeah, hey,

52:19

yeah, exactly. But

52:24

Luke Mitchell maintains his

52:26

innocence to this day.

52:28

Well, yeah, he's still out of the

52:30

role. His

52:33

first appeal was filed in March 2006 on the

52:35

grounds that the trial judge should have

52:37

moved the trial outside of Edinburgh because

52:40

of the intense amount of press coverage

52:42

the case received. The

52:45

prosecution countered this argument saying that

52:47

Mitchell's defense had contradicted themselves by

52:49

claiming that there had been intense

52:51

press coverage nationally, because remember, this

52:53

was part of their defense talking

52:55

about the press coverage, and

52:58

that this wasn't just confined to Edinburgh,

53:00

but then during the appeal said, Oh,

53:02

well, if you would have moved the

53:04

trial out of Edinburgh, it would have

53:06

stopped this possibility of an unfair trial.

53:10

Well, that's a good point, right? Yeah. So

53:13

in February 2008, his

53:16

appeal was heard by the Court of Criminal Appeals

53:18

in Edinburgh. And in May 2008, his

53:21

original conviction was upheld by three

53:23

judges. Nice. Mitchell

53:26

also tried to appeal on how

53:29

his police interview was conducted, because it

53:31

was done without a supervisor present since

53:33

he was, you know,

53:35

a child technically still. Right.

53:39

The judges did agree that he was that

53:41

the way he was questioned was,

53:43

quote, outrageous and to be deplored.

53:46

But they ruled that none of the key

53:48

pieces of the prosecution's evidence was affected by

53:51

the conduct in this interview. So they

53:53

said, therefore, this doesn't indicate

53:55

that your conviction was unfair.

53:58

Okay. In

54:00

2012, a 300-page collection of evidence

54:02

was delivered to the Scottish Criminal

54:05

Cases Review Commission, or the SCCRC,

54:08

and with this, his lawyers launched a

54:10

new bid to overturn his conviction. This

54:14

included claims that somebody who looked like Mitchell

54:16

was the killer, you know, somebody with the

54:18

same build, same hair color, things like that,

54:21

and that this person then, because this person

54:24

was in the area, that's what confused eyewitnesses

54:26

to say they saw Mitchell. In

54:29

2014, the SCCRC

54:32

did rule that the police

54:35

breached Mitchell's human rights when

54:37

they questioned him, but

54:40

they determined that he was not the

54:42

victim of a miscarriage of justice. The

54:46

SCCRC report stated that, quote, there

54:48

are no grounds to challenge the

54:51

guilty verdict. In 2019,

54:55

somebody who's described as an alternative

54:57

therapist, Dr. Sandra Lean, really

55:00

kind of started focusing

55:03

on Mitchell's case and his

55:06

innocence. She

55:08

launched a GoFundMe to raise funds

55:10

for Mitchell, but GoFundMe actually deleted

55:13

this campaign saying that it breached

55:15

their terms of service. Yeah,

55:18

a little bit. Yeah. Now,

55:21

Jodi's family has continually criticized Lean

55:23

for spreading misinformation on the case.

55:27

They also criticized her for selling

55:29

campaign t-shirts with slogans

55:32

like, Open Your Eyes to

55:35

the Lies and Justice for

55:37

Jodi and Luke. Because Lean

55:39

is trying to say, well, Jodi didn't

55:41

get justice either because her killer is still

55:43

out there. But Jodi's family

55:46

is frustrated with this because they're

55:48

saying, no, we think that they

55:51

got the right killer and you

55:53

need to stop doing this. Yeah.

55:56

And like, well, on what grounds? Like, what do

55:58

we... Yeah. The

56:00

woke haven't talked about some of

56:02

that parents second fight in Twenty

56:04

Twenty One. A documentary that came

56:07

out is what I think sparked

56:09

a lot of questions about. Mitchell

56:11

skill. In. The Public Eye. Okay,

56:15

so this documentary is called

56:17

Murder in a Small Town

56:19

and it included interviews with

56:21

Metal, Mother, Korean, and others,

56:23

but it was mainly focused

56:25

on Luke Luke Mitchell's in

56:27

a sense. However,

56:30

the documentary itself has faced a

56:33

lot of criticism for why it

56:35

left out. So

56:37

in the documentary, they did

56:40

not once mentioned Luke's brothers

56:42

testimony and account that completely

56:44

contradicted everything met Korean claimed.

56:47

They. Also left out the call to the

56:50

speaking clock that Luke made which further

56:52

debunked his alibi are being at home.

56:55

And. I watched it. And

56:58

it does bring up some good points of,

57:00

but it also does. Leave out a

57:02

lot of simple clear back. As

57:05

if you wanna show koreans point of

57:08

view and what she says, that's totally

57:10

fine. but you also have to show

57:12

the point of view of. Middle.

57:14

Brother. Of

57:17

his, You know, On.

57:20

But the right word? Not. Going

57:22

against but his like debunking

57:24

hit booth alibi basically. yeah.

57:27

Yeah. Because he is saying no,

57:29

I'm now He was not home. Yet.

57:32

As I was doing this other thing

57:34

and. Everyone elses like

57:37

okay he was, he was cooking dinner

57:39

and like yeah, do you believe yeah,

57:41

yeah he There's both accounts Like you

57:43

can't say the mothers more trustworthy than

57:46

the brother you know like it and

57:48

again they both testified under oath but.

57:51

It's hard to say. This

57:54

actually reminded me a lot of the

57:56

Jon Benet Ramsey case and I believe

57:58

it was a twin. Sixteen.

58:01

Documentary. That came out with. One.

58:03

Of the news networks. Were. At

58:05

they really push the narrative that her

58:07

brother did it. And. I

58:10

remember watching that documentary as like one

58:12

of the first things that I watched

58:14

on that case and after watching it

58:16

I was like yeah he did it

58:18

and then added and yeah school research

58:20

into the case and learning all of

58:23

the facts. I was like i don't

58:25

think so. And. It just

58:27

got to show how. Things.

58:29

Can be email least in Andalusia? be

58:32

and why information is presented. I mean,

58:34

same with Madeline Mccann. The first Madeline

58:36

Mccann thing I watched was the Netflix

58:38

series and after watching that I was

58:41

like her parents a hundred percent did

58:43

it. But. Then after doing research

58:45

same thing I was like i

58:47

don't think so and now there

58:50

is a very likely. Non.

58:52

Relative that is gonna hopefully one

58:54

day be charged with her murder

58:56

or and it's like you know

58:58

it the media like this can

59:00

bury heavily be influence based on

59:02

just simply wow. So. And

59:05

were just human beings like our brains

59:07

rule. I mean A You know we

59:09

can be easily influence. A doesn't mean

59:11

that word stupider, not intelligent or anything

59:13

like that. just means that we don't

59:15

know in our brain is trying to

59:18

make sense. Other and so here we

59:20

are presented with this very viable you

59:22

know, Explanation: Eclipse of

59:24

A Then and yeah, yeah, and you're

59:26

like, okay, yeah, it's like I remember

59:28

when. Ah, The. Job

59:30

and a Ramsay thing came out any. My sister's

59:33

watched it together and I'm pretty sure they were

59:35

both like it was. The brother is nice surprise

59:37

are you know how to fight? I've always stood.

59:40

We. Know where I sat, yell at sign a mega

59:42

to get into it but. I'm

59:44

like, no, Yeah, they get

59:46

as big as I'd already I was so

59:49

small and buy it. Now. So

59:51

solid. And yeah, right, because I've been hearing about this

59:53

case my whole life. pretty much fray and then yeah.

59:55

but I didn't like. I don't know. Man.

59:57

I'm guess I'll I was her parents and I was her

59:59

parents. Ever and know he did are

1:00:01

episode on it and like when I

1:00:03

resurgence or episode on it starts when

1:00:05

I changed my mind but had I

1:00:07

only watch that documentary that's what I

1:00:09

would have believed. So I think the

1:00:11

same thing kind of happened here and that's

1:00:14

why I said I think this is

1:00:16

one a lot of the questions about

1:00:18

his skill in the public. I came

1:00:20

out because it just seems like. A

1:00:23

lot of people watched this because you know, and

1:00:25

twenty twenty one people are more into true crime,

1:00:27

more into watching our lives of things. And so

1:00:29

that he now and people watched it more like

1:00:31

only or he's innocent. Without.

1:00:34

Knowing funny to watch as. I

1:00:37

need to watch every has. Why?

1:00:39

Stand. right now. I can't imagine.

1:00:42

Yeah. Changing my mind? Yeah, you should

1:00:44

watch. and and and and laden I: what

1:00:46

is it on? It. So it was

1:00:48

on Channel five. You can find it on you. Tube

1:00:50

because it's a Yoga International Scottish the if

1:00:52

you're not in our lives of her on

1:00:54

you can find it on you Tube. Over

1:00:57

or the I would. I would recommend you

1:01:00

guys watch it because. It is

1:01:02

interesting that also keep in mind like

1:01:04

all the fact that we went through

1:01:06

here and know like what wasn't included

1:01:09

was submitted yeah because I mean everyone

1:01:11

deserves. To. To share their side

1:01:13

of the story, You now and his mother obviously

1:01:15

see the victim and all of this. To.

1:01:17

Some degree of see you know, help

1:01:20

them. whatever. Yeah, if not, then you

1:01:22

know she's very much a victim. And

1:01:24

all of this and fifth and the

1:01:27

I would love to see her perspective.

1:01:29

Yeah, and it's interesting and the documentary

1:01:31

does suggest other suspects. Wine in particular

1:01:34

was a former drug addict who is

1:01:36

now no longer alive, but he was

1:01:38

allegedly in the vicinity were Jody was

1:01:41

murdered. However,

1:01:43

and he was also allegedly scene

1:01:45

after the murder with scratches on

1:01:47

his face. By.

1:01:49

What The documentary doesn't talk about the

1:01:51

fact that police did look into him

1:01:53

during the initial investigation and they cleared

1:01:55

him as a suspect. Not.

1:01:57

Saying police I get a right by.

1:02:00

The. Documentary doesn't mention that. He

1:02:03

was looked into. The

1:02:05

Ah ha. Ha!

1:02:07

But murdered a small town.

1:02:09

Also implied that members of

1:02:11

Jody family were involved. In a

1:02:14

cover up? This

1:02:16

is the part that really bothers me

1:02:18

because this led to one of the

1:02:20

family members actually being attacked on social

1:02:22

media suggesting that they were involved. And

1:02:26

they received a lot of severe

1:02:28

criticism from this because you know

1:02:30

people are watching this seeing. Them.

1:02:32

Say luke that I a jody

1:02:35

families involved an attacking her family.

1:02:38

Yeah. And on what grounds? Again

1:02:40

it's like I need some solid

1:02:43

evidence like the hands of make

1:02:45

these accusations without any backing his

1:02:47

you just grasping Yeah. So

1:02:50

after the documentary him out police

1:02:52

came out and confirmed that they

1:02:54

had verified the alibis and whereabouts

1:02:56

of all of Jody family members

1:02:58

just as part of. A

1:03:00

normal investigate the and seven and they

1:03:03

said none of them were ever stuff

1:03:05

back. But. Still,

1:03:07

jody family members have been

1:03:10

subjected to misinformation and false

1:03:12

accusations on social media as

1:03:14

well as quote soul destroying

1:03:16

regular abuse. From amateur sleuths

1:03:18

and supporters of Mitchell. Know.

1:03:23

About. Like I said, it seems like this

1:03:25

documentary is what really fueled a lot of

1:03:27

questions about Mitchell Skill. It does

1:03:30

seem like they left out a lot of facts,

1:03:32

because if you're to watch it, yes, it does

1:03:34

kind of seem like he's innocent. By.

1:03:36

His some of the fact that were proven

1:03:39

at trial were left out. How can you

1:03:41

make a definitive conclusion? That.

1:03:43

So annoying that's like okay, I'll just.

1:03:46

get on there and make a documentary about

1:03:48

some other case and just spit out a

1:03:50

bunch of information that's not even real like

1:03:52

exactly at that is i mean i know

1:03:55

freedom of speech leg and you know another

1:03:57

just say whatever we want to say but

1:04:00

You're gonna you look foolish if you

1:04:02

have no proof to back up your

1:04:04

claim. Yeah, and at least say all

1:04:07

the facts Yeah,

1:04:09

even the ones that maybe don't look you're like

1:04:11

make your case look so good. Mm-hmm Yeah,

1:04:15

cuz you look really guilty when you're like I'm

1:04:18

gonna leave that out. Yeah, exactly But

1:04:21

after the release of the documentary

1:04:23

a petition protesting Mitchell Mitchell's innocence

1:04:26

actually garnered 16,000 signatures But

1:04:29

it doesn't seem like anything from this has come

1:04:33

in March 2023 so

1:04:35

just over a year ago Mitchell's lawyers

1:04:37

accused police of quote failing to carry

1:04:40

out forensic tests on samples found on

1:04:42

Jodi at the time of the murder Now

1:04:45

Jodi's family has declined to comment on

1:04:47

these claims But police have said that

1:04:49

a full forensic analysis of all the

1:04:51

available evidence was carried out at the

1:04:53

time So Detective

1:04:56

Paul Livingstone said quote following the

1:04:58

discovery of 14 year old Jodi

1:05:00

Jones body on June 30th 2003

1:05:03

a thorough investigation was conducted by

1:05:06

Lothian and Borders police Extensive

1:05:09

forensic analysis was carried out along

1:05:11

with door-to-door Inquiry and other investigative

1:05:13

techniques and a full report of

1:05:15

the circumstances was submitted as a

1:05:18

result Luke Mitchell was

1:05:21

charged with Jodi's more murder before

1:05:23

being convicted and sentenced in 2005. So

1:05:25

they're saying We

1:05:29

looked at all the friends at everything do

1:05:31

do do diligence. Yeah, I mean, why

1:05:34

would they not like? Yeah,

1:05:37

exactly. I mean like I said,

1:05:39

sometimes police don't always do the

1:05:41

best investigation investigating and things

1:05:43

do get overlooked but I Mean

1:05:46

if they had evidence Like

1:05:49

somebody's DNA on her body, like why would they

1:05:51

not be like, oh we have this. Yeah, exactly

1:05:54

So as Luke Mitchell continues to maintain his

1:05:56

innocence. He has a lot of supporters One

1:06:00

relative of Jodi criticized these supporters

1:06:02

saying quote, these supporters are dangerously

1:06:05

deluded. The family has always been

1:06:07

of the view that the police have the correct

1:06:09

person for Jodi's murder. His team

1:06:11

are just muddy in the waters and confusing

1:06:13

people with no knowledge of the legal system

1:06:15

and how it works. So

1:06:31

Luke Mitchell was moved to Criswell House in

1:06:33

Granite Prison in 2021 in preparation for progression

1:06:38

to an open prison, which is

1:06:40

basically where prisoners are like not

1:06:42

locked in cells, but just locked

1:06:44

in like the larger prison area as a whole.

1:06:49

But he failed some

1:06:52

of the tests for this, so it seems like

1:06:54

he was not moved further. And

1:06:56

then in June 2023, it was revealed

1:06:58

that Mitchell had failed two random drug tests.

1:07:03

In April of this year, 2024, it

1:07:06

was reported that 34 year old Luke

1:07:09

Mitchell was preparing to apply for parole with

1:07:11

a source close to him saying quote, he

1:07:14

was being prepared for release until he failed

1:07:16

a couple of drug tests and was being

1:07:18

treated badly by the prison service. So

1:07:20

now we think he stands, but now

1:07:22

we think he seems a good chance for parole. So

1:07:25

some of his supporters are trying to say that

1:07:27

like he was taking medication for something and that's

1:07:29

why he failed a drug test. And then they

1:07:31

were like, no, he's going to get more time

1:07:33

because he like

1:07:36

failure. Yeah, no, if

1:07:38

you were if you were prescribed drugs, I'm

1:07:40

assuming it's illicit drugs, like yes.

1:07:43

I wanna heroin, whatever is

1:07:46

being snuck into the into the prison. But

1:07:49

which is like, if you're so close to

1:07:51

getting paroled, why are you doing that? You

1:07:53

know, like, exactly. No, it's

1:07:55

not not looking great,

1:07:58

but yeah. When

1:08:00

news came out that April 2024 would

1:08:02

be the earliest he'd be able to

1:08:04

apply for parole, one of

1:08:06

Jodi's relatives said, quote, he is nowhere

1:08:08

near ready. He has never admitted his

1:08:11

guilt or shown any remorse for Jodi's death.

1:08:14

Instead, the last few years have been

1:08:16

tarred by accusations that have hurt the

1:08:18

family and brought further heartache to us.

1:08:21

The campaign to have him released has

1:08:23

seen Jodi and her family's name dragged through

1:08:25

the mud. If this man

1:08:28

was released back into society, he would be

1:08:30

a danger. He has shown

1:08:32

nothing but arrogance recently. We

1:08:34

will be making a strong representation to

1:08:36

the parole board should he apply that

1:08:38

Luke Mitchell should not be released from

1:08:40

prison until he admits his

1:08:42

guilt and shows he is sorry

1:08:44

for the hurt and grief he

1:08:46

caused and remorse for murdering Jodi.

1:08:50

Oh, first of all, he's

1:08:52

never going to admit his guilt. No, never.

1:08:55

Because number one, it

1:08:58

makes him look like a fool. Yeah,

1:09:00

for 20 years. Yeah. Even if he gets out, he might brag about it.

1:09:06

There might be a rumor he might slip up

1:09:08

and tell one person he's never going to publicly

1:09:10

admit to his guilt. Number

1:09:12

two, anyone

1:09:15

who has shamed her family

1:09:18

and tried to drag them through the mud,

1:09:20

shame on you because even if they did,

1:09:23

they – I say they because it wasn't

1:09:25

they. It was the prosecution. Even if they

1:09:27

did send an innocent, quote unquote, man –

1:09:31

quote unquote, innocent man to prison,

1:09:34

they just want justice for their child, their loved

1:09:36

one. So

1:09:39

shame on fucking you for doing that. If that

1:09:41

was your family member, you would go to hell

1:09:43

and high water and back to do the same

1:09:45

damn thing. So that is unreasonable,

1:09:49

unfair and unreasonable. Agreed. And they said too,

1:09:52

kind of going off of what you just

1:09:54

said, quote, the campaigners have all but blamed

1:09:56

dozens of people for her murder except the

1:09:58

man who was in prison. found guilty in

1:10:00

court. If he is let out, it will be the

1:10:03

biggest slap in the face to the Jones family after

1:10:05

all they've been through.

1:10:07

Yeah. Why don't you guys

1:10:09

go out there and investigate? Why don't you

1:10:11

find the real person that did this? Yeah,

1:10:13

exactly. Because blaming the family, that's not the

1:10:16

route. Okay. That ain't it. No. But

1:10:19

it has been reported that so

1:10:21

some sources say he applied for

1:10:24

parole and that his bid

1:10:26

was going to be rejected due to

1:10:29

him still being a risk, including

1:10:31

reportedly one psychiatric report claiming he

1:10:33

was still a quote, sexual risk

1:10:35

to women. But

1:10:39

there are other sources that basically

1:10:41

say the parole board for Scotland

1:10:43

does not comment on individual cases.

1:10:45

So it's not clear if he

1:10:47

has actually applied if it's been

1:10:49

rejected, what's going on. And since

1:10:51

this is literally like a

1:10:53

couple of weeks ago that he was able

1:10:55

to apply, it's also new. And

1:10:58

there's just not any information,

1:11:00

but there's no clear like he applied and

1:11:02

was rejected or he applied and he's waiting.

1:11:04

It's kind of unclear right now. Okay.

1:11:10

Jodi was just 14 years old

1:11:12

when her life was

1:11:14

so senselessly taken. Her

1:11:16

family and friends describe her as a

1:11:18

ray of sunshine. She

1:11:21

was a thoughtful person with her aunt saying,

1:11:23

quote, her thoughtfulness is reflected in her homemade

1:11:25

presence and the time and effort she put

1:11:27

into them. So Jodi

1:11:31

was also a very private person

1:11:33

as was reflected in her poetry and

1:11:35

her family kind of just wishes for

1:11:37

that to be respected. Yeah. Rest

1:11:42

in peace Jodi. With

1:11:45

that, that's all I have for you

1:11:47

guys. I think Andrea

1:11:49

and I have made kind of clear what

1:11:52

we think. To me,

1:11:54

it just doesn't seem like there are any

1:11:56

other viable suspects out there. This

1:11:58

could be because nobody. else was

1:12:01

investigated because they believed

1:12:03

that Luke Mitchell did it, but it just doesn't

1:12:05

seem like there's any evidence to point to

1:12:07

there being anyone else involved. Yeah,

1:12:10

but they did invest. I mean,

1:12:12

they didn't have any viable suspects,

1:12:14

but they did investigate other people

1:12:17

and investigated this. The

1:12:20

drug addict. Yeah. The

1:12:22

drug addict, her family. I

1:12:24

just can't

1:12:26

imagine anyone else it could

1:12:28

be. If you have some

1:12:34

real evidence, please present it to us

1:12:36

because I can

1:12:38

remain objective. I can listen to other

1:12:40

things and form opinions that way, but

1:12:43

based on everything that Hailey has laid

1:12:45

out for us today, I can't imagine

1:12:47

it being anyone but him. Based on

1:12:50

what I'm hearing, he doesn't sound like

1:12:52

he needs to or is ready to

1:12:54

or deserves to be paroled. Yeah, no,

1:12:56

I agree with you completely. From all

1:12:58

my research, I tried to present

1:13:01

all of the points of view, everything that has

1:13:04

been said about it. I don't

1:13:08

think that there's any evidence that

1:13:10

somebody else did it and the

1:13:12

evidence against him seems very damning.

1:13:15

Yeah, the missing

1:13:18

jacket, the missing... Nice. The

1:13:21

burning of the whatever it was.

1:13:23

I mean, it's just a weird

1:13:26

time to burn something. Yeah. And

1:13:28

the fact that the mom

1:13:31

did that and then her corroboration

1:13:34

of his alibi contradicts the brother. I don't

1:13:38

know. I feel like he has a

1:13:42

mother, I feel like is more likely to lie for

1:13:45

fun than a brother. I'm

1:13:49

not going to lie for my kid

1:13:51

if he murders someone, but if it's

1:13:53

something else, I might. Yeah. You

1:13:56

want to protect your child. It's

1:13:58

your womanly, motherly, and... instinct to

1:14:00

protect your child at all costs. And

1:14:02

unfortunately, sometimes that gets built over into

1:14:04

something extreme like this. Yeah. Whereas a

1:14:06

brother, if he's told, like, if you

1:14:08

lie under oath, you're going to go

1:14:11

to jail, I feel like he's

1:14:13

less likely to do that. Yeah,

1:14:15

but I would love

1:14:17

to hear what you guys think about

1:14:20

Mitchell's guilt or innocence. I'm very curious

1:14:22

if anyone has like other opinions or

1:14:24

other thoughts. And thank you

1:14:26

again to Emma for suggesting this case because

1:14:28

it was a very interesting one. I'm glad

1:14:31

I got to tell Jodi's story and yeah,

1:14:35

I hope you guys can join me

1:14:37

in remembering Jodi for the seemingly bright,

1:14:39

amazing human that she was. Whose

1:14:42

life was ripped away way, way, way too

1:14:44

early. Oh, she was so young and had

1:14:47

so much life ahead of her. But

1:14:51

that is all I have for you guys

1:14:53

today. Thank you so, so much for listening.

1:14:55

And until next time, keep

1:14:57

it human. Bye,

1:14:59

guys.