Monday, January 24, 2005

How will his family live with the shame?

Apologies in advance for bad taste.

From Saturday's Guardian:

The "wicked" boyfriend of Jodi Jones was found guilty yesterday of tying up and murdering her in a horrific attack when he was just 14 years old.

In June 2003, Luke Mitchell, now 16, slit 14-year-old Jodi's throat and repeatedly stabbed her. As the foreman of the jury at the high court in Edinburgh read out the verdict, Jodi's family sobbed. Mitchell, the boy Jodi believed she loved, showed no emotion.

Mitchell, who had an obsession with the occult, had tried to cover his crime by burning his clothes and fabricating an alibi, backed by his mother. But, by majority verdict, the jury found him guilty, bringing to a close one of the biggest and most complex criminal investigations mounted in Scotland in many years.

At the time of Jodi's murder, Mitchell claimed he was at home making dinner for his family. His mother, Corinne, gave him an alibi to that effect. The evidence of Mitchell's brother, Shane, however, blew apart that alibi. Computer records showed that between 4.53pm and 5.16pm Shane Watson had been looking at porn on the internet. Giving evidence, he admitted he had been masturbating. He said he would not have done so if anyone else had been in the house at the time.

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