Young love is often the subject matter for all kinds of stories. But sometimes, those stories end up being horrors and nightmares.
Jodi Jones was a 14-year-old kid who’d recently fallen in love. She met her boyfriend, Luke Mitchell, at school. He was also 14. Both attended St. David’s High School in Dalkeith, Scotland.
By all appearances, Mitchell was a good student, and had a bright future. Even when a teacher became concerned as his school work toke on more violent, gruesome tones, Mitchell was always held in high regard. And he certainly caught someone’s attention.
Jodi was smitten, and much of her time was taken up by Mitchell. Her mother wasn’t quite as impressed with the boy, and set strict boundaries around their relationship. She didn’t want her daughter getting hurt, or getting too serious too fast.
On June 30th, 2003, Jodi informed her mother around 5PM that she was going out to meet up with him. Her mother sent her on her way, and reminded her of her 10PM curfew. Jodi ensured her mother she’d be back by then.
When Jodi missed curfew, her family set out on a search. They reached out to Mitchell, asking about when he’d last seen Jodi and wondering if he knew where she was. He told them he hadn’t seen her that day, despite Jodi leaving to meet him. He feigned innocence and decided to help the family search.
Mitchell took it upon himself to search Roan’s Dyke Path – a garden path that linked the areas of Easthouses and Newbattle. It was a path both Jodi and Mitchell used frequently in order to meet up with each other and get to each other’s homes.
Around 10:30PM, just as the search had gotten started, Mitchell found Jodi’s body. She was found nude, with her hands tied together, and multiple slash and stab wounds on her body. Her throat had been slit so thoroughly that her head had almost been severed from her body.
Mitchell was immediately questioned. At first, he was only being investigated as a witness. Quite quickly, he became the prime suspect for Jodi’s murder. Something about him just didn’t sit right with investigators. Despite his young age, they interviewed him aggressively – something for which they were later reprimanded.
There were few clues, few leads, and no forensic evidence. No other suspects were brought forward. Luke Mitchell was the only person who had the means and the opportunity. Quite frankly, he just fit the bill.
Ten months into the investigation, Luke Mitchell was arrested and charged for the murder of Jodi Jones. He was also charged for the supply of controlled drugs, and being in the possession of knives.
At trial, Mitchell pleaded not guilty and offered up a defence of alibi. He claimed that he was at home cooking dinner at the time of Jodi’s murder.
The prosecution laid out their case. What they lacked in forensics, they more than made up for in circumstantial evidence. They posited that Mitchell found Jodi as quickly as he did, in the underbrush, due to ‘guilty knowledge’ – he knew where to find her because he’d put her there.
They also brought in a witness to testify to seeing someone matching Mitchell’s description near where Jodi’s body was found hours prior to her being found.
Most damningly, the prosecution asked Mitchell’s brother about his alibi. His brother testified that he’d been on the family computer. He said that he wouldn’t have been searching the sites he was had there been anyone at home. Seeing as he was home alone, he started cruising porn sites. Mitchell’s alibi didn’t hold up.
The prosecution also took note of how similar Jodi’s murder was to the murder ot Elizabeth Short – the Black Dahlia. They presented evidence that Mitchell had developed an obsession with the case, and had drawn on it for inspiration when murdering Jodi.
The defense argued that circumstantial evidence wasn’t enough to convict. There were no forensics to be found. They did not, however, have an explanation for why a witness testified to seeing Mitchell burn his clothes in an incinerator in his back yard.
Luke Mitchell maintained his innocence throughout his trial, and stuck by his alibi.
The trial lasted 42 days. At the time, it was the longest, and most expensive in Scottish history.
On January 21st, 2005, almost two years after Jodi’s murder, the jury had a verdict. Luke Mitchell, who was now sixteen, was found guilty of the murder of Jodi Jones. He was also found guilty of supplying cannabis.
On February 11th, 2005, Mitchell was sentenced to a minimum of 20 years in prison before being considered for parole.
In 2006, Mitchell appealed his conviction and the length of his sentence. In 2008, his conviction was upheld. Mitchell still maintained his innocence and his alibi.
In 2011, Mitchell once again attempted to appeal his conviction and his sentence. Both were rejected.
To this day, he continues to appeal his conviction and sentence, despite so many setbacks.
Young love is often fodder for romcoms and YA literature. But sometimes, it becomes a true horror story.
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Sources:
Who is Luke Mitchell? – Jennifer Russell – The Daily Record
The Murder of Jodi Jones – Sword and Scale
Murder of Jodi Jones Wikipedia page