Teen guilty of schoolgirl’s ‘truly evil’ murder

THE teenage killer of schoolgirl Jodi Jones was last night facing years behind bars after being found guilty of a “truly evil” murder.

Luke Mitchell, 16, showed no emotion at the High Court in Edinburgh as he was convicted of killing his girlfriend.

Jodi, 14, was stripped, tied up and savagely stabbed to death in woods near her home in Dalkeith, Midlothian, on June 30, 2003.

Her death bore similarities to the gruesome "Black Dahlia" murder of 1940s Hollywood actress Elizabeth Short.

Goth rock star Marilyn Manson has painted graphic images depicting the US murder and Mitchell was a fan of his music.

A jury of eight women and seven men returned a majority verdict of guilty on the murder charge and also convicted him of supplying cannabis.

Judge Lord Nimmo Smith told Mitchell, who is to be sentenced next month, that he faced detention without limit of time.

He told the killer: "It lies beyond any skill of mine to look into the black depths of your mind.

"You have been convicted of a truly evil murder one of the most appalling crimes that any of us can remember and you will rightly be regarded as wicked."

Judith Jones, 39, who wept as her daughter's killer was convicted, last night paid tribute to her "little mentor" who had been left devastated by her father Jimmy's suicide in 1998.

Jodi would not have liked the "notoriety" her death had brought, Mrs Jones said.

"She fought hard and long to overcome the loss of her dad. Even through this, she always had thought and time for others," she said.

"She often spoke many words of wisdom to me, thus my little mentor Jodi will live always in all of us. She remains my strength."

Jodi went missing after leaving her Easthouses home at around 4.50pm to meet Mitchell, who lived along the Roan's Dyke path in nearby Newbattle.

Mitchell claimed Jodi never appeared but a passer-by spotted a male, similar to Luke in description, gesturing to a girl at the top of the path at around 4.55pm.

And a cyclist said he heard strangling noises coming from behind the wall bordering the Roan's Dyke shortly before 5.15pm.

Mitchell hit her about her head and body and constricted her breathing, causing her to fall to the ground.

No murder weapon was found, but Mitchell tied ligatures around her arms and slashed her repeatedly on the head, mouth and body with a knife.

The schoolgirl's body was found with her hands behind her back and both wrists bound by the legs of a pair of trousers.

Just hours later, the killer joined Jodi's grandmother Alice Walker, sister Janine and her boyfriend Steven Kelly as they looked for the missing teenager.

Mitchell told police his dog Mia drew his attention the area of the wall behind which Jodi's body lay.

Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of the case has been the cool composure exhibited by Mitchell, who was only 14 when he murdered Jodi.

He has never publicly shed a tear and did not wince when pictures of her mutilated body were shown on wall-mounted screens in the High Court in Edinburgh.

Mitchell's ability to detach himself completely from the enormity of his crime was evident only minutes after the murder, when he phoned Jodi's home to ask where she was.

Judith Jones' partner Allen Ovens took the call at 5.40pm and told Mitchell that Jodi had left the house.

Luke, who had killed Jodi just minutes before, replied: "OK, cool."

Judith Jones knew something was wrong when she had not heard from her daughter by 10pm, and reported her missing half an hour later.

At the same time, Jodi's sister Janine, Janine's fiance Steven Kelly and grandmother Alice Walker joined Mitchell and his dog to search for her.

As the party walked along Roan's Dyke in the fading light, Mitchell leapt over a break in the wall and announced he had found something.

Jodi's grandmother went to inspect the scene and Janine Jones told the court: ."I heard her scream."

Suspicion quickly fell on Mitchell, who tried to cover his tracks by incinerating his clothes in a log burner in his garden.

In the immediate aftermath of the murder he sought to convince the community of his heartache by placing a large bouquet of red and white roses at the entrance to the path where her body was found.