It's interesting to note that there were 2 very dangerous individuals around the area at the time, Robert green and Alan Roberts. It's not known if they were looked into because the police always say they're not interested in other suspects because Luke Mitchell in in Jail.
The police were very interested in profiling and criminal psychology in this case. Especially since there was no direct evidence to link Luke to the crime. None of it really matched Luke Mitchell though.
The police flew out to Quantico to consult with the BAU at the FBI. This wasn't used at trial I don't think it would be admissible anyway but there was an article published recently that suggests it pointed away from Luke Mitchell.
Richard Hoskins was asked by the Police to look over the case files to see if there was a ritualistic element to the murder.
Richard Hoskins was of the opinion that there was no satanic or ritualistic connection in the murder of Jodi.
None of his findings were used in court. He wrote about meeting the sio Dobbie in his book The Boy in The River. He said something along the lines of 'I don't know why he's called me in it already seems like he's made up his mind' and this is a direct quote "For one thing, he had an obsession with Marilyn Manson, the American singer. Dobbie felt that this might be significant".
Professor Paul Ekman
Lothian & Borders Police sent a copy of the Sky News interview with Luke Mitchell for him to analyse.
Professor Ekman couldn't say whether or not Luke was showing signs of deception, only that it was clear he had a high degree of contempt for the police and the media. He said in a Daily Record article;
"There were signs he was concealing his contempt for the police, but he might be innocent and have a lot of contempt for the police, so there was nothing definitive that said he had murdered this girl."
"There are cases like this where I can't tell - or sometimes people are just not asked the right question."
Despite Professor Ekman saying that he couldn't say anything definitive based on the interview, the interview was shown to the Jury with No expert guidance on how it should be interpreted as evidence.
When you look at this case with hindsight signs of a moral panic about Marilyn Manson and 'goth culture' clearly show through.
Remember the whole basis for the investigation into Luke wasn't about hard evidence, it was fuelled by a theory that the police put forward that Luke was obsessed with Manson and wanted to replicate the paintings Manson had done of the Black Dahlia. At appeal none of this evidence was to be founded upon but it had been the focus of the investigation and the media throughout.
