What was Luke doing between 6:15/7:30 before he met the boys in the Abbey?
I have wondered about this many times, myself. Not one sighting of him between this window at all. The last person to see him before he met up with friends David High & co at the abbey was one of the bicycle trio, who had to turn back as he had a puncture. The trio saw LM sitting at a wall on the nbattle rd at the entrance to his estate at around 1800/1805 as the were travelling north to college and positively identified him at court (they knew LM personally and said he was wearing a green bomber jacket and black baggy jeans). As I said, one of the trio had to turn back as the had a puncture and he said that LM was still sitting at the wall, at 1815/1820. LM disappeared from 1815/1820 until 1930, where he met boys at the abbey and they had a kick-about, played on a rope swing and smoked some joints away from prying eyes. It should be noted that LM phoned David High a couple of times, to hurry him up. Very telling & incriminating behaviour, imo. He hurried DH up as he needed to be seen with other people as part of his alibi, to deflect away from Jodi’s absence and the fact she was dead and he knew this; by hurrying DH up he was showing panic, desperation and, ultimately, his guilt. Why not phone the Jones landline again, as he had done at 1738? Allan Ovens told him that Jodi had left to specifically meet him. Since dating in March ‘03 they had spent most evenings together and it was testified in court that Jodi had only failed to meet LM once in all the time they were dating, and even then she phoned LM to explain why at the time. DH and the boys also were surprised that night the fact that Luke wasn’t with Jodi like he normally was, and when they asked where she was, LM answered: “She won’t be coming out tonight.” Very strange answer, considering that they had arranged to meet via texts earlier (between 1634-1638) and plus he was told 2 hours previously by Jodi’s step-dad AO that she was on her way to specifically meet him. So, no inclination from LM to contact Jodi at all after that 1738 call to AO, instead he chose to dilly-dally up and down the n’battle rd, according to him, between 1730-1930, instead of actually going to meet her at Easthouses or her house like he normally did? A young lad pacing up and down a busy road for 2 hours?? It doesn’t make sense, does it? And, I’ll reiterate, the boys from the abbey testified in court how he appeared less unkempt and less scruffy that evening. He also left them a lot earlier that night, at 2100, and went home. Why go home at such an early time? My guess is so he could get organised and prepared for the inevitable phone call from Judith asking where her daughter was. Preplanning and rehearsing what he was going to say to her. This would require privacy — he certainly wouldn’t want anyone around when that call from Judith came through. Luke said he was at home watching dvds in his room from the back of 9pm until 2230, and yet neighbour Mr Ramage said he saw him going home at 2200 as he settled down to watch the evening news. More lies from LM? Where had he been? Where was he coming from? The time of 2200 hrs is significant here as this was time Jodi was allowed out to, so it ties in with LM being prepared and ready for that inevitable phone call from Judith, wondering where her daughter was. I think it’s significant to mention here that LM had completely wiped his phone’s history out at just after midnight on 01.07.03 (all text messages and call logs), either when he was in the back of the police car or in Dalkeith Police Station (cite provided below). Why? For his phone likely held incriminating evidence, such as the text exchanges between he and Jodi at 1634-1638 that no doubt had details of their arranged meet-up at Easthouses at 1700. I certainly don’t think it was coincidental his phone history was wiped out.
What LM was doing between 1815 and 1930 that day is anyone’s guess. My view is that he used this time to dispose of the clothing that he was wearing when he was with Jodi earlier between 1655-1740. He had, imo, changed clothes between 1740-1800 and was quickly back in that nbattle rd in an attempt to nullify the AB & F&W sightings, him knowing that people saw him in the parka and that those sightings could potentially be his undoing. It’s very possible he went back to his house to either arrange what to do with the clothing he had on earlier or to find out how SM & CM were doing with the burning of the clothes that they might have had secretely discussed earlier when LM first went home at 1750/1755. Strange that neighbours reported a fire burning in the Mitchells’ garden at 1830 and then again at around 2200 (interestingly, CM denied that the log burner had been lit that evening, only to be refuted by Luke himself).
https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/12406880.phone-record-of-jodi-murder-accused-wiped/
