Troubled Mitchell claimed to be a satanist

13 April 2012

Sex, drugs, knives and Satan are not the usual interests of a 14-year-old boy.

But Luke Mitchell is no ordinary teenager. He is a cold, calculating killer who brutally murdered his girlfriend Jodi Jones then calmly helped her family search for her.

Mitchell came from a broken home - his parents Corinne and Philip are thought to have split up in 1999.

Like thousands of other troubled teenagers around the world, he was taken in by the dark, brooding Goth culture, and it is no surprise that he is a fan of US shock-rocker Marilyn Manson and tragic Nirvana singer Kurt Cobain.

Although Mitchell was still in contact with his father for weekend visits, he and Jodi may have seen themselves as kindred spirits as both were brought up by their mothers. Jodi's father had committed suicide.

But by the time he turned 14, Mitchell had developed other more worrying interests. He had an alarming drug habit - claiming to smoke the equivalent of hundreds of cannabis joints every week.

He was having sex with different partners and appeared to have an unhealthy interest in the occult.

It may never be known if it was his obsession with Satanism which motivated him to murder Jodi, but her gruesome death bore the hallmarks of a ritual killing.

Mitchell's jotters from Dalkeith's St David's High School were daubed with Satanic slogans and he wrote a school essay with worrying references to the devil.

His English book, shown to the court, had the numbers 666 and "Satan lives" on the cover.

"I have tasted the devil's green blood" was also scrawled on the back.

Several other jotters were shown which contained slogans such as: "Evil is the way", "Depression is only a stage in my life, so f*** off and stay out my mind" and "the finest day I ever had was when tomorrow never came" - a quotation from late Nirvana singer Cobain.

The handwritten essay, questioning the existence of God, had been submitted in January 2003 in place of a short story, which had been requested.

The essay contained passages such as: "If you ask me, god is just a futile excuse at most for a bunch of fools to go around annoying others who want nothing to do with him.

"Are these people insane?"

It also read "People like you need Satanic people like me to keep the balance" and "Once you shake hands with the devil you then have truly experienced life".

It was also claimed he said he could imagine himself getting "stoned" and killing someone.

And the trial heard that Mitchell had been in possession of several knives, one of which he used for cutting up blocks of cannabis.

A knife pouch with the initials "JJ" - apparently a reference to Jodi Jones - and the numerals "666" written on it was found in his bedroom.

Just days after his girlfriend was brutally murdered, he bought a Marilyn Manson DVD about the murder of a Holywood actress.

Alan Turnbull QC asked the jury if they thought a "grieving young man who had accidentally stumbled on the mutilated and naked body of his girlfriend" would get any comfort from such a film.

Mitchell denied murdering Jodi from the outset but angered her family when he appeared on TV on the day of the teenager's funeral to make a public denial.

He was banned from returning to school after the summer holidays and told he would have to be educated separately - away from his fellow pupils.

This led to a heated argument between Mitchell, his mother and the school's headteacher, and threats of legal action.

Solicitor Nigel Beaumont said later that Mitchell's life had been ruined by revelations in a report submitted by police to the procurator fiscal naming him as the sole suspect.

Last year he passed his school exams while in a secure unit awaiting trial - gaining five Standard Grade exams

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