Who killed Billie-Jo?

[Sidge]

Did anyone watch this?

I remember this awful event. The documentary last night was very interesting.

Every bit as peculiar as Jeremy Bamber.

I'm confused about the black bin liners and the piece in the nostril. I'm assuming this was just written in the neighbours statement and the piece wasn't collected as evidence?

Is it possible that there were two black bags protecting the floor from paint and the killer grabbed one to place over her head? Could she have breathed in the piece when trying to breath, rather than someone shoving it up her nose? Did she have plastic under her fingernails that she might have clawed at the bag, ripping the piece free?

The blood splatters looked low down. If the bag had rendered her unconscious she wouldn't have made any noise or movement and then they could have beaten her with the peg.

There wasn't enough detail in the documentary on these points.

No, she didn't inhale the plastic, it was shoved forcefully into her left nostril.

She would likely have been unconscious within the first couple of blows. They were aimed at the back of the head. If her cerebellum was injured then all basic functions would have stopped pretty fast.

I just don't think he could have done it and not have been covered in blood. Such a violent attack with blood everywhere.
I agree he's an awful person but I don't think he could have murdered her.

@Bellusaurus

I have always thought that if he killed her in 3 minutes, drove off and around to create an alibi, came back to the house when he was ready, expecting to see her dead or dying ... he'd have made a much much better job of the 999 call. People seem to think that because he was calm (voice) and vague to nonsensical in what he said, he was playing a part. But surely you'd play the part of a panicked man, and pretend you'd checked her breathing if you hadn't, and emphasise your shock and horror. He would have known that call would matter.

There's a theory that innocent people look guilty because they aren't worried about looking guilty. If that makes sense. So a guilty person thinks I must act in this way to show I'm innocent. An innocent person just behaves without thinking about how it will be perceived.

@LizzieMacQueen

But that's assuming he committed this in that 3 minute window. I think there's a possibility she was already gravely assaulted before they ever set out to pick up from the clarinet lesson. There's evidence that the daughter washing the car was not allowed to enter the house in this time. Stopped by her father.

The documentary said that Charlotte went in to put her clarinet in her room. So why would he let her in to potentially find Billie-jo and then go out to build this white spirit alibi. He'd either not return yet and go straight for the white spirit or he'd take them home and discover Billie-jo straight away.

Is it possible that he put the bag over her head before he battered her, she aspirated part of it while struggling, he disposed of the bag while he was dicking around near the car/acting oddly after the murder? The bag was definitely there from the outset, not something brought along by Mr B/unknown assailant. And SJ was clever/calculating enough to have done that imo. Would maybe explain the limited blood spatter.

So, he put the bag over her head to limit spatter? Very premeditated then?

You know that you can tell where a person died from the pattern of the blood? You can accurately tell how tall a victim was?

The spatter does not fit the scenario. The perp must have been saturated in blood.

I think if the bag had been over her head whilst she was being hit/murdered that would have been picked up in the PM

@bottleofbeer I'd be interested to know what your opinion on Jeremy Bamber is?

I've never particularly looked at the Jeremy Bamber case.

@sadpapercourtesan

Is it possible that he put the bag over her head before he battered her, she aspirated part of it while struggling, he disposed of the bag while he was dicking around near the car/acting oddly after the murder? The bag was definitely there from the outset, not something brought along by Mr B/unknown assailant. And SJ was clever/calculating enough to have done that imo. Would maybe explain the limited blood spatter.

But there was blood on the tent spike. So she couldn't have had a bag over her head?

Why no DNA on the tent peg?

And if the bag had been over her head, there would be particles of plastic in her wounds? Easily picked up on a PM and where did he hide the blood covered ripped black bag?

Usually the simplest answer is the correct one and the evidence against Jenkins is not simple.

Reports of a prowler in the area, mentally ill man suspected of assault on another young girl, mentally ill man’s father allegedly told police he thought his son could be responsible, mentally ill man not located until days after the murder and immediately sectioned so could not be questioned, mentally ill man known to have an obsession for bits of plastic bag similar to that found up Billie-Jo’s nose.

A bloody murder but only microscopic drops of blood found on the accused, no other evidence tying him to the crime but a nonsensical theory that he flew into a murderous rage and brutally hacked a young girl who was part of his family to death, didn’t change clothes, composed himself within 3 minutes with no outward signs of the heinous act he’d just committed, didn’t take the perfect opportunity to give himself a half decent alibi and didn’t didn’t prevent his children from discovering her blood covered body.

Jenkins must be an extremely intelligent bloke to have been offered the position of Headmaster of a secondary school despite lying on his CV to make himself look more qualified. I think he’d at least have tried to get away with it if he’d done it.

I found the woman police office in the documentary quite smug. I don’t know why . I think they needed to pin it on someone to clear it up as it was so shocking and terrifying. A young girl from a traumatic background, who should finally have been safe, murdered horrifically in her own garden while doing chores in the middle of a sunny afternoon! It was and still is horrifying.

The police and prosecution chose not to reveal any DNA found on the tent peg.

I'm inclined to look more closely at Lois. She claimed he once hit her so hard it burst her eardrum and she was hospitalised. This was shown to be untrue. Gaimster, randomly comes out with a story about SJ kicking the living shit out of Billie-Jo in France. He saw this and did or said nothing? SJ's daughter's flatly denied that he was violent and they never changed their story about this. I know that the natural reaction is to deny but they never retracted this.

From many accounts it was Lois with the temper.

Why would this Gaimster lie though? I thought he was a friend of SJ's?

@BollockyBollocks01

That Sion bastard, the foster dad. Guilty as sin. His wife thought he'd done it, the police thought he'd done it. It was obvious he'd done it. He had form for beating his children with sticks, Billie-Jo was killed by being beaten with a tent pole. He lied about his education/he had form for lying. He once kicked Billie-Jo in the ankle when she had a painful sprained ankle because he was irritated that she was sick. The forensic evidence showed it was him. It was just a fuck-up in the process that got him acquitted.

This he lied about his degrees and made up qualifications and ended up as a deputy head and by all accounts was a proper bully at work too

Also I read that the Jenkins has been granted parental responsibility of Billie-Jo a few days before her murder. She would have surely been asked for her views on that at her age,

It doesn’t tie in with the allegations that Sion Jenkins was physically abusing her and surely the male friend of the family would have told Lois, a social worker, about Sion allegedly kicking the living daylights out of Billie-Jo at the time it happened months before the murder? Did she only find that out after the murder?

I hadn’t really read much about this case until the documentary. I had just had my youngest when it happened so not much into reading the news but bloody hell, reading it about it now I can’t get my head round why the police were so sure it was him.

Yes @bottleofbeer I read that Louis had an argument with Billie-Jo that day as she wanted to go into town to buy new trainers but was told she had to do chores first. Sion had put a blanket in the bin bag so she could sit on something while painting without getting paint on it?

Also as a social worker herself, I find it quite shocking that she brought a vulnerable foster child into her home that she alleged was abusive but did nothing about. It’s not like Louis hadn’t been involved in safeguarding children in similar families. How could she not have known about the kicking incident on holiday? The family friend knew Billie-Jo was a foster child so why didn’t he report it himself at the time?

@WomblingWilma

Yes *@bottleofbeer* I read that Louis had an argument with Billie-Jo that day as she wanted to go into town to buy new trainers but was told she had to do chores first. Sion had put a blanket in the bin bag so she could sit on something while painting without getting paint on it?

Also as a social worker herself, I find it quite shocking that she brought a vulnerable foster child into her home that she alleged was abusive but did nothing about. It’s not like Louis hadn’t been involved in safeguarding children in similar families. How could she not have known about the kicking incident on holiday? The family friend knew Billie-Jo was a foster child so why didn’t he report it himself at the time?

Well Lois only knew about the kicking incident in a couple of the five or so versions Gaimster came up with. There really was no silver bullet in the evidence to sure Sion abused Billie Jo, never mind that he killed her.

@bottleofbeer

The police and prosecution chose not to reveal any DNA found on the tent peg.

Why?

Leggingslife, no idea. The police always hinted they had a smoking gun against Sion which would be used at the trial (ridiculous thing to say because they would have HAD to disclose this to the defence).

There was no 'smoking gun' evidence brought at any of the three trials.

Does anyone know the actual amount of time Sion was meant to have in which to commit the crime?

Like was it a few minutes or half an hour? Or does this all depend on the other girls recollections?

It was supposed to be a few minutes wasn't it? While the DC we're waiting in the car.
But how do we know it didn't happen earlier on and just no one noticed?