UK - Alesha MacPhail, 6, raped & murdered, Ardbeg, Isle of Bute, Scotland, 2 Jul 2018 -*arrest* #2

[octagonsunrise]

The lack of DNA in Aleshas house can be explained but the lack of it in his house does have me concerned. Is it possible to wash away every aspect in the sea to leave no trace whatsoever. In the Becky Watts case the accused tried his hardest to ‘deep clean’ the bathroom but traces were still found. Although Becky was in the house and dismembered so huge difference of course.

From what i know about forensics it seems it is incredibly difficult to remove all traces of DNA from a crime scene. The seemingly haphazard events and actions of the accused in the middle of the night make me think that some kind of trace, no matter how small, would exist even 9 days after the event.

 

[Taskforce88]

It occurred to me that maybe when the boys mother was telling him that whoever did this would have left dna all over Alesha, and he said he didn't understand dna/what it was etc, maybe he was lying and said this deliberetly in front of his mother and uncle so that he then had witnesses who would attest to the fact that he seemed to not know/understand dna evidence when they brought it up (when Alesha was first reported missing and they asked him if he knew anything) so later this would make him look less guilty. Meaning if he managed to clean his home of dna and not leave any behind in Alesha's home either then he didn't want it to look planned, he wanted them to think he didn't understand dna and therefore the lack of dna in his home and in Alesha's home would make it look like he was innocent, as opposed to someone who had deliberetly covered their tracks carefully.

My thoughts too.

 

[TaylorCallum]

I don't think his mother is trying to protect him honestly because her CCTV footage has been one of the most incriminating pieces of evidence, honestly. I'm sure she's conflicted because it is still her son after all, but I do believe that she would send him to prison if he is guilty.

 

[Deufin]

From what i know about forensics it seems it is incredibly difficult to remove all traces of DNA from a crime scene. The seemingly haphazard events and actions of the accused in the middle of the night make me think that some kind of trace, no matter how small, would exist even 9 days after the event.

He didn’t remove any DNA from the crime scene though.

I think there’s a big difference in what’s required to clean up an actual crime scene, and cleaning up for example a door handle far from the crime scene, which has no direct contact with the body.

 

[Taskforce88]

Or perhaps there is more to the story. Perhaps someone else was involved.

In relation to getting Alesha out of the house?

 

[Bluedaisy100]

In the US we had the Jayme Closs case where the perp kicked in the door, murdered both parents in the house, tied and taped up Jayme and drug her to his car. None of his DNA was found in the house.

 

[Jason-d-h-1990]

IMO I think there is no real substance to the print they found in McPhail house. It could be coincidental and left possibly from a previous visit to the house as RM stated he could not recall if accused has ever been in house or not.

I do not believe the accused could do a 'deep clean' without arousing suspicion, surely the mother would have documented this behaviour. A mother that is willing to turn her child in to police is not the same mother who would be willing to lie for him. What would she have to gain from it. She knew his guilt IMO. Hence why she chose not to stay through the trial.

 

[Edinlass]

In the US we had the Jayme Closs case where the perp kicked in the door, murdered both parents in the house, tied and taped up Jayme and drug her to his car. None of his DNA was found in the house.

That is crazy. Was he still convicted?

 

[TaylorCallum]

I feel sorry for his family as well honestly, their life has been completely turned upside down. They'll never be able to live on that island again and will have to live with knowing their relative committed such a horrible act, even though they have nothing to be guilty for, it's still an awful thing to deal with.

 

[Alyce]

Am just catching up - thanks as always HayLouise and everyone else who has posted links and tweets, so very helpful.

Can someone just clarify - is the reason no dna was found on the hoodie due to the fact that it was not checked ?

 

[octagonsunrise]

He didn’t remove any DNA from the crime scene though.

I think there’s a big difference in what’s required to clean up an actual crime scene, and cleaning up for example a door handle far from the crime scene, which has no direct contact with the body.

Returning home from the crime scene, potentially covered in blood, skin, hair, fibres, Alesha's DNA, dirt etc from where the body was left etc etc. We don't know to what extent he brought back but i'm fairly certain there would have been more rather than less and therefore not an easy job to eradicate.

 

[Bustia]

That is crazy. Was he still convicted?

It’s fairly recent so I’m not sure if it’s went to trial or not. I’ve read about it briefly it’s pretty disturbing the only positive is that Jayme managed to escape and was found alive I think about 3 months later (could be wrong on the timeline).

 

[Taskforce88]

Am just catching up - thanks as always HayLouise and everyone else who has posted links and tweets, so very helpful.

Can someone just clarify - is the reason no dna was found on the hoodie due to the fact that it was not checked ?

I understand they didn't check it for DNA

 

[TaylorCallum]

Do we know if any of his family or friends are attending the trial with him?

 

[Edinlass]

Am just catching up - thanks as always HayLouise and everyone else who has posted links and tweets, so very helpful.

Can someone just clarify - is the reason no dna was found on the hoodie due to the fact that it was not checked ?

Yes, due to it being chucked into the skip it seemingly wasn’t in a DNA checkable state. I think that’s ridiculous.

 

[Alyce]

IMO I think there is no real substance to the print they found in McPhail house. It could be coincidental and left possibly from a previous visit to the house as RM stated he could not recall if accused has ever been in house or not.

I do not believe the accused could do a 'deep clean' without arousing suspicion, surely the mother would have documented this behaviour. A mother that is willing to turn her child in to police is not the same mother who would be willing to lie for him. What would she have to gain from it. She knew his guilt IMO. Hence why she chose not to stay through the trial.

I agree re the print. It can't be dated and RM was unclear in his testimony about whether or not the accused had ever been further than the main door of the building, so quite possible for it to have been from an earlier visit.

Re the deep clean - mother out at work, accused on school holidays - there was the opportunity for him to do a clean up.

 

[charlotte123456]

Returning home from the crime scene, potentially covered in blood, skin, hair, fibres, Alesha's DNA, dirt etc from where the body was left etc etc. We don't know to what extent he brought back but i'm fairly certain there would have been more rather than less and therefore not an easy job to eradicate.

What if he did in fact wash most of the worst of it off in the sea before he returned home?

 

[Alyce]

Yes, due to it being chucked into the skip it seemingly wasn’t in a DNA checkable state. I think that’s ridiculous.

Thanks. That explains a lot then, as could have been plenty of transfer with him carrying Alesha over his shoulder or on his front. What a missed opportunity by the police

 

[Edinlass]

What if he did in fact wash most of the worst of it off in the sea before he returned home?

This is my thinking. Also I deep clean my bathroom more than most (every 2 days, OCD problems) maybe his mum was the same. Without knowingly cleaning away any evidence of course. I just don’t see why his mum would knowingly clean away evidence but hand over CCTV, one of the most incriminating evidence of the case tbh.

 

[Deufin]

Returning home from the crime scene, potentially covered in blood, skin, hair, fibres, Alesha's DNA, dirt etc from where the body was left etc etc. We don't know to what extent he brought back but i'm fairly certain there would have been more rather than less and therefore not an easy job to eradicate.

You can’t admit you don’t know what kind of contamination he brought back with him, and then say you’re fairly certain there was a lot and thus a difficult job to clean up.

As someone else has pointed out, a quick dip in the sea after the crime would have made a big difference to the amount of material left on him when he returned home.