UK - Alesha MacPhail, 6, raped & murdered, Ardbeg, Isle of Bute, Scotland, 2 Jul 2018 -teen arrested

[HayLouise]

Connor Gillies‏Verified account @ConnorGillies

Sgt Martin Wilson in the stand to give evidence. He was first officer on the scene of the body discovery. He breaks down as he recalls how the remains looked.

 

[Nikynoo]

The fact that he was messaging them shows a real amount of thrill seeking to me. I think he was desperate, not just to know if they knew she was missing. But I think he was desperate to hear them upset and devastated over her being missing. This makes it seems more personal to me. He wanted to hurt THEM.

Also I read yesterday about pants and boxer shorts found turned inside out. So he just yanked his pants and boxers off and left them? So after assaulting and killing poor Alesha he just walked home with no pants or underwear on??

Exactly what I was thinking. How far away from the shoreline is the accuseds home? It would mean he would have to walk home naked - unless he went with a change of clothing - but why leave clothing where it would be found?

 

[LittleMystery]

There’s a few things baffling me about this case:

a) Why the defence is going with that outlandish theory? It’s entirely bizarre. Surely any decent lawyer would be like, come on now no-one is buying that.

b) if your partners child is missing, why your priority would be to call back an acquaintance who you sell drugs to at that time in the morning? I’m not insinuating she is involved though, I just don’t think we are getting the full truth about their connection.

Someone asked about FB a few threads back. Some of the younger generation use FB to make calls if they have no credit or no talktime as it allows them to make calls over the internet rather than via a network. So I’m not sure it’s for certain that they wouldn’t have each other’s number. My little sister is around the same age and uses FB messenger and Snapchat as her main forms of communication - she’d probably faint if I suggested she text or call!

 

[HayLouise]

13:22

First police officer at the scene breaks down in court

Sgt Martin Wilson was the first officer on the scene after Mr Wilson found Alesha’s body.

He said the force began “bombarding the area with police officers” after the alarm was raised of missing Alesha MacPhail.

He then broke down as he remembered how the remains looked.

He teared up as he told the court he has a seven-year-old daughter.

Alesha MacPhail's dad's girlfriend denies planting accused's semen

 

[mrazda71]

There’s a few things baffling me about this case:

a) Why the defence is going with that outlandish theory? It’s entirely bizarre. Surely any decent lawyer would be like, come on now no-one is buying that.

b) if your partners child is missing, why your priority would be to call back an acquaintance who you sell drugs to at that time in the morning? I’m not insinuating she is involved though, I just don’t think we are getting the full truth about their connection.

Someone asked about FB a few threads back. Some of the younger generation use FB to make calls if they have no credit or no talktime as it allows them to make calls over the internet rather than via a network. So I’m not sure it’s for certain that they wouldn’t have each other’s number. My little sister is around the same age and uses FB messenger and Snapchat as her main forms of communication - she’d probably faint if I suggested she text or call!

Did the Accused call Toni? ... I might contact them and ask them why they called just in case they knew something and were trying to contact me ...

I think he was contacting Rab and Toni to see if they were still awake ... ie - I'll message asking for weed - if they don't reply then it's safe to say they're asleep and the coast is clear ...

 

[Jason-d-h-1990]

There is so much not making sense regarding this IMO.

His defence is the most far fetched idea I have ever heard however:

1) Father of AM states accused has never been inside the house. So how would he know where AM slept and that she would be in a room on her own?

2) TM stated she got up during night and closed door fully over. She also stated that there was a fault with the door it was squeaky. Surely someone in a full house would hear a squeaky door opening in the middle of the night?

3) Why lie to cover your own back AFTER being advised AM had been found dead, surely your priorities would not be on looking out for yourself.

 

[Alyce]

There’s a few things baffling me about this case:

a) Why the defence is going with that outlandish theory? It’s entirely bizarre. Surely any decent lawyer would be like, come on now no-one is buying that.

b) if your partners child is missing, why your priority would be to call back an acquaintance who you sell drugs to at that time in the morning? I’m not insinuating she is involved though, I just don’t think we are getting the full truth about their connection.

Someone asked about FB a few threads back. Some of the younger generation use FB to make calls if they have no credit or no talktime as it allows them to make calls over the internet rather than via a network. So I’m not sure it’s for certain that they wouldn’t have each other’s number. My little sister is around the same age and uses FB messenger and Snapchat as her main forms of communication - she’d probably faint if I suggested she text or call!

why your priority would be to call back an acquaintance who you sell drugs to at that time in the morning?

BIB 1 Perhaps she thought the accused had seen Alesha wandering around and was calling to let them know.
At a time of panic, all options have to be considered and if she had ignored the call and turned out he knew where Alesha was....



she’d probably faint if I suggested she text or call!


BIB 2 - slightly related - I remember, back in the early days of this case, there was msm reporting that Alesha's grandmother had put a message out on FB asking friends to search for Alesha.
Someone commented ( not on here ) that they were astonished she would do this. When another person queried why, the first person said, I didn't think old people knew about FB, I thought she would just use a phone to call round.
Alesha's grandmother, from memory, is 47.

 

[beatrixpotter]

There is so much not making sense regarding this IMO.

His defence is the most far fetched idea I have ever heard however:

1) Father of AM states accused has never been inside the house. So how would he know where AM slept and that she would be in a room on her own?

2) TM stated she got up during night and closed door fully over. She also stated that there was a fault with the door it was squeaky. Surely someone in a full house would hear a squeaky door opening in the middle of the night?

3) Why lie to cover your own back AFTER being advised AM had been found dead, surely your priorities would not be on looking out for yourself.

I agree some things just sound sketchy. But I'm pretty sure you can date the age of semen and sperm so they'd be able to fairly well date how old the semen was. I can believe she might have once had sex with him in 2017 or smoked with him or something.

BUT that she had sex with him that night and no one noticed her missing? That the suspect just happened to message her and the father that night but not for months before that? If TM and the suspect were on regular terms I think there would be clear and abundant evidence for that.

I do find it odd that someone could sneak in a house and just snatch a child. But truth be told I block out all kinds of noises in my house all the time because I'm used to the sound of someone getting up and walking down the hall and making a trip to the restroom. I have to be specifically on alert to hear things. With a newborn baby I am on high alert and hear everything. Now my youngest is two? I might have a child wake up crying and I didn't hear it before my husband who got up and dealt with any needs. I can recall as a child getting up and sneaking downstairs to get a snack or watch television. My parents almost never heard me. I don't know the lay out of this house though.

 

[Joannieanderson]

Under cross-examination by defence brief Brian McConnachie, Ms McLachlan said she received messages all morning from people claiming the accused was responsible.

Ms McLachlan said: “Yes, I did, but I didn’t think anything after he said he didn’t think she would have gone far.”

Girlfriend of Alesha MacPhail’s dad ‘had a bad feeling’ when accused called on morning girl disappeared

BBM says a lot

how can people possibly know that the accused was responsible....am I missing something?

 

[HayLouise]

Fraser Knight‏ @Fraser_Knight

Police Constance David Grant says he was one of the first officers to meet Alesha’s family when she was reported missing. He says her Gran Angela King was “panicked” and “appeared to start blaming herself” for Alesha being able to get out because she left the key in the door.

 

[Alyce]

There is so much not making sense regarding this IMO.

His defence is the most far fetched idea I have ever heard however:

1) Father of AM states accused has never been inside the house. So how would he know where AM slept and that she would be in a room on her own?

2) TM stated she got up during night and closed door fully over. She also stated that there was a fault with the door it was squeaky. Surely someone in a full house would hear a squeaky door opening in the middle of the night?

3) Why lie to cover your own back AFTER being advised AM had been found dead, surely your priorities would not be on looking out for yourself.

It is possible, I suppose, that Alesha was not in bed, but had gone back downstairs again.
Or, being as it was around 2am when suspect went into the house ( based on the text/s being sent at 1.39 and 1.47 ) then just possible that the family were heavily asleep by that time and didn't hear the door being opened, one floor up.

 

[beatrixpotter]

His pants and underwear were found at the beach? How far is that from the crime scene? That is just so weird to me! I can't imagine killing someone, going home and showering and then taking my clothes from the assault and murder and just taking them for a walk on the beach. And then what? Accidentally dropping your clothes but not picking them up? Taking them out to dispose of them but forgetting or failing?

I can picture more a panicked run home carrying pants and underwear and dropping them. But it still seems crazy to not put them back on. But it doesn't make any more sense to me to take them back out after the fact either. That's one of things where I could think someone did set someone up and dumped their clothing. But if you are going to do that the crime scene seems a better place than the beach.

Anyone remember a crime where the suspect left his pants and underwear behind or abandoned somewhere else?

 

[Alyce]

This report is saying it was the night before ( sex in the shed )


Defence Counsel claimed that Ms McLachlan met the accused in secret the night before Alesha disappeared, and confided in the teen about alleged abuse from Mr MacPhail.


He said the pair had walked into a shed where they used a condom provided by Ms McLachlan, and the accused gave her a hoodie because she was cold.


more at the link ...

Partner of Alesha MacPhail's dad denies planting accused's semen as evidence

 

[HayLouise]

Connor Gillies‏Verified account @ConnorGillies

PC David Grant takes to the stand. He describes taking photos of a knife found on the beach opposite the house Alesha was taken from.

 

[Joannieanderson]

His pants and underwear were found at the beach? How far is that from the crime scene? That is just so weird to me! I can't imagine killing someone, going home and showering and then taking my clothes from the assault and murder and just taking them for a walk on the beach. And then what? Accidentally dropping your clothes but not picking them up? Taking them out to dispose of them but forgetting or failing?

I can picture more a panicked run home carrying pants and underwear and dropping them. But it still seems crazy to not put them back on. But it doesn't make any more sense to me to take them back out after the fact either. That's one of things where I could think someone did set someone up and dumped their clothing. But if you are going to do that the crime scene seems a better place than the beach.

Anyone remember a crime where the suspect left his pants and underwear behind or abandoned somewhere else?

I think he tried to dispose of them in the sea/ shore line and they got washed up. I'm sure there was also clothing found in a skip at the police station too

 

[HayLouise]

Was there any maps created in the thread showing various locations? Beach, AM's house, where she was found?

 

[HayLouise]

I think he tried to dispose of them in the sea/ shore line and they got washed up. I'm sure there was also clothing found in a skip at the police station too

Yes, you're right about the skip at police station.

 

[HayLouise]

14:28

Girlfriend of Alesha MacPhail's dad denies 'brutalising' girl with 'implement'

Toni-Louise McLachlan, 18, denied murdering Alesha MacPhail and ‘planting the accused’s semen as evidence’ during the second day of evidence at the Glasgow’s High Court.

Ms McLachlan was called as a witness at the trial of a 16-year-old boy who has blamed her for murdering six-year-old Alesha on the Isle of Bute on July 2 last year.

While giving evidence, the girlfriend of Alesha’s father Robert MacPhail continuously denied she had anything to do with the girl’s disappearance and murder.

The series of events was put to her by defence, Brian McConnachie, who said she had “brutalised” the little girl using an “implement.”

The brief claimed that Ms McLachlan met the accused in secret the night before Alesha disappeared, and confided in the teen about alleged abuse from Mr MacPhail.

He said the pair had walked into a shed where they used a condom provided by Ms McLachlan, and the accused gave her a hoodie because she was cold.

The accused said that was the last time he had seen Ms McLachlan before Alesha was killed, the court heard.

Mr McConnachie accused Ms McLachlan of taking Alesha to the site of an abandoned hotel where the child was murdered and “brutalised” with an “implement”.

He then said the 18-year-old had “planted” the condom with the accused’s semen to implicate him.

Ms McLachlan said: “No.”

When asked by the accused’s brief how it felt to be accused of murder, Ms McLachlan said: “Horrible. “I don’t know how to take it. I’m sad, I’m angry, I’m full of emotions.”

Alesha’s mother covered her face in the public gallery when the question was asked and left the courtroom when her daughter’s injuries were mentioned.

Alesha MacPhail's dad's girlfriend denies planting accused's semen

bbm

 

[Alyce]

Bringing this up from earlier in the thread

This might be helpful for people following the case from afar:

 

[HayLouise]

Bringing this up from earlier in the thread

Thank you! I was just attempting to create one lol