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

[Siriusly]

She may have meant left towels at his backside?

Ahh now there's a simple explanation I didn't even think of. she could well have been referring to towels left on floor after shower.
Thanks

 

[Edinlass]

The point is, we can only base things on the concrete evidence. There is not enough for me yet. I do think he is guilty, but you cannot base your opinions on gut instinct, only facts. If I feel this way, then I am sure that others on the jury do as well.

Fair enough, let’s wait and see what evidence was found on Alesha.

 

[charlotte123456]

Circumstantial evidence is awesome. DNA is circumstantial evidence.

Circumstantial if it can be explained away by other (non nefarious) circumstances.

 

[neteditor]

Never forget the not proven verdict, which essentially means the jury think the defendant is guilty but the evidence doesn't prove it. Reasonable doubt doesn't apply.

 

[Alyce]

Interesting ( even a bit worrying in parts ) article re mobile phone tracking


Before LocationSmart’s demo was taken offline today, KrebsOnSecurity pinged five different trusted sources, all of whom gave consent to have Xiao determine the whereabouts of their cell phones. Xiao was able to determine within a few seconds of querying the public LocationSmart service the near-exact location of the mobile phone belonging to all five of my sources.

One of those sources said the longitude and latitude returned by Xiao’s queries came within 100 yards of their then-current location. Another source said the location found by the researcher was 1.5 miles away from his current location. The remaining three sources said the location returned for their phones was between approximately 1/5 to 1/3 of a mile at the time.


Free online service allowed anyone to track your phone’s location in real time

 

[Edinlass]

Never forget the not proven verdict, which essentially means the jury think the defendant is guilty but the evidence doesn't prove it. Reasonable doubt doesn't apply.

And what a scary thought that is...

 

[charlotte123456]

Never forget the not proven verdict, which essentially means the jury think the defendant is guilty but the evidence doesn't prove it. Reasonable doubt doesn't apply.

And I’m worried that this is where we are heading based on what I have heard thus far...

 

[Neko Luna Moon]

His mother testified she told him, not that he asked, as far as I'm aware.

I was sure she testified that she said they'd have their DNA and that's when he asked her what DNA was but I could be incorrect.

 

[Gardenista]

Circumstantial if it can be explained away by other (non nefarious) circumstances.

So what will it take for you to believe he is guilty?

 

[octagonsunrise]

Like I said, we have yet to hear the defense, but taking all of what we've heard so far into consideration from the prosecution, it meets beyond a reasonable doubt to me.

Unless there is something more significant, reported or not, then all that we have is circumstantial.

His movements to and from the house in themselves don't constitute guilt. It could merely be co-incidental. We would have to have some indication of his movements beyond CCTV via phone GPS.

The palm print doesn't mean he was in the house on the night of the murder. The print could have been left during a prior visit to the house to buy drugs.

The phone search for information relating to DNA means nothing in itself. It could purely be curiosity on his part further to the discussion with his mother.

There needs to be something significant - DNA on Alesha's body. Blood in his mother's house. GPS putting him at the crime scene etc. So far none of this has been mentioned.

 

[bfin1995]

I was sure she testified that she said they'd have their DNA and that's when he asked her what DNA was but I could be incorrect.

I think we're both saying the same thing, the point being that she initiated the conversation about DNA, not him.

 

[charlotte123456]

So what will it take for you to believe he is guilty?

I’m waiting for the DNA evidence from Alesha. That would be enough for me and then the rest of the evidence no longer looks circumstantial. I have hope that this will be damning and is why he came up with his “special defense”.

 

[Edinlass]

Connor Gillies - Twitter

Next witness is forensic scientist Sarah Jones. She has been in this profession for 22 years.

BBM - knows her field, 22 years is a long time, thank god.

 

[JosieJo]

Imo the DNA searches if after his mom mentions DNA is no use to the prosecution at all .

 

[Taskforce88]

The point is, we can only base things on the concrete evidence. There is not enough for me yet. I do think he is guilty, but you cannot base your opinions on gut instinct, only facts. If I feel this way, then I am sure that others on the jury do as well.

I would agree

 

[Edinlass]

Connor Gillies - Twitter

Witness specialises in fibres and clothing. She examined Alesha’s vest. Also looked at the jogging bottoms and hooded top found on beach.

 

[Gardenista]

I’m waiting for the DNA evidence from Alesha. That would be enough for me and then the rest of the evidence no longer looks circumstantial. I have hope that this will be damning and is why he came up with his “special defense”.

Again, DNA is circumstantial evidence.

 

[neteditor]

I’m waiting for the DNA evidence from Alesha. That would be enough for me and then the rest of the evidence no longer looks circumstantial. I have hope that this will be damning and is why he came up with his “special defense”.

I think we can assume his sperm was found on Alesha or there would be no reason for him to use the defence that TM took a condom they had used and emptied it on the child. Hopefully we get this from the current witness.

 

[Yenriac]

I would agree

Also agree.

 

[bfin1995]

Was this posted? It's the tweet from right before the Forensic Scientist took the stand:

@ConnorGillies
Witness says he found no Instagram contact between accused and Toni McLaghlin on the PHONE but cannot say whether there are any deleted Instagram conversations remain online as he does not have access to that.

They can't even say for sure if they communicated or not? Seems crazy!