Ex-girlfriend of Luke Mitchell says he killed Jodi Jones 'for kicks'

May 18 2008 Exclusive by Grace Macaskill

THE teenage ex-girlfriend of killer Luke Mitchell has revealed she fears he murdered Jodi Jones for fun.

Mitchell, 19, lost his appeal against his conviction on Friday and will serve at least 20 years for butchering the schoolgirl.

He was just 14 when he slaughtered girlfriend Jodi, also 14.

Kim Thomson - who bears a striking resemblance to the murder victim - said yesterday: "The big question is still why? Why did Luke kill someone who loved him?

"It's a question I don't think he will ever answer. I don't know how much comfort the answer would be for me or Jodi's mum anyway.

"There can be no logical reason why he killed Jodi. I think he did it simply for kicks.

"He used to tell me how he liked to pull the legs off spiders and dissect insects. I told him it was really cruel but he would just laugh.

"I used to dream about Luke walking me down that same path where he killed Jodi.

"The nightmares only stopped a few months ago. If he won his appeal I'd have spent the rest of my life looking over my shoulder. I thank God he's being kept behind bars."

Mitchell was cheating on Jodi with Kim for almost a year before the killing in June 2003. They met while he was on holiday near her home in Kenmore, Perthshire.

Mitchell slashed Jodi's throat on a quiet woodland path between their homes in Dalkeith, Midlothian, then stripped and mutilated her body.

The judge in his trial described the murder as the "worst I have ever seen".

Kim said: "I feel incredibly lucky to be alive. I still think it could have so easily been me.

"When I think about the past it doesn't seem real. I still can't equate the boy I met with the animal who did that to Jodi."

Kim also revealed how she spoke to Mitchell on the phone on the evening Jodi was killed.

She said: "I don't know if it was before or after he killed Jodi.

"There was nothing to indicate anything was wrong. It sends a shiver down my spine."

Kim, now of Coatbridge, is trying to rebuild her life and has a one-year-old son, Brandon.

She said: "I find it hard to trust people now.

"Luke was my first boyfriend. He stole away the part of me that was totally happy and carefree and that can never be regained."

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