Joanna Yeates: Matthew Wood And The Daily Mirror’s Blurry Detectives
JOANNA YEATES: MEET Matthew Wood. He’s the subject of the Sun’s front-page headline:
Murdered Jo sent me last text
You speak to the tabloids at your own risk. Mr Wood is innocent. The Sun wanted to tell us his name, invited readers:
DO you know the pal Jo tried to contact? Call 020 7782 ****.
But before you read about him and his suffering, get a load of this is the Mirror, where expert armchair detective Dai Davies, “Ex-Met Police Detective Chief Superintendent”, has “five theories” as to what happened to Joanna Yeates. Yeah, only five:
The friend: I believe the killer most likely knew Joanna. They could have turned up unexpectedly or arranged to meet – that would explain the two bottles of cider and the pizza.
Workmate Or Friend Of A Friend: It is vital to look at everyone in Bristol with one degree of separation to Jo. It might be a colleague she knew a little or someone who knew her through someone else.
Mindful of that speculation, we go back to Matthew Wood. He is innocent. The Sun tells us:
Matthew, 28 – who is not a suspect – said: “The text message she sent me was, ‘Where are you? Do you fancy a drink?’
“I replied saying I was at the office Christmas party and I was busy. It was just a text message between friends. I didn’t see her message at first because I was at the party. I sent her one back at 9.20pm but she never replied. It is horrifying to think that she may have been dead when I texted her.”
Do you see that Mr Wood is not a suspect? So why does the Sun feel a need to tell readers about Mr Woods’ life?
Science graduate Matthew is a friend of Jo’s brother Christopher. Both went to £10,000-a-year King Edward VI school in Southampton. He has lived in Bristol ten years and met Jo a few times after she moved to the city two years ago and knew few people there.
We recall the words of one commentator who said of Chris Jefferies (he got the full Murat treatment):
Landlord is quite right saying nothing to the press or public, thats how stories grow arms and legs, as long as the police have all the information thats what matters.
The Star leads with the news:
Mum traces tragic Jo’s final steps
Mum is Theresa Yeates, 58. Her husband, Joanna Yeates’s father David notes that the murder is to feature on the BBC’s Crimewatch. He says:
“My wife looks a bit similar to Jo and would like to take the part.”
In the Mail he adds:
“I don’t know whether the police would involve us at all.”
As for clues, the Mirror leads with:
Jo Cops CCTV Blow
None of the 32 cameras on a bridge her killer probably crossed are likely to give clear pictures. A Clifton Suspension Bridge source revealed yesterday: “They’re rubbish at night. They’re too dim.”
But nothing’s too dim for the Daily Mirror which once featured a shadowy photo on its front page and told readers:
IT is thought to be the last film of Jo Yeates – and shows two blurred people walking just yards behind her. The potentially-crucial images were taken by a pub’s CCTV cameras pointed at the route the 25-year-old landscape architect took to walk home before she was killed.
The Mirror championed its news. Her was the breakthrough. And then the police told us:
“Unfortunately the picture quality is poor and it is not possible to confirm that it is or isn’t Jo. But we are looking into it as part of a number of lines of inquiry.”
But have no fear. The Mirror is on the case. Here’s “former” Detective Chief Inspector Peter Kirkham
THE vast majority of murders are resolved one way or another within the first few days, either through an arrest or a manhunt.
We can think of 27 murders in Bristol alone that have not been resolved.
But occasionally there is a case where police simply do not know who are they are looking for at all. More than three weeks after she disappeared, police still do not know where Jo died.
Maybe Kirkham and Davies can put their heads together and think of few new theories by which to entertain Mirror readers?
Joanna Yeates has been murdered. There is only one suspect, and he’s out on police bail…
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Posted: 10th, January 2011 | In: Reviews Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
