UK UK - Billie-Jo Jenkins, 13, Hastings, Sussex, 15 Feb 1997

[Alyce]

30 June 2004


Charlotte denied claims her mother had lied to police about her evidence. The teenager said she "may of " told her mother before the trial that "she just knew" her father had killed Billie-Jo, albeit unintentionally.

She said she had felt guilty that there had been a delay in calling for an ambulance after they had found Billie-Jo dead.
She also recalled "something to do with" her father not wanting to hand his jumper to police for testing, but added: "It's really vague.



Tears of Billie-Jo's sister

 

[Alyce]

Fri 2 Jul 2004


The leading defence barrister in the 1998 Billie-Jo Jenkins murder trial said today he would have called two of Siôn Jenkins' other daughters as witnesses had he not been led to believe their evidence would be "disastrous" to his case.

Anthony Scrivener QC told the court of appeal in London that he would have put Charlotte and Annie Jenkins in the witness box if he had known that their evidence would have been helpful to his client. He said he did not learn this until years after the trial.

He and his fellow defence lawyers were faced with police memoranda of statements made by the girls' mother, Lois Jenkins, indicating that the children had changed their original video-taped accounts, which would have helped their father, and were now extremely hostile towards him.

"I did not know what they were going to say," said Mr Scrivener. "If they were going to say what was in the original tapes, it would have been helpful to the defence. If they were going to say what was in the memoranda, he might as well plead guilty."



Daughters' evidence 'would have helped' Siôn Jenkins

 

[Legally Bland]

There's a reconstruction of the journey with the two daughters going to the DIY store in the Trevor McDonald interview. I can't tell if the girls are in the front next to him or in the back.

Starts at 5:38 in the video

I apologise for going into the minutiae, but you don't wait for a spillage to go seek out white spirit when you're painting with oil based paint. It's something you make sure you have before painting, at the very least you need it to clean the brushes.

 

[silflay_hraka]

I just watched the documentary today and find it very interesting. I remember this case happening but it's been a long time since I've gone over any of the details - and I am also caught on the minutiae... Especially how it was pointed out in the documentary there was a decorating shop not very far from SJ's house that may have sold white spirit.

I also wondered why, if there were concerns of a 'prowler' (which lead to extra lighting being set up around the house (mentioned by police officers in the documentary) and SJ saying they were considering putting their house on the market) SJ did not properly seek out BJJ when he eventually admitted/remembered going into the house before going to the DIY shop.

If any parent was genuinely worried about a prowler would they not locate their child before heading back out to leave them alone again - even if it was only to shout up the stairs they'll be back in a few minutes - doesn't seem like anything like that happened. If there was a prowler, perhaps on this occasion SJ new it was not that person acting at this time.

 

[CSIAngus]

I apologise for going into the minutiae, but you don't wait for a spillage to go seek out white spirit when you're painting with oil based paint. It's something you make sure you have before painting, at the very least you need it to clean the brushes.

I have a vague recollection of a mention that there was already white spirit at the home. Added to the fact that SJ didn't have a method of payment with him and the bizarre route he took, including driving past the house (was he checking to see if the scene had been discovered/alarm had been raised?), I conclude that that part of the story was a mixture of panic and alibi building after he'd attacked BJJ. There never was an intention to buy white spirit.

 

[Kaykedi]

I just watched the documentary today and find it very interesting. I remember this case happening but it's been a long time since I've gone over any of the details - and I am also caught on the minutiae... Especially how it was pointed out in the documentary there was a decorating shop not very far from SJ's house that may have sold white spirit.

I also wondered why, if there were concerns of a 'prowler' (which lead to extra lighting being set up around the house (mentioned by police officers in the documentary) and SJ saying they were considering putting their house on the market) SJ did not properly seek out BJJ when he eventually admitted/remembered going into the house before going to the DIY shop.

If any parent was genuinely worried about a prowler would they not locate their child before heading back out to leave them alone again - even if it was only to shout up the stairs they'll be back in a few minutes - doesn't seem like anything like that happened. If there was a prowler, perhaps on this occasion SJ new it was not that person acting at this time.

Excellently thought out silflay_hraka. If there were concerns about a stalker in their area had any of the neighbours experienced similar I wonder?

 

[MsMiniSleuth]

As was said in the doc, and as can be seen clearly in his demeanour, SJ is a very tightly controlled individual. I can see being that in command of emotions, like a tightly wound spring, it can snap.

Given what the friend had said he saw sometime earlier of SJ hitting BJ, and the words of the mother, I don't feel this case was really conducted at all well legally.

I don't buy the mentally ill man being in the frame. Convenient only because of the plastic the neighbour said she pulled from BJ's nose, and this guy had apparently some kind of fixation on the stuff. Could just as easily have been used by someone else while either trying to cover her face or to stem blood escaping.

But like I said earlier, the time frame as given would just be too tight for SJ - as it has been given by him. But there again, there is probably more there that hasn't come out.

 

[silflay_hraka]

If there were concerns about a stalker in their area had any of the neighbours experienced similar I wonder?

This would be very interesting to know! The documentary detailed how SJ's neighbour was the first person he called after 999 - so I'm assuming they were quite close/friends. If this is the case then they may have discussed this possible prowler and the neighbour may have opinions on this - would love to hear them.

As was said in the doc, and as can be seen clearly in his demeanour, SJ is a very tightly controlled individual. I can see being that in command of emotions, like a tightly wound spring, it can snap.

I agree. The reports from BJJs friends and family friends are very eye opening to me, and so tragic for BJJ. These accounts paint a picture to me of a person who snaps quickly to then regain composure quickly too.

To also hear the police office in the documentary speak of violence is just awful. Paul Hilton, Detective Constable CID (1994-2008) spoke of a report from a family friend on holiday with the Jenkins.

"PG, he related me quite a few things that had happened. And one in particular was in France, they'd gone on holiday and they'd rented a farmhouse, and Billie had accidentally sprained her ankle. And had been sent to bed by Sion because he thinks she did it on purpose and he was unhappy that she was trying to make herself, you know, like... attention. Sion went up to see if Billie-Jo had settled down upstairs in the bedroom and unbeknown to Sion, PG was up there in his bedroom, and he opened the bedroom door and looked through into where Billie-Jo was and saw Sion kicking the living - as he said - kicking the living daylights out of Billie-jo".

(around 44 mins 15 seconds in)

The documentary has a narrator reading out excerpts from the book The Murder of Billie-Jo by Sion Jenkins and Bob Woffinden, early on, the narrator reads:

"Billie's painting was a mess, I noticed paint on the tiles and realised we needed white spirit to get it off".

I'm unclear how he saw the paint on the tiles, yet did not see his daughter, as he has claimed.

Perhaps SJ went around the back of the house with the bucket (that somehow ended up on the patio), and saw the painting mess on the tiles from outside, and perhaps reacted with fatal anger at this moment... grabbing the nearest implement, MOO.

I do wonder why, if this happened he was not noticeably covered in blood, but this is also covered well enough in the documentary for me to conclude who the most likely perpetrator is, in my opinion. I've transcribed a few minutes of 2 views of cast off spatter as they were presented in the documentary here:

Emeritus Professor Robert Schroter - Senior Research Investigator, Department of Bioengineering at Imperial College London: "It's very clear from the information that we do have, that this attack was what is called dynamic. It wasn't just somebody who had hit a girl on the ground, there must have been a fight and I cannot see how that could have happened without quite a lot of blood being transferred on to the assailant".

Ray Fysh, Advisor, Major Crimes Science Service, 1996 - 2011: "The question of cast off blood has been raised on a couple of occasions. Now, with certain, beatings, you can get cast off blood, down the back of the finger..."

RS: "So you would have blood coming off a wet weapon and droplets moving towards the back of the person, so you would expect to find spots around the back of the person. There were no spots on the back of Jenkins whatsoever. But in all the studies that we did we would always find some degree of cast off spatter as well as the impact spatter from the impact process".

RF: "What we had here was a murder weapon, which was quite short, 18 inches, but very, very heavy. Now the arc of swing, if you take a club hammer, you don't swing it, the arc is quite short, so it's unlikely to get cast off with such a short heavy weapon such as that".

(Around - 1 hour 13 mins in. There are further points made about crime scene and blood distribution that I haven't highlighted here)

My5

 

[Officer Dibble]

There's a reconstruction of the journey with the two daughters going to the DIY store in the Trevor McDonald interview. I can't tell if the girls are in the front next to him or in the back.

Starts at 5:38 in the video

The first thing that strikes me in this video is he speaks in a Monotone in it. JMO MOO.

 

[Officer Dibble]

There's a reconstruction of the journey with the two daughters going to the DIY store in the Trevor McDonald interview. I can't tell if the girls are in the front next to him or in the back.

Starts at 5:38 in the video

I can see two sets of shoes side by side in the front footwell of the girls. I would say they are sharing the seat in the front. JMO MOO.

 

[29 Acacia Road]

Does anyone recall if the bits of plastic (apparently packed tightly up Billie-Jo's nose) were in both nostrils or just one?

Additionally, does anyone know if the neighbour pulling the plastic from Billie-Jo's nose was prior to Sion checking on Billie-Jo or after?

The reason I ask, is it sounded like Sion did not spend much time with Billie-Jo and we know that once the ambulance arrived he sat in his car for a while. So if he only went to Billie-Jo's side once and did not return the bits of plastic may be important.

If the plastic was in both nostrils and packed as tightly as the neighbour claims, then if Sion was attending to Billie-Jo before the plastic was pulled out by the neighbour, then I feel it would be very unlikely her nose would produce the 'blood bubble' Sion claimed to have seen.

Alternatively, if it was in only one nostril or it was in both but it was pulled out prior to Sion attending to her (or he went back to her a second time after the neighbour) then perhaps that could indicate Sion was telling the truth. One nostril being tightly packed causing the other one to 'bubble' or if in both nostrils, the plastic being taken out caused a release of pressure, hence the bubble.

 

[Kaykedi]

Apologies as I imagine this has already been discussed. Sion Jenkins in the documentary Who Killed Billie Jo? The telephone call with emergency services.
The operator asked him, "is she breathing alright?" to which he replied "I don't know, I haven't looked".
I find this incredible. Who doesn't check if someone in this terrible condition is dead or alive?

 

[CSIAngus]

Was the plastic bag rammed into a nostril (or was it both) to stem blood, or breath, or was it an act of penetration? It was referenced in respect of the neighbour but I was surprised that this detail was not explored by the detectives or forensics. It's a detail I wanted to hear more about.

 

[CSIAngus]

Apologies as I imagine this has already been discussed. Sion Jenkins in the documentary Who Killed Billie Jo? The telephone call with emergency services.
The operator asked him, "is she breathing alright?" to which he replied "I don't know, I haven't looked".
I find this incredible. Who doesn't check if someone in this terrible condition is dead or alive?

Especially if you have parental responsibility for the person you find badly beaten in your home. She was a part of SJ's family. Any normal person would be desperate for the young girl to be alive and to check for signs of life. That would almost certainly involve lots of blood on clothes but he had only signs of splatter, which suggests he didn't even bother to check for life. The splatter speaks for itself.

 

[CSIAngus]

Especially if you have parental responsibility for the person you find badly beaten in your home. She was a part of SJ's family. Any normal person would be desperate for the young girl to be alive and to check for signs of life. That would almost certainly involve lots of blood on clothes but he had only signs of splatter, which suggests he didn't even bother to check for life. The splatter speaks for itself.

Of course, I mean spatter.

 

[Kaykedi]

Of course, I mean spatter.

CSIAngus, when you say the spatter speaks for itself, please could you tell me what you mean? TIA

 

[CSIAngus]

CSIAngus, when you say the spatter speaks for itself, please could you tell me what you mean? TIA

You mean you don't know about blood spatter or you don't know why it is important? Blood spatter is drops of blood that radiate from the impact of a bullet or blunt instrument. It forms patterns and droplet shapes that can be analysed. There was spatter on SJ's clothes and shoes, which he explained as blood from BJJ exhaling a bubble of blood from a nostril.

 

[Kaykedi]

You mean you don't know about blood spatter or you don't know why it is important? Blood spatter is drops of blood that radiate from the impact of a bullet or blunt instrument. It forms patterns and droplet shapes that can be analysed. There was spatter on SJ's clothes and shoes, which he explained as blood from BJJ exhaling a bubble of blood from a nostril.

Thank you for your reply. I suppose I am wondering what the spray of blood in this instance tells the experts?

 

[CSIAngus]

Thank you for your reply. I suppose I am wondering what the spray of blood in this instance tells the experts?

Depends which side of the case you're on. It was evidence for the prosecution. The defence relied on the blood from the nostril to explain it. I believe this is being re-examined to see if the spatter on SJ's clothes contains any bone tissue. If it does that would suggest spatter directly from blunt force impact, i.e. SJ would have to be at the scene when the attack took place. I'm sure that evidence would be contested also.

 

[MsMiniSleuth]

Billie-Jo Jenkins would be 38 years old if she were alive today. Who knows what she might have made of her life, whom she might have married, how many children she might have had?

[...]

A quarter of a century on and whoever was responsible for bludgeoning her to death with an 18in iron tent peg as she painted the patio doors at her foster family’s home in Hastings, East Sussex, is still at large; the keeper of one of the most despicable secrets imaginable.

For her best friend, Holly Liles, the 25th anniversary of Billie-Jo’s death this week is a painful one. She is still haunted by memories of the terrible day she was told her friend was dead.

‘I was in total shock. I was in counselling for ages,’ says Holly, now 39 with five children. ‘It was such a dreadful thing to happen. She was my best friend. We did everything together — we were inseparable.’

[...]

A framed photo of Billie-Jo takes pride of place in Holly’s home in St Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex.

Taken just a few months before she was murdered and given to Holly by Billie-Jo’s foster mother after her death, along with some of her jewellery, it shows her with much-loved Staffordshire terrier Buster. She has taken off her glasses and playfully put them on her pet’s face.

On the day she died, she had walked Buster in the park opposite the Jenkins’s family home. Talking about that fateful Saturday for the first time, Holly says she had offered to help Billie-Jo with her painting.

‘I told her foster father that I would help Billie-Jo paint the patio doors at the weekend but he said: “No, Billie-Jo sees her [biological] father at the weekend so you can’t come round.” That was the last I ever saw of her. It still upsets me to this day thinking about it. I’d give anything to see her killer brought to justice.’

[...]

We can reveal that Sion Jenkins, now 63, goes by the name of Charles Jenkins and is believed to live in York with his second wife, Tina, 71, a millionaire divorcee and former Miss Southsea beauty queen.

[...]

When she was found, she was still clutching a paintbrush. A post-mortem later revealed that her skull had been split.

The police surgeon who visited the scene said it was ‘the most brutal murder’ he’d attended during his 26-year career.

[...]

Any future breakthrough in the case will come too late for Billie-Jo’s biological parents.

Her father Bill died of cancer in 2006 while her mother Deborah passed away in 2018.

Next month marks what should have been their daughter’s 39th birthday. Instead she is in a grave in the children’s corner of the City of London cemetery, where she will forever remain a child.

Billie-Jo: The troubling clues in new Channel 5 documentary 25 years later | Daily Mail Online