Dont know what to say, but feel for Joanne,s parents

I feel for the parents ,and they will have another 9/12 months before it comes to court.
However I am sure that having someone held accountable is much more preferable to never knowing who took your childs life.

Its so very sad erin, as i have said my daughter near the same age, i cant even think about the pain, but as you say its better knowing, but the wait will be awful ......

I wouldn't get too excited about this. They held the landlord on suspicion and kept asking for more time to question him because clearly they had nothing they could pin on him. They let him go then haul in this other guy and for three days have nothing to charge him with now out of the blue they're saying they have, but won't say on what basis he is being charged.

They are desperate to pin this murder on someone, anyone. I'm not saying this guy isn't guilty but police behaviour in this case has been suspect right from the start.

The Police had DNA from Joanne's killer,this might have matched,which has led to a charge..

Did they actually charge the landlord though Prom?  I do agree with you though that they are desperate to pin this on someone because of public and media pressure.  Its rather worrying as I am afraid someone may get charged just because of circumstantial evidence, and if they have no alibi.  And it may not be them. 

I agree Prom ... I hope for her parent's sake that this has been fully researched and they have the right person, but I am a bit concerned about releasing details about every Tom, Dick and Harry before they seem to be certain

The Landlord was released without charge.

They must have something Prom or they wouldnt have charged him, they have DNA, apparently. I think the Police have done well in this case, it must be annoying when they have Sky News being armchair detectives 24/7

They may have, but it doesn't take days to get a DNA match anymore. If they had a DNA match I'd have thought they'd know on day one and charge him accordingly.

The Police are desperate to get a result.

No they didn't and they kept asking for more time to question him which seemed to me they just wanted to give the impression they were doing something. I hope they don't send anyone down without concrete evidence it's people's freedom we're talking about here.

I think the blokes girlfriend has said something to the police, maybe that is why he has now been charged.

I agree Prom and thats what concerns me.  That someone will go down who hasnt done it.

This guy and his GF had been interviewed weeks ago.However it has now been suggested that the GF has in some way incriminated her boyfriend.

Ooooh I wonder if that means that she has deliberately dropped him in it coz she knows its him or if she has made some shit up? 

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/ho...d-off-Jo-police.html
Weeping girl tipped of police.

Thanks for the link Erin. I wonder what she's said to the police. I guess we'll all know soon.

I think DNA and forensic evidence was a bit difficult to come by because of frozen conditions. Maybe now it's becoming a bit clearer.

That's true but I thought they had the DNA for a while now, you might be right though. If it's not a DNA match and they're charging him based on what his girlfriend has told them it's all going to get very messy.

i hope police have got it right this time , the landlord was dragged thru the coals 

Yeah well, he had funny hair and was known as being a bit eccentric. 'That's our man' thought some bright spark at Bristol CID 

The landlord was questioned at length. Fair enough IMO ...............anyone with any connection living close by should be questioned shouldn't they? There really isn't anything wrong (indeed it's quite right IMO) with questioning 'suspects' - FGS - the guy is a bit of an odd ball  (not necessarily a murderer) - the police questioned him as part of theor enquiries - quite right IMO.

yeah but the fella had his name and face splashed all over the papers.....question him by all means.....but the fact he was an 'oddball' doesn't make him a murderer.......yet he was connected to it just for the fact he looked a bit of an 'oddball'........his name will be tarnished forever.........even if someone else is convicted.....people will always look at him as 'he's the one'..

look at the rachel nickell case..........they targetted colin stagg and convinced themselves he was the one......yet it wasn't.......but the blokes life is shattered cos he was all over the papers and all but convicted

I agree ...........the fact that he was an odball doesn't mean that he was a murderer - the police were simply doing their duty in investigating the possibility. The fact that it was all over the news with different peoples accounts etc. is another matter - I don't believe in supressing the freedom of the press but sometimes (quite often) they go too far in printing their own theories. 

The press coverage and details were far too invasive IMO .............but the police were right to question - they have a duty to question everyone who is suspect - the press would do well to hold fire. It's not always necessary to report everything - it can often be detrimental as it may often jeopardise a case.

Was'nt Colin Stagg remanded for 14 months even though there was no shred of evidence?....

I found this on the stagg case which is intersting....

In 2006 Nick Cohen, at the time of the murder a junior reporter on the Independent on Sunday, commented in his column in The Observer that the inaccurate reporting of the case, and in particular the frequent suggestions in the press that Stagg had been guilty, stemmed from too close a relationship between the police and the media^[13]....

also....

In July 2006, the Scotland Yard team interviewed a convicted sex killer for two days at Broadmoor hospital in Berkshire, 50 miles west of London^[17]. The 40 year old man diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic, had been held at the secure institute for more than ten years^[18].

Later reports revealed the man questioned to be Robert Napper the convicted killer of Samantha Bisset and her four-year-old daughter Jazmine, which occurred a year and a half later in 1993^[19]. Napper is also suspected of being the Green Chain rapist who carried out at least 70 savage attacks across south-east London in a four year spree until 1994.

Press reports suggest that the Scotland Yard team have made sufficient progress on the 14 year old unsolved murder to bring charges against an unconfirmed suspect believed to be Napper, which the Crown Prosecution Service are now reviewing.^[20]

On 28 November 2007, Robert Napper was charged with Rachel Nickell's murder. He appeared at City of Westminster Magistrates' Court on 4 December 2007^[21] where he was remanded until another hearing on 20 December 2007.^[22] On 24 January, 2008, Napper pleaded not guilty to the murder of Rachel Nickell. He will face trial in November 2008.^[23]

 

Makes you wonder if that was another stitch up....

This dutch guy they have charged,  the press (I assume) has looked into his background and haven't found any history of aggression or unwanted attention to women...you'd have thought he would have a history of issues with women to lead up to possible murder,   no one just murders someone like this out of nowhere.


I wonder if this the right man.

The press only need to look into their own background to find those things!

Robert Napper later pleaded guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

Her poor parents just look so shattered,I feel for them.

Yes but with his mental problems was it a solid safe conviction....

They discovered microscopic traces of DNA taken from Rachel's body which would have been undetectable in 1992 matched his profile when they reinvestigated Rachel's murder.

Thanks Longcat, I could'nt find anything on the case to do with DNA and its so hard to believe it was nearly 20 years ago, her poor son is a man now....

Just seen on the news they have charged the Architect on the Joanne case....

It is hard to believe that it's 20 years and that an innocent man was almost convicted because of police incompetence and trial by media. I think Joanne's case  was following the same pattern and I hope they have now charged the right person and have the evidence to back it up.

I think the criminal profiling in the Rachel Nickell case was its biggest downfall.  The police relied too heavily on it.  Even when it became clear Stagg was not giving out the information they wanted/needed they pursued it regardless.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-12664581



What took the police so long to announce the landlord was no longer a suspect.

I thought the same myself. The other guy was charged weeks and weeks ago .................I wonder why it has taken so long. the poor guys credibility has been ripped to shreds. I heard he's gonna sue both the police and some of the press. Can't say I blame him.

Such a sad, sad case Can't believe it takes so long for the trial, im sure i read it was due in September/October time. Heart goes out to friends and families. Regards the Landlord, that was horrible, I hope it wasn't just because he was a little eccentric that the police were on him, poor guy.

strange case - can't really believe an educated man just suddenly strangles his neighbor - it just doesn't ring true