THE MARILYN MANSON 'EVIDENCE'

On 24th December, 2004, the following article was published by NME:

MARILYN MANSON DVD PLAYED IN MURDER TRIAL

MARILYN MANSON’s DVD ‘THE GOLDEN AGE OF GROTESQUE’ was played in court yesterday (December 23) in the trial of a teenager accused of murdering schoolgirl JODI JONES.

The DVD – which shows two girls tied together near a track and struggling as hoods were placed over their heads – was seized by police from the home of Luke Mitchell, 16, who denies murdering Jodi on June 30 last year.

He told detectives he bought the DVD two days after 14-year-old Jodi’s naked and bloodstained body was found in woods near her home in Dalkeith, near Edinburgh.

The High Court in Edinburgh was told that during the police interview on July 4 last year Mitchell also chatted about his musical interests, including Marilyn Manson.

(...)

He told Detective Constable Stephen Quinn: “It is a weird sort of gothic video.”

Mitchell described the contents as “trancestyle”, with Manson “saying random words and stuff” over film of a car driving down a road in the middle of the night.

Prosecutor Alan Turnbull QC asked for the first 10 minutes of the DVD to be played.

The jury heard repetitive music and lyrics such as “stop rehearsing alcohol and start performing narcotics” and “the only thing that is immortal in this world is money”.

Mr Turnbull asked the detective if the contents did include, as Mitchell had said, a car driving down the road in the middle of the night, and DC Quinn agreed.

“The portion we watched also seemed to include a number of flash images. In some there seemed to be a young girl who is naked.”

The detective replied: “It seemed to be like that, yes.” He also agreed that in some images the girl appeared to be lying on the ground.

Mr Turnbull described how occupants got out of a car after seeing two struggling women wearing corsets, which made them seem to be naked and tied together. Hoods or bags were then put over the women’s heads as they struggled.

“The girls were to some extent molested and carried away,” said Mr Turnbull, and DC Quinn agreed.

(...)

(End of extract)

Quoting the Internet Movie Database (IMDB), this is the video referred to:

"Doppelherz is a short film directed by Marilyn Manson in 2003, using music composed a year prior, in 2002. The name Doppelherz is German for "double-heart".

Originally released as a bonus DVD packaged with Marilyn Manson's May 2003 album entitled 'The Golden Age of Grotesque'".

There is a copy available on YouTube:

It was never released commercially and only ever distributed with 'SPECIAL EDITION' promotions of the album:

There was a contemporary issue of 'KERRANG!', dated 10 May, 2003 and although Marilyn Manson featured on the cover, a free DVD with the Doppelherz short film was not included:

In essence, Luke did not purchase a copy of this seminal short-film, it was acquired by chance.

A couple of fleeting scenes in Manson's introspective portrayal, allowed for a conceivable connection, no matter how far-fetched and grasping at straws, that might ostensibly seem to be.

Furthermore, Manson demonstrably had a fascination with the infamous 1940 'Black Dahlia' slaying and that, in turn, became equally attributed to Luke.

Despite being consummately unrelated, both aspects were cited as compelling evidence of Luke's guilt and auspiciously resolved a central dilemma for the prosecution case. Now there was something which could be proposed to fill that problematic, gaping void...

A motive.

How pivotal though, was it?

Profoundly so, it would seem. From a  Scotsman newspaper case report, dated 14 February, 2005:

I did not inspire Jodi's killer, says rock star Marilyn Manson

(...)

The schoolgirl’s death and her injuries bore similarities to the gruesome "Black Dahlia" murder of 1940s Hollywood actress Elizabeth Short.

Paintings by Manson depicting the mutilated body of the murdered actress were shown to the jury during the schoolboy’s trial.

Detectives believed the woman’s murder was the inspiration for Jodi’s killing after it emerged Mitchell was an avid fan of Manson.

Lord Nimmo Smith, the trial judge at the High Court in Edinburgh, said he believed Mitchell had carried an image of those paintings in his mind when he killed Jodi.

(...)

Nor could the boy’s obsession with Satanism be dismissed as "mere adolescent rebellion", the judge added.

"I think that is a sign that you found evil attractive and that you thought that there might be a kind of perverted glamour in doing something wicked," he said.

"I do not feel able to ignore the fact that there was a degree of resemblance between the injuries inflicted on Jodi and those shown in the Marilyn Manson paintings of Elizabeth Short that we saw.

"I think that you carried an image of the paintings in your memory when you killed Jodi," the judge said.

(End of extract)

However, as reaffirmed in a related 23 December, 2004, BBC news report:

"The DVD played to the jury was bought by the accused, Jodi's boyfriend Luke Mitchell, two days after he found her naked body in woods near her home".

If Luke did not possess a copy of the video until after Jodi's murder, then how could it possibly have been a factor?

Moreso, a tangible connection with Marilyn Manson, in relation to any aspect, is entirely specious.

Nonetheless, as emphasised in a verdict summary, published by 'The Guardian' on 22 January, 2005:

"When asked to compare Jodi's murder with the Black Dahlia case, forensic pathologist Professor Anthony Busuttil told the court: "In terms of the location and type of the injuries, there is a similarity"."

From a more recent article, published by The Scottish Sun, on 5 March, 2021, the proclaimed, related connection appears to be:

"Manson had an exhibition of the same name - 'The Golden Age of the Grotesque' - publicised on his website.

It included images depicting the death of the actress Elizabeth Short, also known as “The Black Dahlia”, who was mutilated and murdered in Los Angeles in 1947.

(...)

There was, however, no evidence that Mitchell had accessed this website

SEE THE PIVOTAL ARTWORK ON DISPLAY

It proverbially beggars belief, this actually occurred and perhaps ultimately proved decisive in the minds of sufficient jury members.