Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Jill Meagher on CCTV Images

Question:  Jill's husband had sensitivity indicators regarding Jill in Statement Analysis.  Is it possible he was deceptive about his relationship with Jill, to the media, but to the police, he was truthful?

Answer:  yes.  We only analyze what we have in front of us.  What he said to the police could be different.  We would have needed either his police statement or a reporter willing to ask straight questions.


Jill Meagher CCTV reveals mystery 'man in blue'

Police probe turns to identifying a man seen doubling back along Sydney Road to talk to Jill Meagher moments before she walked away with him and then disappeared.
Missing woman Gillian Meagher was caught on CCTV footage talking to a man in a blue jumper outside a boutique in Sydney Road, Brunswick, for about 30 seconds before they walked off together, police said.
This vision was taken at 1.43am.
The Duchess Boutique on Sydney Road, from which CCTV footage of Jill Meagher is being studied.
The Duchess Boutique on Sydney Road, which provided CCTV footage of Jill Meagher that is being studied.
Detectives this afternoon have released footage of the last known movements of Ms Meagher, 29, who is shown walking along Sydney Road outside the Duchess Boutique.
Police are also searching for four people who were captured on CCTV footage walking near the ABC employee just minutes before she vanished after a night out in Brunswick last week.
"We're very keen to talk to that man in the [blue] hoodie," said Detective Inspector John Potter, of the homicide squad, this afternoon.
Missing... ABC radio employee Jill Meagher.
Missing... ABC radio employee Jill Meagher. Photo: Facebook: Help Us Find Jill Meagher
Police are urging anyone with information about these people to come forward, he said.
Detective Inspector Potter said nobody had been ruled out as a suspect in Ms Meagher’s disappearance, but that there were no suspects at this time. He said it was looking more like she had been snatched from the street on her way home.
"We haven’t been able rule out (the theory that she was abducted) at all, and in fact we’re looking more and more at that as a possibility". He said police believed Ms Meagher's husband Tom was at home when the footage was taken by the CCTV camera, and that he made many attempts to phone her before he began searching nearby streets.
A bin and parked car in a laneway off Hope St, Brunswick, where Jill Meagher's handbag was found.Click for more photos

What happened to Jill?

A bin and parked car in a laneway off Hope St, Brunswick, where Jill Meagher's handbag was found. Photo: Penny Stephens
"I will say, Mr Meagher is not being treated in any way as a suspect," he said.
Detective Inspector Potter urged the people captured by the footage to contact Crime Stoppers immediately.
"We don't know what they know, but they have certainly passed Gillian at the last moment that we've got some confirmed sighting of her. We need to talk to all those people in an attempt to find out what’s happened to Gillian," he said.
Owner Patricia Liapis in the Duchess wedding-dress boutique.
Owner Patricia Liapis in the Duchess wedding-dress boutique. Photo: Jason South
"Unfortunately none of the people in the footage have come forward. Particularly the man who looks back must have seen something going on, whether it be a conversation or something, we don’t know."
He said the footage of her talking to the man in the blue jumper was the last know sighting of her.
The footage shows a couple walking south along Sydney Road past the shop at 1.39am, and, about 40 seconds later, the man in the blue hoodie walking north.
He then walks back south towards where Ms Meagher would have been at 1.41 am. A man with a beard crosses his path in front of the CCTV camera at the bridal boutique.
About 30 seconds later, another man walks north past the shop, but turns and looks back over his shoulder in the direction of where both Ms Meagher and the man in the blue hoodie would have been.
Another man walks north past the shop about 15 seconds later.
About 45 seconds later, the footage shows Ms Meagher talking to the man in the hoodie outside the shop.
They walk a couple of metres past the door of the shop, and stop again. Ms Meagher appears to be holding her phone, while the man talks her.
He walks north out of the camera’s field of view, and a few seconds later she follows him.
"We’re very keen to talk to that man in the hoodie," Inspector Potter said.
"There may be a rational explanation for what has happened, but he may have information that can help us."
The footage was at the same time Ms Meagher phoned her brother.
Inspector Potter said it was possible the man in the blue hoodie was the male voice her brother heard in the background when she phoned him.
Four other people were captured on the same camera walking along Sydney Road at the same time, and detectives have urged those people to contact Crime Stoppers as soon as possible in the hope that they can shed some light on Ms Meagher’s whereabouts.
It comes after police revealed this morning that they had discovered the presence of a mystery man in the footage, which was being examined frame-by-frame to determine whether the man was following Ms Meagher in the minutes before she disappeared.
The footage was captured by a camera in Duchess Boutique on Sydney Road.
The owner of Duchess Boutique, Patricia Liapis, said she was happy the camera — which was installed to protect her staff and her stock — might help solve the mystery of what happened to Jill, but that the area was dangerous at night.
"I would never walk along the side streets, they’re just too dark," she said.
"It could happen to anyone or any woman".
Today's development came after detectives last night spent several hours at the house shared by Gillian Meagher and her husband, Tom, after forensic officers searched the home earlier in the day.
Forensic police arrived at the Brunswick premises shortly after midday and stayed for three hours. Mr Meagher paced on the home's balcony during the search, in which police removed several evidence bags of property.
But a second group, this time including detectives and forensic officers, revisited the home after 6pm. They left a few hours later with more property in sealed bags.
Detective Inspector Potter said no conclusions should be reached from the police search of her home.
''[Gillian's] husband has been nothing more than co-operative so we can't read anything into that. This is something that we would normally do,'' he said.
Mystery continues to surround the disappearance of Ms Meagher, with police revealing they were investigating whether her handbag had been planted in a Brunswick lane by someone connected to her disappearance. The 29-year-old's handbag was found discarded in the lane off Hope Street on Monday morning by a passer-by.
But Detective Inspector Potter said police had already searched that lane in the hours after Ms Meagher, an Irish national, was reported missing.
''There are two options, either police in the original search missed the bag or the bag has since been placed at that laneway after the police searched it originally,'' he told ABC 774, where Ms Meagher worked on the Local Radio Victoria team.
The handbag contained Ms Meagher's credit card but not her mobile phone, which remains missing.
Ms Meagher is believed to have left Bar Etiquette at 1.30am on Saturday, intending to make the short walk to her home in Lux Way, after declining a colleague's offer to accompany her home. Her home is less than one kilometre from the bar.
She made a brief phone call to her brother Michael at the family's Perth home about 1.45am to inquire about the health of her father, who recently suffered a stroke.
She was reported missing by her husband about midday on Saturday. He said he called her phone repeatedly between 2am and 6am, and left home to search for her at 4am. The police investigation has turned to finding Ms Meagher's missing phone, and to potential links between her disappearance and attempted abductions in the Brunswick area.
A number of women have reported being attacked or followed by a vehicle in the same area of Brunswick where Ms Meagher vanished.
About 60 people also have contacted Crime Stoppers with potential information.
Inspector Potter said police would examine reports of assaults and attempted abductions made on a Facebook page, ''Help us find Jill Meagher''.
''We would encourage people, if they have information that they think is pertinent, to ring Crime Stoppers,'' he said.
Premier Ted Baillieu yesterday sent his support to Ms Meagher's family and friends, and urged anyone with information to contact police.
''It is disturbing in many ways and my heart goes out to the husband and family,'' Mr Baillieu said. ''We trust and hope she is found successfully.''



POLICE have released CCTV images showing missing ABC employee Jill Meagher talking to a man as she was walking home, minutes before her suspicious disappearance.
Police say the footage shows the 29-year-old woman walking outside a bridal dress shop on Brunswick's Sydney Road at around 1.40am (AEST) on Saturday.
It shows a man in a blue top walking back and forth on Sydney Road. He then starts talking with Ms Meagher outside the bridal store at 1.42am to 1.43am.
She is in high heels and is carrying one or two bags.
He then walks off ahead of her and she waits behind for a moment, then continues walking.
The images are the last known sighting of the woman before she vanished. Her disappearance has triggered a homicide investigation amid fears she has met with foul play.
Homicide squad chief John Potter said police had grave concerns for Ms Meagher, who had not been heard of since the early hours of Saturday morning despite widespread media coverage and hadn't accessed her bank account. 
He said the CCTV shows Ms Meagher and six other people, whom they have urged to contact Crime Stoppers.
Police are particularly keen to speak to the man in the blue hoodie, who walked past the CCTV camera twice before talking to Ms Meagher.
"There may be a rational explanation to what's happened but he certainly could help us,'' Det Insp Potter said.
"It appears to be a casual conversation struck by looking at the footage but we don't know.''
One of the men in the footage can be seen looking back and "must have seen something'', he said.
Ms Meagher left Bar Etiquette on Sydney Road at 1.33am on Saturday.
She then appears to have crossed Sydney Road and then started to walk north, Det Insp Potter said.
He said Ms Meagher appeared to be holding her mobile phone in the footage.
"We think she's holding her phone and it's possible that she's either about to phone or is phoning someone,'' he said.
She called her brother in Perth at 1.43-1.45am, just after the footage ends.
Police have examined CCTV footage at the block of flats where Ms Meagher lives with her husband and say it does not show her arriving home.
One police theory is that Ms Meagher may have been abducted or had some kind of struggle after the phone call with her brother.
"We haven't been able to rule that out at all and in fact we're looking more and more at that as a possibility,'' Det-Insp Potter said.
Ms Meagher was carrying an ABC bag and her handbag.
The bag was found in a nearby laneway on Monday morning and police believe it may have been planted there.
The development comes after police twice searched Ms Meagher's home yesterday.
Officers spent several hours searching the Brunswick apartment she shares with her husband Thomas.
Det Insp Potter described yesterday afternoon's search of the home as routine.
Mr Meagher, who reported his wife missing on Saturday after she failed to return home after a night out, consented to police searching their home on Tuesday and Saturday.
"(Jill's) husband has been nothing more than co-operative so we can't read anything into that; this is something that we would normally do," Detective-Inspector Potter told Fairfax Radio yesterday.

13 comments:

BostonLady said...

Interesting that this article states that Jill was seen walking away with the man in the blue hoodie, captioned under the video. But as you read further, she didn't walk away with him. It looks like she let him go first and then started walking in the same direction, behind him.

She had her phone in her hand. If she was frightened, why didn't she call someone or say something to her brother on the phone? Very odd.

skip said...

It's like she ran away to start a new life... had to call her father one last time. The man in the hoodie is the one to escort her to her new life.
And why would her husband sound so suspicious? Because he KNOWS he looks guilty or he's complicit in her leaving and he's set to benefit on it somehow.

Pak31 said...

I know I am reading into this but if you watch the CCTV footage frame by frame, when the man in blue first walks by he's carrying something black in his right hand. Of course to me it looks like a gun but it could be a cell phone or glasses. He passes someone then goes out of frame, when he's seen seconds later Jill is with him and looks hesitant. The other passerby looks back at them as well. Then when you see them talking, what ever was in his right hand is now gone but his left hand is in his pocket. At the very end before she disappears, he appears to be holding his right hand up either saying stay back or wait. This is all my interpretation but I wonder what others feel.

MissUnderstood said...

If you watch to the very left, while she is on her phone (or whatever she's doing), it looks like the guy had walked away, but you can still see him to the very left (out the very left window, not the one you can see her in). Then you can still see both of them in that very left window, then the video stops. I watched it on you tube because I couldn't get the one on this page to load.

Not that it makes a difference, I'm sure LE has studied the video extensively, I just wanted to voice my observation.

emerald said...

I am unsure if I spot anything in the hooded man's hand, but it is clear to me that he holds up a hand to tell Jill to halt or wait at the end of the video.

MissUnderstood said...

A MYSTERY man captured on CCTV talking to Jill Meagher before she disappeared was earlier seen running after her, a witness has claimed.

The witness says new CCTV footage given to police shows Ms Meagher walking unsteadily along Sydney Rd oblivious to the man running towards her.

The witness has told police a car did a sudden U-turn towards Ms Meagher as a man wearing a blue hoodie closed in.

The link is from my mobile, but it looks like the website is news.com.au

http://mobile.news.com.au/national/missing-woman-jill-meagher-seen-on-cctv-speaking-to-man-in-blue-hoodie-before-vanishing/story-fncynjr2-1226482146903

S + K Mum said...

Does anyone else think the guy with dark hair (around 1:24 on the youtube video) looks like Jill Meaghers husband? There is a youtube video of an interview with him and he looks like he is even wearing the same clothes.

It strikes me as odd that Jill was last seen at 1.43am and her husband tried to phone her at 2am. I think that's too much of a coincidence.

@ MissUnderstood - I noticed him too.

Lis said...

"It could happen to anyone or any woman"

?

"[Gillian's] husband has been nothing more than co-operative"
Did he mean "nothing less than" co-operative ?

Jazzie said...

"She called her brother in Perth at 1.43-1.45am, just after the footage ends"

Gillian calls her brother. Not her husband?

Anonymous said...

i know its a little late now but if you look at the footage on the road behind you will see a blue ute drive by just before adrian and jill come into the picture.

in the other cctv clip where jill is seenjust leaving from work as shes walking down at the intersection you will see the same blue ute again premeditated murder if you ask me for 50,000 dollars ill tell you wdo was driving the ute there is a secon shooter.

Statement Analysis Blog said...

thanks, anonymous. choose a name.

Anonymous said...

is it true that jills friends sugested to walk her home or maybe even call her a cab if you can trustr even the cab driver today, i know had i been one of jills friends i would have acted differently infact in a manner that most people would think is a little to harsh, but so be it, what i would have done is this i would have firstly insisted i either walk her or call her a cab if she refused i would have still insisted and than if she still refused i would have hit her and knocked her out and than called a cab or driven her home myself and seen her right to her front door. and tell her husband she just had a little to drink.
maybe the next morning i wouldnt have a friend , shed get over it . and i couldnt care less if she didnt, if it means to lose a friendship to save a life than so be it , atleast i know i have done a good deed for the day, and saved a life ,than for the rest of my life be haunted if onlys... i had done this , that, and everything els blah, blah, blah etc etc,, which is the least i have to say for her friends and husband... l know she might have a broken nose ,by the time i get her in the cab but at least she would be alive today, buit where is jill now , with friends like hers and a husband who doesnt report her missing to the police until after hours ,or maybe hes looking to collect ,id sooner take my chances with adrian.
my advice is ..if you are out drinking for a good time with friends ,and one of yous wants to go it alone insist to take her home and if she resists hit her /him and hit her hard than throw her ass in the cab and see her home safe,
MAN OR WOMAN LEFT ALONE IS EASY PREY ONLY BY STAYINGTOGETHER YOU WILL BEAT THE HOODS OF THE WORLD TODAY
rest in pease jill and maybe in the next life your friends may be more caring.

Habundia said...

is the brother she called the same brother who came "to help him (the husband) out"?