Billie Jo Jenkins

[Rubyretro]

Hi Derrick, in answer to your above question the following is a

Statement by East Sussex County Council :


"He did not attend the University of Kent, he has not obtained a BA[hons] degree,a Post Graduate Certificate in Education,an advanced Diploma from the Open University or an M.Sc. in Education Management from Kings College,London.He did not attend Gordonstoun School.All this information is contained in his application of Deputy Headmaster."

Norma

Thanks Nat...that's not 'bending the truth' !!

I didn't realise it was that bad..and I'm sorry that I said anything about people lying on their CVs ! That is obviously appalling..

When I made my comments, I had two things in mind, both concerning the same person..it is a man who had two degrees, one in Business Studies, and one in Fine Art, who worked his way through university by working in kitchens ..because cooking is one of his passions.

Since he was very capable as a Chef, and working in classy establishments, there came a time when he was applying for jobs, when he couldn't get the jobs at the level that that he was capable of doing, because he didn't have the qualifications on paper..and there was alot of competition.

He was good at interviews, but wasn't getting the interviews because he didn't have the diplomas nor linear CV.

So he faked his CV (photocopies and tipex), became a Chef, collected references, and still is a Chef
full time.

I was shocked by it, and I wouldn't do such a thing -but I think that our Society admires people who are fixed on Success and 'arrive' by all means
("If I end up rich and successful without entirely harming anyone else, even by lying and cheating, the end result means that I must have been 'right'").
Our Politicians do this !

I was brought up to be Honest..but have questioned whether it's not Me the Fool ?

Still Sion Jenkins went far far too far !

But was his reasoning not just a product of our Society taken 'one step beyond' ?

[Natalie Severn]

Hi Rubyretro,
I agree with what you are saying.Moreover lying on your CV doesn"t make him a murderer.But Sion was apparently brought up by well off parents and presumably had a good start in life, including a good education, so there is something really quite odd about this matter of him lying like this to get a job in teaching.
He was also keen on corporal punishment and joined a group of people who sanctioned using a cane to punish children,called,if I remember correctly,"Spare the Rod".Apparently he used a stick to punish his own children.
This together with his ex-wife's reports of him slapping her across the face in the early days of their life together,followed by him beating her during outbursts of anger, suggests to me he may have been unable to control a rage on the day in question.
Norma

[Rubyretro]

Yes..as I said before.. I think he did it..totally agree with you.

[Derrick]

Hi Derrick, in answer to your above question the following is a

Statement by East Sussex County Council :


"He did not attend the University of Kent, he has not obtained a BA[hons] degree,a Post Graduate Certificate in Education,an advanced Diploma from the Open University or an M.Sc. in Education Management from Kings College,London.He did not attend Gordonstoun School.All this information is contained in his application of Deputy Headmaster."

Norma

Hi Norma
As far as I understand it, Sion Jenkins had already been accepted as Deputy Head of his school thus making the CV issue something of a red herring as to his culpability as the murderer of Billie Jo.

Please correct me if I am wrong.

Plus no real evidence exists against the man.

The suggestion of wife and child beating has not been corroborated by anyone outside of Lois' circle.

The Bentovims report was complied without actually interviewing any of the family, why was this allowed to happen by Sussex Police?

The blood spatter pattern on Jenkins clothing was consistent with his own account of lifting Billie Jo's head and nothing else, otherwise he would have been covered in a whole lot more blood and gore if he had killed her. He had no time to shower and change into exactly similar clothing.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion over someone's guilt. But the evidence in this case doesn't point to Sion Jenkins.

The man who stuffed plastic into his own mouth looks to be the bookies favourite as Bllile Jo's killer to me. He was taken into forced care before any charges could be brought and Sussex Police would not accept his involvement despite local people reporting his presence in the area that day.

Best wishes as always
Derrick

[Derrick]

I would just like to add that I don't find Sion Jenkins to be the most likeable individual from what I have seen of him, but it would be an extremely lonely planet if we could rid ourselves of those we don't like much.
Derrick

[caz]

Hi Derrick,
I think we are on opposite sides over the murder of Billie Jo.
I had a friend who volunteered her services in a battered wives refuge and I often had long discussions with her about what possessed women to stay with men who abused them physically.It seems that the truth about battered wives is that such women often live in a constant state of fear , anxiety and denial about their marital predicament as well as, paradoxically ,living in the hope that something may come along that will "change him" .Such wives are often long-suffering .It is often a case of "hope" triumphing over "experience " .If Sion decided they should foster,then Lois would have been very likely to have fallen into line,perhaps to avoid a scene, perhaps because she thought this may actually "change" him.The last thing she may have wanted was for her marriage to be exposed to all her neighbours and friends as the failure it actually was.So lots of factors are at play here. Morover with the provision of material comforts for her children,it takes guts for a woman to leave,especially when both are professional people,respected in the community etc.The unknown future can be full of uncertainty and far less economically secure, moreover Lois would know just how censorious people can be about wives leaving their husbands,especially with young children involved-the tendency is for people who dont know her true situation, often to side with the husband and look with some hostility at a wife abandoning him for no apparent reason - especially if the beatings were kept "secret" which is often the case. So rather than admit the failure of her marriage and her failure as a wife and the feelings of humiliation it could bring, she may have preferred to have just gone on putting up with being a battered wife.It is apparently a very ,very common syndrome .
Don"t forget it took this tragedy for Lois to up and leave and go to live as far away as possible from him.Its called "doing a geographical"--- !
Best,
Norma

Cracking post, Nats! It shows one hell of a lot of insight into wives in Lois's unenviable position.

In a situation where the husband may be far from perfect, but does his job as husband and father and sticks around, and does not get unreasonably angry with his family or abuse them physically or mentally, it would take an extremely cruel, uncaring or stupid wife - and mother - to go along with a suspicion that he could have upped and murdered a child they were fostering in an uncharacteristic fit of temper, while his other kids were nearby.

Typically it tends to go the other way, with the wife of a real control freak with anger management problems going into denial and standing by her man, rather than accepting that he could have done something genuinely horrific while under her roof and taking herself and her little ones as far away from him as possible.

I trust Lois's instincts in this case more than anyone else's.

The fake qualifications just demonstrate Sion's rotten-to-the-core "I'm taking authority here and nobody gets in way" attitude to life.

Love,

Caz
X

[Natalie Severn]

Thanks Caz,
I must return the compliment because your post impressed me a lot too.The point you make about " instinctively" understanding the predicament Lois was in , is an excellent one, I think, and so very relevant- whereas quite a few men seem to think its her word against his ,and prefer to give him the benefit of the doubt etc.
But even this business of him wanting to find a group of corporal punishers ,who would condone and sanction his need to use a stick to discipline his children ,"Spare the Rod" makes me wonder if that too was actually all about his deep seated need to inflict violence of one sort or another on his children.Talk about "control freak"!
Great to chat with you Caz,
Norma
xx

[caz]

Hi Norma,

Yes, the 'spare the rod' thing is a pile of poo. Not all kids need a heavy hand - literally or figuratively - to make them behave well. I know my own daughter never did and she may be an only child but she couldn't be less like a 'spoiled brat'.

The other thing I'd forgotten was the fact that Sion was seriously miffed at the time because he had just been turned down for the headmaster's job he had applied for. I have a feeling this was how his fake qualifications came to light, but at any rate he'd have been fearing this was the reason. Faked qualifications = an inability to face failure or rejection.

Anyway, it was in the immediate wake of this rejection that the mentally ill tramp was meant to have crept in, found Sion's foster daughter all alone and a handy murder weapon, done the deed and crept out again. Talk about having a bad day!

Love,

Caz
X

[Rubyretro]

I unreservedly agree with you, Caz.

[Natalie Severn]

Caz,
The more I hear of the mentally ill tramp the more I think of a "scapegoat".
Had a stranger arrived with a knife ready to kill and stabbed Billie with it a number of times,then yes,I would give such a person serious consideration .But given that three separate witnesses have this particular stranger in a local park at the time of the murder,not in the immediate vicinity of the Jenkins"s family home,and given the fact that no blood stains were ever found on his clothes,it seems to me its just a red herring.Lois knew that this man was capable of violent outbursts,she had suffered at his hands,
Best
Norma

[Natalie Severn]

Hi Derrick,

The suggestion of wife and child beating has not been corroborated by anyone outside of Lois' circle

But it doesn"t need to be Derrick.It is so unlikely that Lois would have wanted her children to have a convicted murderer for their father, that it seems to me
she could no longer be in denial about him---the murder of Billie Joe was simply,it seems to me, the last straw---and she knew him far better than anyone else after all.

Moreover,it is not only Lois who knew of his violent leanings.He is known to hve searched out groups such as "Spare the Rod", who condone using violence against children.
Best,
Norma

[louisa]

I, for one think he's guilty as hell. He's basically got away with murder.

This 'tramp in the area' is just nonsense. Whenever there's a murder of this type people seem to announce that 'there was a tramp lurking about for a few days' - it happened in the Croydon Poisonings case, the Jeannie Donald case and many others since.

Some members of the public are a bit too keen on getting in on the act and offering sightings that frankly put the police to a lot of extra trouble.

Even Jenkins ex-wife thought he was capable of the murder.

[Harry D]

Evening all,

I've been reading up on this case recently and been through the thread. I remain unconvinced that it was Sion Jenkins who killed his foster daughter. From the sounds of it, Sion Jenkins isn't a particularly nice fella, but being an ******* does not make a murderer make. And what about the piece of bin liner that had been shoved up Billie Jo's nose? What was that all about? Is it coincidence that there was a local nutter nearby with a plastic bag fetish?

[Cogidubnus]

The stupid lazy "CV" culture, which has developed over the past 30 years or so, is responsible for more bullshit in job applications than was ever previously the case. Now as a matter of course, everyone lies or exagerates their qualifications...and every job is advertised requiring hugely exagerated qualifications...my job (at which I'm generally acknowledged more than competent) requires I'd say no more than five O levels as a prequalification, but somewhat more specialised thinking overall...instead they ask for a good (2.1) degree - which is nothing more than idle and stupid...

In the bad old good old days you handwrote a job application explaining why you wanted a job, why you felt you could do it competently, and what added bonuses you could offer as a trainee...as an appendix you listed your educational background, your paper qualifications and your other interests...if you claimed professional qualifications, you provided the certificates...then at interview (most importantly) you had to verbally convince the boss you'd be working for....

Nowdays you need to prove you've taken exams at degree level to demonstrate your competency to make tea...It's frigging stupid and exclusive...So Sion Jenkins lied on a CV...big deal...this to me means nothing in the context of a murder case...something far more serious and far-reaching...so let's keep things in perspective shall we?

All the best

Dave

[Harry D]

Out of interest, did the wife have an alibi for that day? A lot of people are happy to roll with Sion Jenkins as this sexual predator who made advances on his foster daughter, and when she rebuffed him, he bludgeoned her to death. Well, is it not possible that the wife suspected something was going on between them and killed Billie Jo out of spite? Might also explain why she was so quick to turn on him once the police told her he was a suspect? Just a thought.

I was reading an interview with Sion Jenkins from a few years back, and this stood out to me:

Chillingly, Mr Jenkins now claims Billie-Jo’s murderer was still in the family home when he returned and that the man spoke to the distraught father calmly and concisely before vanishing.

Mr Jenkins says this man hid in the family’s dining room before he could emerge into the hallway, present himself to Mr Jenkins then walk out.

“I have stood face to face with him. I have spoken with him. I know what he looks like and I remember his mannerisms,” he says.

“He wore a dark navy or possibly dark olive overcoat and was smartly dressed. I could see he was wearing a tie. He had highly polished shoes. It was this fact that reassured me he was a police officer.

“This man was standing in the hall. I turned around and looked at him. He said, ‘She’s going to be okay.’

“He then left me staring at the door to the dining room.

“I honestly believe this man is responsible for my daughter’s murder. I believe he killed her in cold blood for reasons that I can only speculate and surmise.”

He pre-empts the issue of why it has taken him so long to reveal this glaring fact by pointing out that he refers to the man in his original witness statement in 1997.

Why would the murderer hide in the dining room? Wouldn't he have simply exited the way he came, from the side-gate instead of going through the house and risk getting caught? And why would he come out and talk to Sion Jenkins instead of sneaking out?