Where's Ruth?

If you haven’t been reading them, I heartily recommend that you read Dr David Hughes Substack series The Law vs. Truth. Hughes provides a highly detailed exploration of the physical empirical evidence we have in relation the the so-called Manchester Arena bombing. He is building a compendium of knowledge that not only exposes the numerous anomalies in the official narrative but highlights the utter travesty of justice in the case of Richard D. Hall: the journalist who first reported the evidence that has inspired others—such as Dr Nick Kollerstrom, Dr Hughes, the excellent Pighooey and myself—to look more closely at the story we were told.

Pighooey and I are of the same opinion on this specific matter and I extend my thanks to her for assisting me to write this post. Much of the evidence we are about to discuss stems from research conducted by Pighooey and Dr Hughes, to whom I also extend my thanks.

Hughes has been adding to the evidence base and has discovered many important details that I certainly missed. For example, in Part 18 Hughes highlights the Inquiry witness testimony of reported Manchester “survivor” Sarah Nellist. She clearly stated that she was standing by the City Room box office when the reported bomb supposedly exploded. Hughes points out that the pre-detonation CCTV images do not clearly show Nellist in that location and that her description of seeing the bombers movements was inconsistent with the known movements of the alleged suicide bomber Salman Abedi.

In my book The Manchester Attack, I found CCTV footage apparently showing reported “survivor” Ruth Murrell—seemingly standing at the bottom of the steps leading from the City Room to the JD Williams shop—to be very important evidence. If it is Murrell, it shows the official described circumstances of Michelle Kiss death are false.

Early investigations found that Michelle Kiss reportedly died closer to the bottom of the steps. The only official map of the fallen was provided at the initial inquests into the deaths in June 2017. These inquests never concluded as they were replaced by the Saunders Inquiry. The BBC reproduced their copy of that plotted map and I have marked the then official location of Michelle Kiss. At the time, she was said to have supposedly died somewhere on or near the bottom of the steps.

Thereafter, the location of Michelle Kiss’ body, as told in official accounts, moved around considerably. Eventually, she was said to have died at the top of the steps.

By contrast, the story of Ruth Murrell’s position in relation to Michelle Kiss has remained consistent. It has always been maintained that she was stood on the right of Michelle and, following the bang, turned to her left, looked down and almost immediately realised Michelle Kiss had died as a result of a head injury.

Murrell’s story about standing next Michelle Kiss was told at the Inquiry:

In her statement, dated 1 June 2017, Ruth states that after the explosion, she turned to her left to ask Michelle what had happened, but Michelle was lying on the floor. Ruth believed Michelle was dead at that time.

Noting that the Saunders inquiry appeared to have made "deliberate efforts" to "downplay Murrell’s involvement," Dr Hughes has cast reasonable doubt on my conclusion that Murrell can be seen on the steps in CCTV images. This point is crucial, because if Murrell can be seen it shows she was not stood next to Michelle Kiss. Using the time-stamped images (below)—taken from the CCTV footage that was released and can still be viewed HERE—Hughes analysis contradicts my own.

To quote Dr David Hughes:

Davis may be correct. However, the issue is not clear-cut, because:

• [1] there is an obvious pattern on Murrell’s top that is not obviously visible in the bottom row, although this may have to do with lighting;

• [2] Murrell’s right arm is exposed around shoulder-length, whereas the lady’s right arm in the bottom row is covered, although this could have to do with the unusual sleeves on Murrell’s top (seen in the Barr footage below);

• [3] Murrell is carrying a large handbag (which may explain why her right arm is visible, given the unusual sleeve type), but the lady on the steps is not;

• [4] Murrell and Kiss are not with any children, but the lady on the steps is with what appears to be a dark-haired teenage girl wearing mostly black clothing. If this is either Millie Kiss or Emily Murrell (who attended the concert together), why are the two girls apart for at least 41 seconds during egress? Also, the girl’s dark clothing does not match the photograph of Millie and Emily put out by Michelle Kiss on Facebook [see below] that evening (although it is possible that the girl bought a T-shirt and put on a jacket);

Millie Kiss (left) and Emily Murrell (right) on the evening of May 22, 2017. Source: Facebook

• [5] the degree of correspondence between what appears in the transcripts and what can be seen on CCTV imagery (where available) is remarkably high, precisely because the version of events established at the Inquiry was premised on the Sequences of Events provided by GMP [Operation Manteline]. It would, therefore, be anomalous, especially in an evidence summary for one of the 22, for there to be a clear discrepancy between the transcript (placing Murrell at the top of the steps) and the CCTV evidence (showing her near the bottom of the steps).

I felt compelled to look at that evidence again and I certainly accept that the issue is not clear cut. I have numbered Hughes’ analytical points 1-5 in order to respond to each in turn. I initially found Dr Hughes’ observations convincing and assumed I was wrong. However, having looked at it again I think further investigation is required. Especially given the enormous significance if this specific piece of evidence.

Point 1

The lighting conditions between the floor of the City Room and the steps to JD Williams differ markedly. As we can see from the image below, the City Room is relatively well illuminated and the steps are in comparative darkness.

Let’s call the woman on the bottom of the steps—seen from 22:30:18 - 22:30:59 (41 seconds)—"Stepwoman." I agree that the pattern on her top "is not obviously visible." If we look more closely at the top Murrell was wearing that night (taken from Barr footage stills), there is a distinct darker pattern on the right side of her midriff that you would have thought would be visible on Stepwoman if she was Murrell (please note the peculiar sleeve shape).

Another problem we have is that Stepwoman appears to have her arms folded or is holding them closer to her side than seen in the images of Murrell above. If so, this would obscure the darkest part of the pattern on her top. Nonetheless, taking the poorer lighting into consideration, I think the pattern is at least suggested, perhaps most clearly, in the images taken at 22:30 - 23, 28, and 32 (see below)

This could just be shadow but there appear to be distinctly darker patches that could correspond to the pattern on Murrell’s top, as seen in the Barr footage.

Point 2

Stepwoman’s arms appear to be covered while Murrell’s are clearly seen uncovered in the stills taken from the Barr footage. The full sleeve terminates just above her elbow with a flap of material left hanging..

Stepwoman’s possibly folded arms leave her forearms seemingly obscured by the person with the dark hair standing in the foreground. That said, Stepwoman appears to have full sleeves which would indicate she is not Murrell. On the other hand, the image taken at 22:30.39 and the over-exposed image taken at 22:30:41 at least suggest Murrell’s cut-off sleeve shape.

Another point to note is the neckline of Murrell’s top (seen in the Barr footage). The same neckline appears to be visible on Stepwoman’s top. The general colour and cut of Stepwoman’s top also appears to correspond with Murrell’s. Stepwoman’s hair colour and haircut also look like Murrell’s. Stepwoman appears to be around the same age and of the same build as Murrell. Despite the lack of clarity about the pattern and the sleeves, there is notable consistency between Murrell’s and Stepwoman’s appearance.

If Stepwoman is not Murrell, who is she and where did she come from? The woman she most closely resembles is Murrell who was last seen, prior to the bang, at 22:28:14 standing with Kiss in the City Room. Between 22:24:36 and 22:28:14 there is no one else seen standing in the vicinity of the steps who more closely resembles Stepwoman than Murrell. Indeed, both Stepwoman and Murrell have a shared appearance unique to them.

Another possible candidate for Stepwoman—we’ll call her the "other woman"—can be seen walking past Murrell at 22:23:31. She appears to have a slighter frame than Murrell and is wearing very dark trousers. The poor light on the steps makes it difficult to see what colour Stepwoman’s trousers are. Again, the overexposed 22:30:41 image at least suggests Stepwoman is not wearing distinctly dark trousers. Murrell was definitely wearing blue jeans.

The “other woman” cannot be seen after 22:23:31 and appears to have wandered away from the vicinity of the steps. With respect to our discussion about Stepwoman’s possible identity, only Ruth Murrell both looks like her and remained near the steps.

Stepwoman is stood on the steps and evidently waiting from 22:30:18. If the official account and Hughes—who questions the official narrative—are correct, this means Murrell and Kiss either passed Stepwoman, to stand on the steps behind her, or were already there when Stepwoman arrived.

If the official account were true, as there are no other accounts of anyone matching Stepwoman’s appearance being harmed—other than Murrell—presumably Stepwoman escaped unscathed. As Hughes emphasises, this would constitute yet another Manchester “miracle.”

If Stepwoman is not Murrell, she was stood in the direct path of the shrapnel that must have flown past her, reportedly seriously wounding Ruth Murrell and killing Michelle Kiss. Yet, Stepwoman was evidently not injured at all.

This is possible if unlikely. There are plenty of other people seen in the City Room who are equally uninjured and remain unaccounted for.

Point 3

While Murrell is seen standing with Kiss she is clearly carrying a large, dark bag on her right shoulder. Evidently, Stepwoman is not.

We can’t see Stepwoman’s left side, nor the steps near her feet. If it is Murrell she could have simply removed the bag from her right shoulder. She is not seen carrying a bag in the Barr footage nor is there any sign of her having a bag at the Casualty Clearing Station.

There is almost a two minute gap between the last CCTV image of Murrell and the first known image of Stepwoman. The absence of the bag suggests the possibility that Stepwoman may not be Murrell but equally the absence of the bag is not strongly indicative of anything in particular.

Point 4

Hughes references the photograph of Millie Kiss and Emily Murrell reportedly taken in a restaurant immediately prior to going to the concert. Much like the infamous photograph of Martin and Eve Hibbert, the posting of the image on social media does not prove when the image was taken or what clothes the girls were wearing when they attended the concert. That said, Hughes is right to observe that the clothing of the girl stood next to Stepwoman does not correspond with the clothing seen in the photograph.

Both Millie Kiss and Emily Murrell could have had dark coats and possibly bought dark T-shirts, as suggested by Hughes. We don’t know, but certainly there is inconsistency here. There is consistency in respect to the apparent fact that the two girls were separated during egress.

In 2020, Murrell gave an interview in which she retold her experience. She said:

[. . .] I felt something go in my leg. And I looked down and could only see a tiny little hole in my jeans, so I thought Ooh, something's gone a bit wrong here, so I turned round to Michelle to say “what the hell was that?” and Michelle was dead on the floor at the side of me with blood coming out of her head. [. . .] The next thing I knew Millie [Kiss], her daughter, was stood in front of me screaming and, so I shook her and said "Millie we’re going to sort something out, we’re going to sort something out. Where’s Emily?” And she [Millie Kiss] said “I don’t know we got separated.”

If events were as described by Murrell—Hughes reports the many reasons for doubt—she clearly indicated she was in Millie Kiss’ company at or around the time of the bang and that the two girls were separated. Notably, prior to the bang, Stepwoman appears to be with a girl who looks more like Millie than Emily.

Millie Kiss outside the Arena 22/05/2017

In the interview, Murrell continued to recount a series of events during which she said “there was a gentleman, a man, who came from a step higher up behind us.” This also indicates that Murrell was not stood at the top of the steps when the bang occurred. She said she carried Millie Kiss down the steps before a police officer took her out of the City Room. Murrell reported that she continued to look for her own daughter Emily thereafter.

Murrell said:

She [Emily Murrell] appeared up the stairs, erm. . . just behind where I’d been stood and where Michelle was. [. . .] And I ran up the few stairs, grabbed her [. . .], carried her down the stairs, just down the, the, there were only about 5 stairs because it was still in the foyer, and then proceeded to erm, start trying to calm her down.

As told by Murrell, this sequence of events does not place her and Michelle Kiss at the top of the stairs. It seems to place Murrell very close to the position where Stepwoman can be seen.

In addition, it suggests that Murrell was in the company of Millie Kiss. This too is more congruent with the girl seen with Stepwoman, though “Stepgirl’s” clothing does not match the clothing Millie Kiss was wearing in the restaurant photograph. The activity Murrell describes of looking for Emily, if her account is plausible, took place after she had consoled Millie Kiss and the little girl had been removed by a police officer.

That police officer was evidently PCSO Mark Renshaw who told local reporters:

There was a little girl there. She tapped me on my vest and said, ‘Can you help my mummy?’. I walked around, she was by the steps. There was nothing I could do to save her. So I picked her up, walked her out of the station and passed her to GMP [Greater Manchester Police].

As we can see from the map provided at the inquests (see above) the only person who was reportedly deceased on or “by the steps” was Michelle Kiss. Yet again, Renshaw’s account places Michelle Kiss and therefore Ruth Murrell and apparently Millie Kiss somewhere near the bottom of the steps from the City Room to JD Williams.

Point 5

If we consider the CCTV still of Stepwoman (shown below) the blue and grey stripe on the right of the image indicates the edge of the CCTV frame. We can see five steps clearly and the sixth step is partially obscured by the blind spot cut-off point. Everything in perspective above and to the right of this frame is in a CCTV blind spot.

The timestamps given at the Saunders inquiry were calculated from the CCTV timestamps prior to the bang. After the bang, given times were supposedly derived from a combination of CCTV and body-cam timestamps along with other official time recordings. Therefore, prior to the bang, said to have occurred at 22:31:00 precisely, the only source for the relevant timestamps came from the City Room CCTV.

If we look at the image below, it shows where the CCTV blind spots and redacted CCTV areas were. This is based on Hughes’ diligent research of the official account and media reports. His map of the blind spots and redacted areas corresponds with those made by other researchers and comports with the blind spot cut-off in the image above. The grey area shows the blind spots and the areas redacted from CCTV by the Inquiry team.

Michelle Kiss was said to have been stood next to Ruth Murrell when she was reportedly killed. As Hughes points out, it is astonishing that Murrell wasn’t called to give evidence at the Inquiry. Though, as we noted previously, Murrell’s story was at least told at the inquiry.

In the diagram above, Hughes has shown Michelle Kiss as number 20. This is her location as eventually reported at the Inquiry. If we accept this placement for now, assuming Stepwoman is not Murrell, both Michelle Kiss and Murrell would have been stood in a CCTV blind spot moments before the bang.

As reported by Hughes, Detective Inspector Michael Russell, alongside Detective Superintendent Teresa Lam, were responsible for gathering, collating, and analysing "hundreds of hours of audio-visual material." Saunders credited the pair, noting their work "enabled the clearest possible understanding of what happened to each of those who was killed following the detonation." Obviously, this includes Michelle Kiss whose body was said to be found “approximately 20 metres” from the epicentre of the reported explosion. This does not provide "the clearest possible understanding" of the circumstances of her death in my view.

The following account, given by DI Russell at the Saunders inquiry is full of contradictions and is inexplicable:

At 22.29.24, Michelle [Kiss] and Ruth [Murrell] walked up the steps that led towards JD Williams. At 22.29.41, Michelle is [standing] at the top of the steps with Ruth just standing to her left. Michelle was approximately 20 metres away from the bomber at the time of detonation. At 22.31, Michelle fell to the ground following the explosion.

There is no observable evidence of Ruth Murrell and Michelle Kiss ascending the steps at 22:29.24. The last image anyone saw of Ruth Murrell and Michelle together was timestamped at 22:28:14. If footage of them climbing the steps toward JD Williams exists, why wasn’t the 22:29:24 image submitted into evidence alongside all the others? If they climbed the steps into a CCTV blind spot then it is impossible that DI Russell saw any CCTV footage of Ruth Murrell and Michelle Kiss "at the top of the steps" at 22.29.41. Nor could any investigator have seen Michelle Kiss fall at 22:31:00

Russell estimated that Murrell and Michelle Kiss were “at the top of the steps” and simultaneously "approximately 20 metres" away from the official epicenter of the alleged bomb blast. As shown in the Operation Manteline image below, if they were “at the top of the steps,” they would have been approximately 22 -23 metres away from the bomb. This seems like a detail you would expect an investigation to specify, not guess or approximate.

If they were "approximately 20 metres away" then they were stood just within the CCTV blind spot about half-way up the steps on the first landing of the steps, not “at the top.” If so, Murrell was either one metre directly behind Stepwoman or, if she and Kiss were on the other side of the central handrail, about two meters diagonally behind her. Either way, Murrell was extremely close to Stepwoman if she was “approximately 20 metres” from the supposed bomb.

Hughes accurately observed that "the version of events established at the Inquiry was premised on the Sequences of Events provided by GMP [Operation Manteline]." He also rightly notes, given the redaction and the blind spots, that it would be “anomalous” for there "to be a clear discrepancy between the transcript (placing Murrell at the top of the steps) and the CCTV evidence (showing her near the bottom of the steps)."

But no one at the inquiry ever suggested that Stepwoman was Murrell. The anomaly was not created and there was no discrepancy between the transcript and the CCTV. That discrepancy only emerges if you consider that Stepwoman is Murrell.

To be clear, the only people to have alleged that Stepwoman is, in fact, Murrell, are the independent researchers such as myself who think it shows that Murrell was not stood next to Michelle Kiss when she was reportedly killed. No one at the Inquiry suggested that Stepwoman is Murrell or indeed even mentioned Stepwoman.

The only reason Stepwoman is observable on CCTV at 18, 23, 28, 32, 39, 41, 55, and 59 seconds past 22:30 is because each of those stills were needed to support other aspects of the official narrative. For example the CCTV image at 22:30:18 was used to show Nathan Smart entering the City Room, at 22:30:32 Mohammad Agha and Salman Abedi are highlighted and so on. The “last second” before the bang image at 22:30:59, which shows Stepwoman and Stepgirl, is used to highlight Mohammad Agha’s vantage point.

Had Russell or Tam redacted Stepwoman from these CCTV frames that would have created a major anomaly as no victims were supposed to have fallen at that spot. I suggest this explains why Stepwoman could not be removed from the scene with the customary redaction. The approach instead was simply not to reference her at all, perhaps in the hope no one would notice that she looks remarkably similar to Murrell and is stood where Murrell repeatedly indicated she was standing. We don’t know who Stepwoman is or what happened to her, but she bears more than a passing resemblance to Murrell, while no one else in the vicinity does.

The whole reason for pointing out Stepwoman is that, as Hughes states, it is “anomalous.” As every other reportedly deceased victim either fell in a CCTV blind spot or were redacted from the CCTV provided to the Inquiry, independent researcher—familiar with the way the story of the Manchester Arena bombing has been concocted—would not expect Michelle Kiss to be seen in the CCTV images.

If Manchester was a hoax, and the physical empirical evidence consistently indicates that it was, then DI Russell was probably compelled to say that Michelle Kiss died “at the top of the steps” because that places her in a CCTV blind spot. It is precisely because the official narrative clearly places Murrell on Michelle Kiss’ right shoulder that the potential Stepwoman CCTV discrepancy is raised.

Conclusion

All we know for certain is that Stepwoman was not stood with Michelle Kiss on the steps at 22:30:18, said to be exactly forty two seconds before the bang. Step woman was still not stood with Michelle Kiss at 22:30:59 one second before the alleged “TATP shrapnel bomb” exploded.

If Stepwoman is Ruth Murrell, then it is primary observable physical evidence indicating that the stated circumstances of Michelle Kiss’ death are false. That is to say, a contradiction or anomaly is created. Michelle Kiss cannot be seen on the left of Ruth Murrell because Ruth Murrell was probably in the wrong spot at the wrong time while Michelle Kiss was somewhere else.

On balance, given the available evidence, I maintain that Stepwoman is in all likelihood Ruth Murrell. If so, the significance of this cannot be overstated. Which is the only reason I have written this piece.

My difference of opinion with Dr David Hughes on this matter is in no way intended as criticism of his work. Other than Richard D. Hall, I have learned more about Manchester from Hughes than anyone. Hughes may well be right about Stepwoman. I just don’t think so.