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| Levi Bellfield confessed to Russell murders, say convicted man's lawyers | Levi Bellfield confessed to Russell murders, say convicted man's lawyers |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| The serial killer Levi Bellfield has confessed to the murder of Lin and Megan Russell more than 20 years after their deaths, according to the solicitor of the man who was convicted of the killings. | The serial killer Levi Bellfield has confessed to the murder of Lin and Megan Russell more than 20 years after their deaths, according to the solicitor of the man who was convicted of the killings. |
| Michael Stone is serving three life sentences and has been in prison for 19 years for the murders of Russell, 45, and her six-year-old daughter, as well as the attempted murder of her nine-year-old daughter, Josie, in 1996. | Michael Stone is serving three life sentences and has been in prison for 19 years for the murders of Russell, 45, and her six-year-old daughter, as well as the attempted murder of her nine-year-old daughter, Josie, in 1996. |
| Bellfield is alleged to have given a “very detailed confession” to another prisoner but had subsequently denied both the murder and the confession, the BBC reported. | Bellfield is alleged to have given a “very detailed confession” to another prisoner but had subsequently denied both the murder and the confession, the BBC reported. |
| Stone’s solicitor, Paul Bacon, told a press conference also attended by Stone’s sister: “We have now received evidence of a full confession by Levi Bellfield to the Russell murders. | |
| “In the confession, Bellfield describes how he came across Lin Russell and her two children, how he attacked them with a hammer, and his motivation for the killing. | “In the confession, Bellfield describes how he came across Lin Russell and her two children, how he attacked them with a hammer, and his motivation for the killing. |
| “The confession is detailed and has a number of facts which are not in the public domain.” | “The confession is detailed and has a number of facts which are not in the public domain.” |
| Barbara Stone, Michael Stone’s sister, said the new evidence was the “biggest hope that my brother’s had for a long time”. She told reporters: “I understand there’s going to be some interest in the fact that it’s a confession of sorts, given that my brother was convicted by a confession. But ... the confession that convicted my brother, all that information was in the public domain. This information is different.” | |
| She said she would never stop campaigning until her brother was freed. “I’d like to think that this will go to the court of appeal, they’ll hear the evidence, see that it would’ve made a difference at the original trial and that Mick will be released. And then maybe we’ll hit our retirement years and we’ll be able to live in peace.” | |
| Bacon stressed that in contrast to Bellfield’s alleged confession, the “only evidence” against his client was a “confession said to have been heard by a notorious criminal”, who had since admitted to lying to the jury during his evidence. | |
| He said an independent witness had contacted him to say she saw Bellfield near the scene of the crimes around the time they were committed. | He said an independent witness had contacted him to say she saw Bellfield near the scene of the crimes around the time they were committed. |
| “And, importantly, we have identified forensic material from the scene of the murders which corroborates the confession made by Bellfield.” | “And, importantly, we have identified forensic material from the scene of the murders which corroborates the confession made by Bellfield.” |
| Stone’s legal team said Bellfield was a manipulative man who they expected to deny having made such a confession to his cellmate. They stressed, however, that the alleged inclusion of information not in the public domain added weight to the confession even if Bellfield now denied making it. | Stone’s legal team said Bellfield was a manipulative man who they expected to deny having made such a confession to his cellmate. They stressed, however, that the alleged inclusion of information not in the public domain added weight to the confession even if Bellfield now denied making it. |
| Stone’s legal team said the confession had been made over the course of a few weeks and included “diagrams of where the murder took place and where the bodies were in situ”, as well as contemporaneous notes. | |
| They added that it was corroborated by the new forensic evidence. However, they declined to give any details about the nature of the forensic evidence for fear of prejudicing any future proceedings. | |
| Stone’s legal team said the confession had come from conversations between Bellfield and another prisoner that started because the serial killer was worried about how he would be portrayed in a recent documentary about the murders. | |
| Bacon said the witness who told him she had seen Bellfield in the area had previously given her evidence to the police, but nothing had come of it. | |
| “She had told the police about this and told me she had rung the police several times and the statement that was taken was dated a month after the event. So, Kent police had got this information, took some time to do anything with it and then she never heard from the police again.” | |
| Stone’s legal team said they did not trust Kent police to be involved in investigating the new evidence and asked for it to be carried out by another force. | |
| Mark McDonald, Stone’s barrister, said the evidence had been handed to the Criminal Cases Review Commission and said it should be tested by the court of appeal. | Mark McDonald, Stone’s barrister, said the evidence had been handed to the Criminal Cases Review Commission and said it should be tested by the court of appeal. |
| The Russells were bludgeoned to death in rural Kent in 1996 by a man wielding a hammer. Josie suffered severe head injuries but survived, and the family’s dog, Lucy, was killed. | The Russells were bludgeoned to death in rural Kent in 1996 by a man wielding a hammer. Josie suffered severe head injuries but survived, and the family’s dog, Lucy, was killed. |
| Stone was convicted over the attack in 1998 but has always maintained his innocence and has fought a protracted legal battle to clear his name. | |
| It is not the first time Stone’s legal representatives have pointed the finger at Bellfield. In 2011, Bacon claimed Bellfield was a better match for an e-fit of the suspect issued during the police manhunt. | |
| In a two-part BBC documentary aired in May, a panel of independent experts re-examined the evidence and suggested another suspect. | In a two-part BBC documentary aired in May, a panel of independent experts re-examined the evidence and suggested another suspect. |
| Stone has been told he must spend a minimum of 25 years in prison for the attack on Russell and her daughters as they walked home from a swimming gala in July 1996. | |
| Josie, now an artist, grew up with her father, Shaun Russell, in Wales. | Josie, now an artist, grew up with her father, Shaun Russell, in Wales. |
| In November last year, the Metropolitan police closed an investigation into serious crimes allegedly involving Bellfield, saying all lines of inquiry had been exhausted and officers had found no evidence linking him to cases for which he had not already been convicted. | In November last year, the Metropolitan police closed an investigation into serious crimes allegedly involving Bellfield, saying all lines of inquiry had been exhausted and officers had found no evidence linking him to cases for which he had not already been convicted. |
| Appeal court judges quashed Stone’s original convictions in 2001 after doubts were raised about a key witness, but he was convicted again at a second trial and, in October 2001, was given three life sentences. | Appeal court judges quashed Stone’s original convictions in 2001 after doubts were raised about a key witness, but he was convicted again at a second trial and, in October 2001, was given three life sentences. |
| Stone was convicted on the evidence of Damien Daley, who admitted in the witness box that he had lied during the first trial, but not in relation to the detail of what Stone had told him. Daley said Stone confessed to the hammer murders through a heating pipe into the next cell at Canterbury prison. | Stone was convicted on the evidence of Damien Daley, who admitted in the witness box that he had lied during the first trial, but not in relation to the detail of what Stone had told him. Daley said Stone confessed to the hammer murders through a heating pipe into the next cell at Canterbury prison. |
| There was no forensic evidence against Stone, who pleaded not guilty and maintained that Daley was lying about his confession. | There was no forensic evidence against Stone, who pleaded not guilty and maintained that Daley was lying about his confession. |
| Bellfield, who now calls himself Yusuf Rahim, is serving two whole-life terms after being convicted of the murders of Amelie Delagrange, 22, Marsha McDonnell, 19, and Milly Dowler, 13, and of the attempted murder of Kate Sheedy, 18. | |
| He was found guilty in 2008 of the murders of Delagrange in 2004 and McDonnell in 2003 and the attempted murder of Sheedy also in 2004. In 2011, while already in jail, he was convicted of abducting and killing Milly, who was snatched from the street on her way home from school in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, in March 2002. |