Serial killer Levi Bellfield signs confession to killing Lin and Megan Russell: New document ‘contains information only the killer would know’ says Michael Stone as he vows to use it to overturn his own conviction for the hammer horror slayings
- Michael Stone, 62, was jailed for killing Lin, 45, and daughter Megan Russell, six
- He claims he is innocent and now Levi Bellfield has confessed to the murders
Serial killer Levi Bellfield has reportedly signed a confession to a double murder, which ‘contains information only the killer would know’.
While jailed murder Michael Stone believes that the new confession from Milly Dowler’s killer will lead to his own release.
In a signed statement, Bellfield reportedly confessed to killing Lin, 45, and her daughter Megan Russell, six, in a vicious hammer in Kent in 1996. It comes after he ‘admitted’ to killing a 19-year-old student last week.
Stone was jailed for life for killing the mother and daughter but has maintained his innocence and last year serial killer Bellfield confessed to the murders, but later retracted the statement.
Now Stone’s solicitor says Bellfield has signed a new statement of confession which contains information about the attack which only the killer would know, The Mirror reported.
Serial killer Levi Bellfield has reportedly confessed to a double murder from 1996 and signed a written statement with ‘information only the killer would know’
Michael Stone, who is serving three life sentences for the murders of Lin Russell and her six-year-old daughter Megan, believe a reported new confession from Levi Bellfield could lead to his own release
Speaking to The Mirror from HMP Frankland, Stone said: ‘I’ve been in prison for 26 years for a crime I did not commit.
‘I know that he [Bellfield] did those murders. He’s just revealed some information recently that’s come to me through lawyers. It’s information that he would only know if he had done it.’
Stone is currently serving three life sentences for the murders but last year Stone’s solicitor said he has received a ‘genuine’ four-page statement from Bellfield in which he details his involvement in the killings – until he withdrew it.
Bellfield’s solicitor Theresa Clark told the news outlet: ‘This is a new and more detailed one.
‘The statement made last year was never signed by him but he’s subsequently done a written statement which he’s signed.’
In 1996, Lin, 45, her two daughters, nine-year-old Josie and Megan, six, as well as their dog Lucy, were tied up and savagely beaten with a hammer in the brutal attack. Only Josie survived, sustaining horrific injuries.
The deaths in the picturesque village of Chillenden, Kent, 26 years ago shocked the nation.
Stone’s police record dates back to 1971 when he was 12 years old and continued into his adult life, serving three prison sentences in the 1980s and 1990s.
Lin Russell, 45, her two daughters, six-year-old Megan (above with her mother) and nine-year-old Josie, were tied up and savagely beaten with a hammer in the brutal attack in 1996
Michael Stone (pictured) is currently imprisoned after twice being convicted of the Russell murders. He has consistently insisted his innocence, and Bellfield’s statement could mean he has suffered a miscarriage of justice
Stone has twice been found guilty of their murders and is serving three life sentences, but no scientific or identification evidence links him to the scene. Pictured: Police at scene in 2001
Lin, 45, her two daughters, six-year-old Megan and nine-year-old Josie, as well as their dog Lucy, were tied up and savagely beaten with a hammer in the brutal attack. Only Josie survived. The deaths in the picturesque village of Chillenden, Kent in 1996 shocked the nation
He has previous convictions for crimes including ABH, robbery, burglary and GBH and was known to carry weapons.
He was sentenced to two years’ in prison in 1981 for attacking a man with a hammer during a robbery.
He then received a four-and-a-half year sentence for stabbing a friend while he slept in 1983, an attack that penetrated the friend’s lung and nearly killed him, and he tried to wound a police officer in the eye after this arrest.
Stone was jailed for a third time and sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment for two armed robberies in Maidstone and Brighton respectively during the same week in 1986. He was released from prison in 1993.
While Bellfield is currently serving a life sentence for the murder of schoolgirl Millie Dowler.
He has also been convicted of murdering Marsha McDonnell and Amélie Delagrange and the attempted murder of Kate Sheedy, and will never be considered for parole. Bellfield is thought to be the only criminal in UK legal history to be serving two whole-life orders.
Last week he is said to have confessed to another murder.
In April 1999, a 19-year-old student, Elizabeth Chau, left Thames Valley University and was caught on CCTV walking home along the Uxbridge Road near Ealing police station. She was never seen again.
In April 1999, a 19-year-old student, Elizabeth Chau, left Thames Valley University and was caught on CCTV walking home along the Uxbridge Road near Ealing police station. She was never seen again
Her sister, Bich, (pictured left at a press conference with her mother Lam-Pheng on 16 April 1999) has never given up hope of being reunited with her sibling. She said: ‘We want Liz to know that we love her and miss her very much’
Levi Bellfield is currently serving life in prison for the murder of schoolgirl Millie Dowler
Her sister, Bich, has never given up hope of being reunited with her sibling. She said: ‘We want Liz to know that we love her and miss her very much.’
The Sun reports Bellfield has written a ‘signed confession’ to killing Ms Chau, ‘bundling her in a van’ and also detailing ‘where she is buried’ as well as admitting five other murder attempts.
He is understood to have handed in the confession to his solicitor Theresa Clark in March this year. Ms Chau’s family reportedly declined to comment.
Theresa Clark told the publication: ‘I have passed it to the police. He is likely to be interviewed under caution.’
In his confession, Bellfield is said to have confessed to a ‘blitz’ of five attempted murders and attacks against the then 17-year-old Jessie Wilson in south west London, Sarah Spurell, 23, in Hastings in 2004, and Sonia Salvatierra, 26, in Twickenham, west London.
Scotland Year launched an appeal for information on Elizabeth Chau’s disappearance in 2012, 13 years after her disappearance, offering a £15,000 reward.
A timeline of Levi Bellfield and Michael Stone’s arrests:
Levi Bellfield:
1981: His first conviction was for burglary
1990: Convicted of assaulting a police officer
October 14, 2001: Anna-Marie Rennie, 17, was attacked in Hospital Bridge Road, Witton, southwest London. She manages to escape but four years later identifies Bellfield as the man who tried to kidnap her. The jury failed to reach a verdict on a charge of false imprisonment and kidnapping
March 21 2002: Milly, 13, is walking home from school in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, when she disappears. Her remains are found six months later 25 miles away.
February 2003: Marsha McDonnell, 19, gets off a bus near her home in Hampton after a night out with friends, and is struck three times on the back of the head with a blunt object by Bellfield.
May 2004: Kate Sheedy, 18, is left for dead after Bellfield runs her down in his car after she gets off a bus in Isleworth after spending the evening with friends.
August 2004: Amelie Delagrange, 22, is battered to death by Bellfield after she gets off at the wrong bus stop and is attacked walking across Twickenham Green. She dies of head injuries.
February 2008: Bellfield is convicted of the murders of Marsha and Amelie, and the attempted murder of Kate.
March 2010: Bellfield is charged with killing Milly.
May 2011: Bellfield goes on trial at the Old Bailey after he denies abducting and murdering Milly.
June 2011: Bellfield yawns as he is found guilty of Milly’s murder. The following day he refuses to attend court where he is jailed for life. Bellfield becomes the first person to receive two whole-life terms.
February 2012: Bellfield loses a Court of Appeal bid to challenge his conviction for Milly’s kidnap and murder.
January 2016: Bellfield admits abducting, raping and killing schoolgirl Milly Dowler for the first time, Surrey Police say.
2017: Bellfield allegedly claimed he was behind the murders of Lin and Megan. He later retracted his confession and has never been charged.
2021: Bellfield issues a statement putting himself near the scene of the crimes – but denies murder.
February 2022: Bellfield has made a formal confession to murders of Lin and Megan Russell. Michael Stone’s lawyer, Paul Bacon, says killer had confessed in a four-page statement with details he claimed only the killer would know.
Michael Stone:
1981: Sentenced to two years’ imprisonment for attacking a man with a hammer in a robbery.
1983: Stone received a four-and-a-half year sentence for stabbing a friend while he slept and later tried to wound a police officer in the eye after being arrested
1986: He was sentenced to ten years’ imprisonment for two armed robberies in Maidstone, Kent and Brighton during the same week.
1993: Stone was released from prison.
1996: Mother and daughter Lin and Megan Russell were murdered along with the family dog as they walked home after a swimming gala around 4pm on Tuesday, July 9, 1996.
1997: Police arrested and charged 37 year-old Stone
1998: Michael Stone was found guilty of the murders and an attempted murder.
2001: Stone faced a retrial after one of the prisoners withdrew the claim against him. But he was found guilty once more and sentenced to three life-sentences.
21 December 2006: A judge decided that Stone should spend at least 25 years in prison before being considered for parole.
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