Serial killer Levi Bellfield 'signs letter confessing to notorious double murder of Lin and Megan Russell'
27 April 2023, 00:07 | Updated: 27 April 2023, 07:05
A man jailed for life for murdering a mother and her daughter hopes a new confession from Milly Dowler killer Levi Bellfield will get him released.
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Michael Stone was imprisoned for the hammer attack on Lin and Megan Russell in Chillenden, Kent, in 1996.
The 62-year-old claims Bellfield's confession contains information only the killer could have known.
The details are with the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), which has examined Stone's conviction since 2017.
Speaking from maximum security HMP Frankland in County Durham, he said: "I've been in prison for 26 years for a crime I did not commit.
Read more: Serial killer Levi Bellfield 'confesses to murder' of student who disappeared 24 years ago
"I know that he 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."
Lin Russell, 45, was tied up, blindfolded and beaten with a hammer along with daughters Josie, nine, and Megan, six.
Josie survived but suffered life-threatening head injuries, though she recovered and makes textile landscapes.
Stone, a former heroin addict with robbery, GBH and assault convictions, was sentenced to life after two trials and he failed to appeal it.
He had allegedly confessed to an inmate while in prison in Canterbury, having been arrested a year after the Russell murders.
He told the Mirror: "[Bellfield's] crimes have hurt a lot of people, not just the people he murdered and their families. Other people have been blamed."
His defence team has submitted a four page written confession from Bellfield, 54, made in February last year.
He said he wore bright yellow gloves during the attack and threw the hammer in the Thames. Two witnesses allegedly said they saw him at the scene.
However, Bellfield later denied being involved, and the CCRC later was reported to be on the verge of finding that there was no forensic evidence connecting him to the killings.
The CCRC said: "This case is currently under review and no final decision has yet been reached on the application."
Bellfield, who was jailed for life, killed Milly Dowler, 13, in Surrey in 2002. He also murdered Marsha McDonnell, 19, in west London, and took the life of Amelie Delagrange, 22, a French student, the year after.
He tried to murder Kate Sheedy, 18, in 2004.
It was reported this week that he has confessed to the murder of Elizabeth Chau, a student who vanished from Ealing, west London, in 1999.
Solicitor Theresa Clark was handed the confession last month. She said: "I have passed it to the police. He is likely to be interviewed under caution."
Stone said: "From my point of view I think [Bellfield has] lived with a lot of stuff...for a long time. I think it's built up and he wants to get it off his chest."
