Levi Bellfield confession to Lin and Megan Russell murders to be analysed - BBC News
Murderer Levi Bellfield's claims he also killed Lin Russell and her daughter Megan will be examined.
Shaun Russell's wife Lin was murdered with daughter Megan (centre) and nine-year-old Josie (right) was badly injured

The alleged confession from the man who murdered schoolgirl Millie Dowler that he also killed a mother and her young daughter is to be examined.

Levi Bellfield says he murdered Lin Russell and Megan, aged six, in Kent in 1996, according to the lawyer of the man convicted of their murders.

Michael Stone was found guilty in 1998 but always said he was innocent.

The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) said it would review the evidence once it received it.

Lin Russell and her daughters Megan and Josie, then nine, were attacked as they walked along a country lane in Chillenden, before being bound, blindfolded and bludgeoned with a claw hammer.

It was only when an officer at the scene noticed Josie move they realised she had survived the attack.

Bellfield's former partner had given an alibi for him, claiming on the day of the murders in Kent, he was in London with her celebrating her birthday.

But Bellfield now claims they went out not on her actual birthday but on another day.

Levi Bellfield will never be released from prison after being convicted of three murders and one attempted murder

The CCRC has been re-examining the evidence since 2017, including suggestions Bellfield had a stronger link to the Chillenden area than was previously thought.

It has also completed further forensic tests on fragments of a bloody bootlace found near the scene of the murders.

These were inconclusive when it came to linking Bellfield to the killings and the CCRC told Stone's lawyers there was insufficient evidence to send the case back to the Court of Appeal.

In an attempt to clear Stone's name, his lawyers have been meeting Bellfield in prison.

Bellfield is currently serving a life sentence for the murder of 13-year-old Millie, who went missing from Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, in 2002.

He has also been convicted of murdering Marsha McDonnell and Amelie Delagrange, and of the attempted murder of Kate Sheedy, and will never be considered for parole.

Bellfield gave Stone's lawyers a signed confession which was made public on Sunday.

He gave details about the murders and the actions he took afterwards to clean himself and up and remove DNA evidence from his car.

Michael Stone was convicted of two counts of murder and one of attempted murder

Stone's solicitor Paul Bacon confirmed he had been given the letter by Bellfield and told the BBC: "I genuinely think if the police visit Levi Bellfield in prison, he will make a full statement under caution and I believe if he's charged he'll plead guilty and the matter will be resolved."

In a statement, the CCRC said it would carefully analyse material from Stone's legal team once it receives the material.

"We remain in close contact with Kent Police on this case to ensure the Russell family is kept fully informed of any developments," it said.

"Once the review of all material is complete, the CCRC will then determine whether there is a real possibility the Court of Appeal would quash Mr Stone's conviction."

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