Lin and Megan Russell's killer 'could still be out there', expert claims
The killer responsible for the murders of Lin and Megan Russell, which shocked the nation 27 years ago, could still be out there, experts have claimed.
Mum and daughter were brutally killed in a hammer attack on a quiet country lane in Chillenden, Kent on July 9, 1996. Megan was just six years old. Their family dog was also found dead nearby. Miraculously older sister Josie, who was nine at the time, survived.
Shortly afterwards police arrested Michael Stone, who is currently serving life in prison for the murders. But a new TV documentary, which will air this week, casts doubt on his conviction and suggests the real killer could have evaded justice.
Stone – who has always denied the killings – is seeking a judicial review of his case and lawyers have called for DNA evidence to be re-examined, which they claim could prove his innocence.
No forensic link has ever been established between ex-heroin addict Stone, now 63, and the murder scene. But his lawyers want a boot shoelace discovered near the bodies to be tested after serial killer Levi Bellfield confessed to the murders.
In a written confession Bellfield, 55, claimed he used the lace to tie up Lin’s hands before the savage attack. He has also admitted to being in the area at the time the killings took place, but is known to have lied to police before.
Lin Russell was 45 when she was killed in a hammer attack with Megan, six. Eldest daughter Josie, nine, survived (PA)New documentary The Russell Murders: Who Killed Lin & Megan? will air this Saturday and features police and forensic experts who were involved in the investigation, as well as interviews with Stone himself.
Forensic scientist Jim Fraser, who was one of the first on the scene, said although he thinks Stone - who is a known thief and one-time suspect in a 1976 knife murder - had the capacity to kill based on his previous brushes with the law, the evidence against him is “worryingly thin”.
He said: “There were so many possibilities and not much evidence. There were multiple pools of blood – more pools than bodies... they had been tied to the trees, there was a ligature left behind.. no murder weapon was ever found. There was nothing at the scene that forensically connected Stone to it.
“The only evidence against Stone was a fairly weak circumstantial case that revolves around his personal characteristics – his past and the police description. I don’t doubt that Stone has the capability to kill someone based on his history, but I do think that we simply can’t convict someone on this kind of evidence. I personally believe it’s worryingly thin.
“Yes, he has been convicted twice [after an appeal and reconviction], but I would have no objections to anyone further investigating that case because of that moral argument of needing to close it and find proof of the right person.”
Michael Stone was convicted of the murders but denies he did it (PA)
Serial killer Levi Bellfield is said to have confessed to the killings (PA)Bellfield’s DNA is yet to be compared to that found on the bootlace next to the bodies at the scene and at the moment police reportedly have no plans to re-investigate. The case against Stone was built on the fact he had no alibi at the time of the murders.
Receipts showed he was 40 miles away hours before, but police said there was plenty of time for him to have travelled and commit the murders. Friends also claimed to have noticed ‘bloodstains’ on his clothes and one recalled Stone always kept a hammer in his car.
He was convicted on the testimony of prisoner Damian Daley, who met Stone behind bars, and told jurors Stone had confessed to the killings in a conversation they had through a pipe connecting their cells. Daley has since been discredited, but this didn’t stop Stone being convicted of the murders for a second time and a judge refusing further appeals in 2005.
*The Russell Murders: Who Killed Lin & Megan will air on Sky Documentaries and streaming service NOW from September 16
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