Levi Bellfield/ Lin and Megan Russell

[Snap8TheCat]

Just seen that there’s new evidence linking him to the murders, I remember being on a thread around the time of the documentary on the murders and links being mentioned then.

Is the new evidence just the witness or anything else do we know?

Turning to this particular case, I am always suspicious of any conviction that relies on allegations that the accused confessed to other prisoners. The apparent justification in this case is that the jury were led to believe the alleged confession contained details that were not known to the public at the time. However, it appears all relevant details had appeared in the press before the other prisoners involved alleged that Stone had confessed.

The new evidence is apparently a confession to a prisoner by Bellfield. It is alleged that this confession contains details about the murder that have never been released to the general public.

The fact that the shoelace has been lost is very troubling. The fact that the towel has another man's DNA on it does not prove absolutely that Stone is not guilty but it is strongly suggestive. The person that DNA came from would certainly be a suspect. If it is Bellfield's DNA that would be very suspicious given that the attack appears to have followed Bellfield's modus operandi. The description of the murderer given by Josie is a much closer fit for Bellfield than Stone.

when Bellfield was in the media for his other crimes' wonder if Josie saw him and there was any recognition

The missing evidence will have been accidentally hidden (it always is.)
The case should be reopened as DNA profiling & science has moved on during the last 20 years.
If it proves 100% that Michael Stone is guilty then the case can be left to rest.
If it proves the wrong man is in prison then he needs to be found asap & a apology & compensation given to MS...........not that it would make up for spending the last 19 yrs inside for a crime you didn't commit.

I find it very difficult to believe that that Michael Stone did this crime and managed to not leave any dna at the scene , but then I equally cannot understand how any jury could find someone guilty based purely on the evidence of other criminals . Case was badly handled right from the start when the police told the father the wrong child was alive , it’s been a complete balls up all round .

Running I read yesterday that Josie is convinced Stone is guilty

You can understand why she’d feel like that, but that’s no reason not to examine the evidence again. (Kent police talk about not upsetting the family but I reckon that’s just them covering their backs )

I cannot remember where I have read this (it’s out there somewhere) or how reliable it is but one of the reasons Stone was arrested was because a day before the murders he told someone he wanted to hit someone with a hammer. As a child he was abused very horribly and part of the abuse was being hit with a hammer. This does not however mean someone who has been abused necessarily goes on to abuse of course but it is interesting in the greater context of the case. Personally having read the background of Stone I don’t believe he is safe to be out and about - he is clearly a dangerous individual regardless of the Russell case - but obviously the justice system has a duty of care to make sure they have the right person for a crime.

I feel so sorry for the Russell family, having to go through all this again. The man who’s been in jail for 20 years, his conviction now being questioned. Of course I hope if Stone is innocent then justice is done for him.
I believe the prisoner Bellfiekd allegedly confessed to was a police informer. But what if Bellfield doesn’t confess if it goes to trial? He could say it’s a lie. Is there even any evidence to put Bellfield there?
Would Bellfield confess to a crime he hasn’t committed, if so why?

There is male DNA, not Stone’s, on the torn-up towel.

Good place to start

jedi for fame and notoriety

i think he likes that

Genuine question. Why is Michael Stone serving 3 life sentences for this crime when only two people were murdered? Was it anything to do with the family dog who was also killed?

There was also that odd thing about the parents having secretly divorced a few months earlier but not telling anyone.

The maximum sentence for attempted murder is a life sentence notsuch. So it will relate to Josie, not the dog.

notsuch not the dog! Attempted murder.

Secret divorce?

Yes, Shaun and Lyn had secretly divorced a few months earlier but never told anyone. It was odd.

Ah OK I didn't realise attempted murder was a life sentence. Thank you.

I was under the impression the divorce was some kind of financial fiddle .

Have you got a link about that? I've never heard about it. How odd.

Funnily enough Battleax I've just been looking for a link. I'm 52 with a really good memory so I definately remember it. I can't find anything to link to it now though.

That must have looked suspicious for a moment though. Very odd.

We watched the documentary (which I thought was excellent in that it approached the evidence forensically and without apparently any pre-drawn conclusions) and both DH and I felt at the end of it that Stone’s conviction is unsafe. I certainly don’t think anyone can say as things stand that he didn’t do it, but I don’t think it could be said that he did it beyond reasonable doubt (though of course that is the basis of his conviction).

One thing that really struck me was the alibi evidence from Bellfield’s then girlfriend. She seemed quite adamant that she was with him that day because it was her birthday. But I recall that she described going to a club which has now closed but which appears may not have been open on the night of the murders. It’s pretty well recognised in law now that relying on human memory is pretty dodgy in terms of evidence, and the unreliability increases dramatically over time. Witnesses who have absolutely no intention to deceive can be convinced that an impossible event occurred because we don’t store our memories in some neat chronology; they get jumbled up and confused with events that happened at different times.

IF Michael Stone didn’t commit this awful crime then I really hope for his sake that It can be proved that Bellfield did because, after this amount of time and attempts at appeal, I think it probably represents his only chance of release.

I think they divorced as a way of paying less tax when they were working abroad - weren't they in Africa somewhere? It was explained away because it was common practice - everyone was doing it.

But if it was Bellfield that did it, then wouldn’t his DNA already be linked? And why confess now if Bellfield was guilty?

He’s never given his dna to be tested in that case.

Snap8tgecat, DNA from Bellfield would already be held by the police, on the database. From when he was first arrested, so that wouldn’t make sense.
That why people are arrested many years after a crime, when a relative is arrested in a non connected case.