UK - Lin, 45, & Megan Russell, 6, Chillenden, Kent, 9 July 1996

[Mrs Marple]

We hear they are working on something periodically, and nothing ever comes of it.

 

[Deleted member 339775]

I have always believed he did not commit this crime and one day I hope he gets exonerated

My hill to die on will always be that Michael stone is innocent of these murders and attack. Josie described a man that didn’t fit his description, yet the police arrested him anyway. The whole thing has stank since the beginning if you ask me. The police know they’ve messed up else why would the laces ‘go missing’ and why not retest once they’d found them?! They know that there would be uproar if a man whose been inside for 30+ years is found innocent plus other women and girls could possible have been saved if it turned out to be another well known perpetrator instead, never mind just how inept it would make the police look. I know Michael Stone has done things previously that were wrong but if he didn’t do it then he shouldn’t be inside for it, so the dna should be retested and if his matches then fair enough, but I highly doubt it will

 

[Deleted member 339775]

He was prime suspect in the murder of a former special constable in the 70s.

In the 80s he was arrested for stabbing his best friend (who was asleep) and then tried to blind a police officer.

He has a long record of extremely violent offences. He had been questioned in relation to several other deaths prior to the Russell murders.

So the cynical amongst us might presume that the police had a reason to want him put away, if he did indeed murder one of their own. As for the crimes in the eighties, neither involved women and children and are a long way away from tying up and beating people with hammers. That’s a big jump for anyone imo.

 

[Deleted member 339775]

He was prime suspect in the murder of a former special constable in the 70s.

In the 80s he was arrested for stabbing his best friend (who was asleep) and then tried to blind a police officer.

He has a long record of extremely violent offences. He had been questioned in relation to several other deaths prior to the Russell murders.

I also just want to add that the police officer attack was after the attack on his friend and happened during the course of the officer trying to arrest him for said attack.I’m not condoning it, just pointing out that in the heat of the moment you can put yourself in his shoes and possibly understand how he was trying to evade arrest not just randomly injure someone.
Most of his other prior offences were robbery from banks, building societies and shed/ garages etc. again, not condoning it, just pointing out that none of this fits with tying up a woman and two children and battering them with a hammer. None of it! The police say that as a boy he himself was hit with a hammer (by a parent?) as punishment but that to me sounds like a very tenuous link by the prosecution to make it seem that that was something he would do himself because he’d experienced it. Sounds like some weak evidence to me.

 

[tes1984]

So the cynical amongst us might presume that the police had a reason to want him put away, if he did indeed murder one of their own. As for the crimes in the eighties, neither involved women and children and are a long way away from tying up and beating people with hammers. That’s a big jump for anyone imo.

I agree that the police might have wanted to put him away. He was alleged to have bound and beaten his female partner, and to have carried a hammer in his car.

Everything against him is circumstantial though. Nothing in terms of forensics, which is key these days. Nothing to place him there either.

I would say that MS is a good suspect for these murders, but I certainly wouldn't have convicted him. Whoever the killer turns out to be, I reckon he will share a lot of characteristics with MS, in terms of drugs, mental instability, history of violence etc.

 

[CrackerC119]

If the DNA profile found on the shoelaces didn't match Stone or any Russells then it suggests to me that someone else handed the shoelaces, which given how shoelaces tend to only be touched by a handful of people on a day-to-day basis, I think it would be of paramount importance to identify the DNA holder.

Since my original post on this thread, it seems more information has become available in the public domain that wasn't there before, such as quotes from Barbara Stone and suggestions of abusive behaviour towards Michael Stone's family, from himself and more detailed information, regarding statements from his psychologist. I have read suggestions that M Stone was known to carry a hammer and that he had made very grim threats of violence towards people, including his probation officer in the days leading up to the Russell attacks.

I've also read pieces which suggest that M Stone threatened his sister and his family and that Barbara Stone believes her brother, M Stone killed someone in the 1970s. An alleged ex-girlfriend alleged that M Stone attacked her and that there was a similarity with her injuries to those of the Russells. It is also alleged that M Stone smashed up his sister's car.

However, B Stone seems certain that her brother did not commit the Russell murders and that he wouldn't have acted alone in an attack, which it seems that the Russell murders was a solo attack.

BUT:

• Why did he allegedly burn his clothes after the attack?
• Why did friends notice bloodstaining on his clothes and a change in his behaviour after the date of the attack, e.g. he waited outside a friend's house, instead of coming inside, as he normally did?
• Why do friends seem to claim he knows the Chillenden area, despite his denial of knowing it?

I do still maintain my point that there isn't a strong enough case for Stone to be convicted, though. I maintain my concerns about the lack of Stone's DNA on the shoelace and also the seemingly dubious displacement of said shoelace in police storage. I am mindful of the fact that there was an enormous amount of public pressure to get a name for the perpetrator of these attacks.

 

[Mrs Marple]

My understanding was that the lace disintegrated so could not be tested further and was disposed of. I think that came out more recently.

I agree there isn't really enough evidence based on today's standards but l'm not convinced he is innocent.

 

[CrackerC119]

My understanding was that the lace disintegrated so could not be tested further and was disposed of. I think that came out more recently.

I agree there isn't really enough evidence based on today's standards but l'm not convinced he is innocent.

I am not convinced of his innocence either. The more I read, the more I see how he fits the mould but I just don't think there's enough evidence to have definitively convicted him.

I have both read that the lace had disintegrated from rigorous testing and been misplaced but apparently the lace has been found.

 

[sl77]

If the DNA profile found on the shoelaces didn't match Stone or any Russells then it suggests to me that someone else handed the shoelaces, which given how shoelaces tend to only be touched by a handful of people on a day-to-day basis, I think it would be of paramount importance to identify the DNA holder.

Since my original post on this thread, it seems more information has become available in the public domain that wasn't there before, such as quotes from Barbara Stone and suggestions of abusive behaviour towards Michael Stone's family, from himself and more detailed information, regarding statements from his psychologist. I have read suggestions that M Stone was known to carry a hammer and that he had made very grim threats of violence towards people, including his probation officer in the days leading up to the Russell attacks.

I've also read pieces which suggest that M Stone threatened his sister and his family and that Barbara Stone believes her brother, M Stone killed someone in the 1970s. An alleged ex-girlfriend alleged that M Stone attacked her and that there was a similarity with her injuries to those of the Russells. It is also alleged that M Stone smashed up his sister's car.

However, B Stone seems certain that her brother did not commit the Russell murders and that he wouldn't have acted alone in an attack, which it seems that the Russell murders was a solo attack.

BUT:

• Why did he allegedly burn his clothes after the attack?
• Why did friends notice bloodstaining on his clothes and a change in his behaviour after the date of the attack, e.g. he waited outside a friend's house, instead of coming inside, as he normally did?
• Why do friends seem to claim he knows the Chillenden area, despite his denial of knowing it?

I do still maintain my point that there isn't a strong enough case for Stone to be convicted, though. I maintain my concerns about the lack of Stone's DNA on the shoelace and also the seemingly dubious displacement of said shoelace in police storage. I am mindful of the fact that there was an enormous amount of public pressure to get a name for the perpetrator of these attacks.

Stone did not have blood on his clothes. This was nonsense said by an ex acquaintance.

A police officer bumped in to Stone on the same day, no blood and noted this encounter in his pocket book.

Stone was a drug addict burgler/robber. He was in Chatham in the early afternoon day of the murder. He didn't travel 40 miles to the middle of nowhere to get money by bashing in two children's heads.

I believe this was committed by someone like a schizophrenic.

 

[sl77]

I'm very unsure on Bellfield. I recall hearing details from his "confession letter" and it sounded like there were details in there that could be genuine. And, I believe his ex did have a beige Ford, Bellfield borrowed it around the date of the attacks AND it "got stolen". This... if true, is very suggestive...

However, Bellfield does like to play games.

Did they formally check Bellfield's DNA?

 

[tes1984]

Did they formally check Bellfield's DNA?

What would they check it against?

 

[sl77]

What would they check it against?

In 1996 or 1997 there was a televised press conference where DCI Dave Stephens said they have DNA from the scene, they just need a suspect to compare the DNA with. It's in the BBC doc.

 

[tes1984]

What evidence is there Stone is guilty?

Purely circumstantial, and I'm absolutely playing devil's advocate, but...

No confirmed alibi.
Three people said he confessed.
Knew the area (attended a children's home 2 miles from the murder scene).
Known history of extreme violence, including being imprisoned for a hammer attack.
Was himself beaten with a hammer as a child.
Beat and bound his female ex partner.
Prime suspect in a 70s murder.
Severe mental health issues and made threats to kill.
Known to carry a hammer in his car.
Heroin addict (shoelace found near the murder scene).
Mobile petty thief who stole from sheds (lawnmower stolen in Chillenden that day).
Always desperate for cash (Josie said the perp asked for money).
Drove a red car (as mentioned by Josie and other witnesses).
Slim and 5ft7 tall (close fit to the initial witness description of a slim man, approx 5ft5 tall).

 

[tes1984]

In 1996 or 1997 there was a televised press conference where DCI Dave Stephens said they have DNA from the scene, they just need a suspect to compare the DNA with. It's in the BBC doc.

IIRC in the immediate aftermath of the crime, it was DCI Stephens who said he suspected it was murder!!

 

[KML]

On 9 July 1996, in a country lane in Chillenden, Kent, England, Lin Russell, aged 45, her two daughters, six-year-old Megan and nine-year-old Josie and their dog Lucy, were tied up and savagely beaten with a hammer in a robbery attempt. Lin, Megan and their dog Lucy were killed but, despite appalling head injuries, Josie survived and went on to make an excellent recovery.

Michael Stone was convicted a year later despite shaky evidence, and now, 21 years later, his legal team apparently have new evidence linking known murderer Levi Bellfield to the crime

Breaking news Levi Bellfield allegedly confessed to Russell murders

Summary: The Russell Murders

Michael Stone (criminal) - Wikipedia

Levi Bellfield - Wikipedia

I hate hearing about people wrongly convicted and imprisoned. Courts must do better.

 

[tes1984]

Were there any other suspects?

Apart from Stone and Bellfield, there were at least three other suspects.

IIRC a local men was arrested, and another was questioned. I think they may also have looked at Eddie Browning, who was originally convicted of the unsolved Marie Wilkes murder.

 

[sl77]

Purely circumstantial, and I'm absolutely playing devil's advocate, but...

No confirmed alibi.
Three people said he confessed.
Knew the area (attended a children's home 2 miles from the murder scene).
Known history of extreme violence, including being imprisoned for a hammer attack.
Was himself beaten with a hammer as a child.
Beat and bound his female ex partner.
Prime suspect in a 70s murder.
Severe mental health issues and made threats to kill.
Known to carry a hammer in his car.
Heroin addict (shoelace found near the murder scene).
Mobile petty thief who stole from sheds (lawnmower stolen in Chillenden that day).
Always desperate for cash (Josie said the perp asked for money).
Drove a red car (as mentioned by Josie and other witnesses).
Slim and 5ft7 tall (close fit to the initial witness description of a slim man, approx 5ft5 tall).

Stone couldn't provide an alibi because they arrested him a year after the murder.

We have evidence Stone wrote a letter requesting to be put in solitary (because prisoners were telling the papers he was confessing). He gets put in solitary and then Damian Daley claims Stone confessed (whilst in solitary).

Stone attended a children's home 4 miles away, for 3 weeks, aged 8/9.

Do you have a source for him being known to carry a hammer in his car?

Do you have a source of the 1970s murder?

The shoelace did not contain Stone's DNA. Stone's DNA has not been found anywhere at the scene. However, unknown male DNA was found.

The bag with blooded cloths was witnessed being hidden by a guy driving a beige Ford, not a red car.

Josie said the man was tall:

Josie herself, who by that stage had recovered sufficiently to relay some details of what had happened, described a man a bit taller than her father who is 6ft, with yellow, spiky hair.

Stone is 5ft 7ins tall with medium brown hair. Bellfield is 6ft 1ins tall and although naturally dark, he dyed his hair from time to time although it is not clear if he had done so in the summer of 1996.

Also, the DNA ruled-out Stone but Bellfield could not be ruled-out:

Using DNA voluntarily given by some of Bellfield's relatives, results revealed three component matches with his DNA. This shows merely that he cannot be excluded from the DNA. Stone, on the other hand, can be excluded.

Levi Bellfield's alleged confession to Russell murders

Serial killer Levi Bellfield's alleged confession to one of the UK's most notorious murders cases

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[tes1984]

The source for Stone carrying a hammer in his car is Michael Sweeney QC.

The source for Stone's involvement in the Francis Jegou murder from 1976 is Stone's sister, who said he asked her to dispose of a knife for him around 1976. However, an article in The Independent in 1998 says it was a youth called Lloyd Stephenson who inflicted the fatal blow. Stephenson committed suicide in 1980.

Like I said, I'm merely playing devil's advocate. The case against Stone for the Chillenden murders looks absolutely wafer thin to me. IMO the prosecution was unsafe and without any actual evidence.

 

[sl77]

The source for Stone carrying a hammer in his car is Michael Sweeney QC.

The source for Stone's involvement in the Francis Jegou murder from 1976 is Stone's sister, who said he asked her to dispose of a knife for him around 1976. However, an article in The Independent in 1998 says it was a youth called Lloyd Stephenson who inflicted the fatal blow. Stephenson committed suicide in 1980.

Like I said, I'm merely playing devil's advocate. The case against Stone for the Chillenden murders looks absolutely wafer thin to me. IMO the prosecution was unsafe and without any actual evidence.

I know you're just playing devil's advocate

RE the hammer... I assume it's from the Chillenden evidence. The problem is, the sort of circles Stone moved around in, he had a lot of ex-acquaintances who love to embellish/get people in trouble. For example, the person who claimed Stone had blood on his clothes the next day. If Stone committed the murders, I hardly think he's going to be walking around in blood-stained clothes the next day! Also, the person who claimed Stone knew the area like the back of his hand. Stone said him and the guy disliked each other. I'm inclined to believe him.

I'm not convinced about his sister and the murder. It seems odd this wouldn't get mentioned in 3x documentaries, 2 of which she has featured.

I'll tell you what happened RE Stone:

One year later, Crimewatch, police are desperate, looking like idiots, get told about Stone.... oooo he'll do. Hasn't got an alibi? Great! No evidence? Hmmm. We'll put him on remand for his burglaries. Still can't find any evidence. Hmm... I know, we'll offer Damian Daley a deal to claim Stone confessed.

This ^ is literally what Kent Police did.

And the worst thing is we know 100% the murderer had a beige car because he was seen disposing of the bloodied rags. We know Stone did not have access to a beige car. We also know Stone's DNA was ruled-out from the sample collected at the scene.