One of Britain’s most bone-chilling murder cases is being reopened after three decades. The Daily Mail can reveal that fresh doubts have emerged over the brutal hammer killings of Lin Russell and her six-year-old daughter, Megan.
Hammer Horror Shakes Kent
In 1996, Lin Russell, 45, and young Megan were viciously bludgeoned to death on a quiet lane near their home in rural Chillenden, Kent. The grisly attack shocked the nation. Miraculously, Megan’s older sister Josie, just nine years old at the time, survived the savage assault.
Michael Stone was convicted for the murders. But he has always insisted he’s innocent. Instead, Stone points the finger at another monster: Levi Bellfield, the notorious Milly Dowler killer. Stone slammed a key witness, Daley, as a “lying lowlife” responsible for a miscarriage of justice.
Crime Watchdog Kicks Off New Probe
The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) has launched a fresh investigation just ahead of the 30th anniversary of the chilling killings. Their sweep includes:
- Interviewing Daley in HMP Full Sutton, where he’s serving a life sentence for a 2014 murder.
- Putting evidence from the original crime scene through cutting-edge forensic testing.
- Re-examining Levi Bellfield’s possible links to the case.
This three-pronged approach could finally crack open years of controversy surrounding shaky prison testimonies.
Stone Vows: “I’m Not the Murderer”
Michael Stone continues to fight tooth and nail to clear his name. In an exclusive chat with the Daily Mail, he declared he would “never” admit guilt and remained convinced Bellfield was involved.
“Daley is a lying lowlife… who created a miscarriage of justice,” Stone told us.
Stone’s legal team highlights Daley’s unstable past and claims he fabricated Stone’s jailhouse confession, seriously undermining the 1998 conviction.
Stone’s barrister, Mark McDonald, said: “Daley has retracted his testimony multiple times and admitted to other inmates he lied. The CCRC’s fresh review could lead to Stone’s conviction being referred back to the Court of Appeal.”
Jailhouse Confession Under the Microscope
Daley, serving life for a separate murder, was the star witness who claimed Stone confessed while they were prison neighbours in 1997. But the reliability of this confession is now in doubt after a newspaper found in Daley’s cell the same day already detailed the murders – suggesting Daley may have planted the story.
Stone’s original 1998 conviction at Maidstone Crown Court was overturned after a key witness recanted, admitting to lying under pressure and for media cash. Yet, Stone was retried in 2001 and convicted again, largely based on Daley’s testimony.
The CCRC’s renewed probe shines a harsh light on what could be one of Britain’s darkest miscarriages of justice. After 30 years, could Bellfield’s sinister involvement finally come to light? The true story behind Lin and Megan Russell’s murders might just edge closer to the surface.
