Serial killer Levi Bellfield is set to provide investigators with a fresh DNA sample as he is probed over the hammer murders of Lin and Megan Russell. Bellfield has previously claimed he attacked Lin, 45, her daughter Megan, six, and surviving daughter Josie, then nine. They were battered as Lin walked her girls home from school along a bridle path near Chillenden, Kent, on July 9, 1996.
Forensic Assessment Using Updated Techniques
Bellfield is due to be visited in jail by an official from the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) as it carries out a forensic assessment of the evidence using updated testing techniques. No date has been set for the miscarriage of justice investigator to take the sample from Bellfield, who is in HMP Frankland. A CCRC spokesperson said: "We intend to obtain a sample from Mr Bellfield. No date has been set for this."
Michael Stone Also Gives DNA Sample
It comes after Michael Stone, the man convicted of the murders, gave a fresh DNA sample to the same team on Thursday. Stone, now 66 and also in HMP Frankland, was arrested a year after the murders following a Crimewatch TV appeal when his psychiatrist came forward. He was convicted on a disputed cell confession in 1998 and at a re-trial three years later after his conviction was quashed.
Serial killer Bellfield, who is serving a whole life order for murdering Milly Dowler, Marsha McDonnell and Amelie Delagrange, previously confessed to being behind the Russell killings but later retracted the claim. Nothing has been found to corroborate his claims and Bellfield has lied about his involvement in other murders he did not commit.
Legal Representation Comments
Mark McDonald, Stone's barrister, said: "Bellfield has given a detailed confession of this crime and the CCRC has dismissed it based on irrational reasons. Hopefully now we can finally find out whether he was the perpetrator of these atrocious murders."
New Forensic Techniques
The fresh saliva samples are needed to carry out new techniques, including one which can separate DNA in mixed samples. If new DNA is found on exhibits from the murder scene, it could be compared to Bellfield's. The same testing advances were used to prove the innocence of Andrew Malkinson, who spent 17 years in jail for a rape he did not commit.
Josie suffered head injuries but survived while the family's dog, Lucy, was also killed. A new forensic strategy by a scientist at the laboratory Eurofins was shared with Stone's lawyers this month. Samples from a bloodstained shoelace used to tie Lin's wrists are said to be of particular interest. Tapings taken from Lin and Megan's bodies are also marked "top priority" as they were recovered directly from the victims' skin and have not been tested since 1996.
Stone has always protested his innocence over the murders and the attempted murder of Josie. He was identified as a possible suspect after an appeal on BBC's Crimewatch and said he could not remember what he was doing at the time of the attack. Bellfield is said to have confessed to killing Lin and Megan after talking to prison psychologists.
