He was the nicest man but then he beat me up & raped me TWO SIDES OF SERIAL KILLER LEVI BELLFIELD
SERIAL killer Levi Bellfield was a real- life Jekyll and Hyde, according to his ex-girlfriend.
Joe Collings lived with the monster for three years long before his vile crimes were revealed.
But even before he turned killer, she was stunned by how his personality would switch from being charming to extremely violent.
In February 2008, Bellfield was found guilty of the murders of Marsha McDonnell and Amélie Delagrange, along with the attempted murder of Kate Sheedy.
And in June 2011, Bellfield was found guilty of the murder of Milly Dowler, 13.
Recalling their relationship, Joe said: “He really was the nicest, kindest person you could ever meet. On a good day he bought you presents, treated you like a princess.
“He was always taking you out for meals, buying you flowers. He was a really nice guy.
“Levi could always talk his way out of anything because he had the knack and he had the gift of how to do it.
“If he had done something, he could get out of it.”
But behind closed doors there was another side to Bellfield. Joe said: “The beatings became really frequent and more and more violent.
“The rapes then became really intense with him on a regular basis. If you rearrange the letters in Levi’s name it spells ‘evil.’ And that’s exactly what he was.”
Alarm bells rang for Joe when she happened to find his “rape kit” at the home they shared in south-west London.
She said: “I came across a black binliner that had a Vogue or Cosmopolitan-style magazine and when I looked through it, all the blonde models’ pictures had all had their faces slashed or stabbed.
“Also in the bag was a balaclava and a knife. I called it his rape kit.” After they split, Joe saw news reports about a manhunt in the area following the murders of Marsha and Amélie and the attempted murder of Kate.
It left her convinced Bellfield was guilty and she contacted police.
She said: “It couldn’t go on any more. He had to be stopped. They always say you should trust your gut instincts. I did and I was right.
“I don’t know how I knew. But in my gut I knew it was Levi.
“If you look at a map, Amélie Delagrange was walking distance from my house, Kate Sheedy was in the vicinity of his uncle and aunt’s house and Marsha McDonnell was by his mum’s house. So everywhere someone was attacked or murdered, he knew the area inside out.”
After Bellfield was jailed, he later stood trial accused of murdering schoolgirl Milly Dowler in Yateley Heath Woods.
Joe helped police with their investigation by providing vital evidence.
She said: “Levi denied ever going into Yateley or knowing the area.
“But I had two photographs of me, Levi and my horse at the Yateley Horse Show, which was the other side of the dual carriageway from where Millie’s body was found.”
When Bellfield stood trial, Joe bravely faced him in court to give evidence.
She said: “I always remember looking up and looking straight at him.
“You just think for that split second you’re back in that scared rabbit-in-theheadlights moment.
“And then I thought, ‘I’m not – because I’m here and I’m proud I’m here and I will stop you.’”
Bellfield was the first man in British legal history to be handed two whole-life terms at separate trials, meaning he will never be released.
Joe tells her story in the documentary called Levi Bellfield: 5 Mistakes That Caught A Killer, which will be screened on Thursday at 9pm on Channel 5.