Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
‘Calls cast more doubt on Stone’s conviction’
After new witnesses come forward, lawyer claims: Exclusive
Hammer murderer Michael Stone’s defence lawyer claims fresh witnesses could cast doubt on his conviction.
Local callers have reportedly contacted Stone’s legal team with descriptions placing another man at the scene – one with a striking similarity to notorious murderer Levi Bellfield.
Another informant even suggests a man who lived in the area and has since died is responsible for the brutal killings.
Lin Russell and daughter Megan, six, were bludgeoned to death with a blunt instrument 20 years ago on a remote country lane in Chillenden near Canterbury.
Lin’s eldest daughter Josie, nine, miraculously survived the frenzied attack, which also saw the family dog slaughtered.
Stone, a drug addict with convictions for violence, was arrested a year later and charged with the murders.
He was convicted by a jury and remains behind bars but has always protested his innocence.
Solicitor Paul Bacon, who remains in regular contact with Stone, has told the Gazette that fresh witnesses with potentially vital information have recently come to light.
He said: “A woman rang us with some very interesting information. She saw a man driving a Ford car in the area on the day of the murders.
“She said he had his collar turned up and the sun visor down, which struck her as odd – as if he was trying not to be recognised.”
Mr Bacon says the female caller was ada- mant that the man she saw could not have been Stone.
“She describes Stone as having a ‘weasel face’, whereas the man she saw had a fuller face,” he said.
“The description of the man she saw more closely resembles Levi Bellfield.”
Bellfield was convicted in 2011 of the murder of 13-year-old Milly Dowler, who disappeared on her way home from school in Walton-on-thames in 2002.
When found guilty, the 20-stone former wheelclamper was already serving life sentences for the murders of Marsha Mcdonnell, 19, and Amélie Delagrange, 22, in West London.
Both died of severe head injuries after being hit with a blunt instrument in 2003 and 2004 respectively.
It emerged earlier this year that Bellfield had sensationally admitted to Milly’s murder after years of denial – and was said to have made further jail-cell confessions.
But he subsequently withdrew the confessions, dashing any hope Stone had that the serial killer might admit to the Russell murders too.
Mr Bacon says the coverage prompted a number of fresh calls from potential witnesses.
“We’ve had two or three people of interest come forward,” he said. “One has given information to suggest the murder may have been committed by a local man.
“The man’s now dead, but his family are of course still around.”