Did this monster kill 8 women and girls?
SERIAL killer Levi Bellfield is once again at the centre of an urgent police inquiry after apparently admitting a string of murders and rapes.
Nine forces are examining supposed jail cell admissions that would significantly widen his known reign of terror.
The 47-year-old, serving two whole life terms for the murder of Milly Dowler and two other young women, has suggested he is responsible for up to 25 unsolved crimes, including the murders of five other victims.
Scotland Yard, which is co-ordinating the investigation, last night refused to comment on which cases are being reviewed, say his claims are still being assessed.
At the time of his conviction for Milly’s mur- BELLFIELD is now known as Yusuf Rahim after converting to Islam behind bars. The move opens the door to a range of highly prized benefits.
Many prisoners believe Muslims receive better quality food, including sought-after vegetarian curries from a Halal menu. They are also sometimes excused from work and education to attend Friday prayers.
Inmates who convert for the benefits have been dubbed ‘convenience Muslims’, with some openly admitting the ploy. der in June 2011, detectives said they believed Bellfield may have been responsible for 20 unsolved attacks on women. And it has been long suspected that his appalling crimes may have begun in 1980 when he was just 12. His school sweetheart, Patsy Morris, 14, was found strangled on Hounslow Heath and noone has been convicted. Other potential crimes include the murders of Judith Silver in London in 1990 and Lin and Megan Russell in their Kent village in 1996.
Bellfield is also accused of raping and sexually assaulting numerous women and girls over more than a decade, often after drugging them with spiked drinks.
However, senior detectives urged caution and said the pathological liar had a history of attempting to manipulate the authorities. They believe he may be trying to win privileges by appearing to co-operate.
One sceptical retired detective even suggested that the twisted paedophile could be getting a ‘thrill’ from stringing police along.
The ‘confessions’ came to light as Surrey Police interviewed Bellfield at Wakefield Prison over fears an accomplice assisted him in the abduction of Milly in 2002. Although they found no evidence to support this, the serial killer stunned investigators by admitting to her abduction, rape and murder for the first time. It is understood he went on to suggest he was involved in other crimes and even implicated several other men.
The forces reviewing violent attacks on women and young girls are thought to include Greater Manchester, Avon and Somerset, Sussex and Lancashire.
Although the majority of Bellfield’s crimes took place in West and South West London, the former doorman and wheel-clamper travelled widely.
Det Chief Insp Colin Sutton, who brought Bellfield to justice in 2008 over the murders of Marsha McDonnell and Amelie Delagrange, said police had evidence he abducted and raped five young girls.
He said he was surprised that Bellfield would admit to anything while his mother Jean, to whom he is close, is alive. He added: ‘There is always an angle with Levi, always something he is trying to manipulate.
‘I don’t know whether he is thinking down the line if there is a challenge to the whole-life tariff, whether he might be able to apply for parole. I think he could be that calculating.
‘He is up there in the lexicon of serial killers. If not in quantity, he is as bad and as evil as anyone.’