LEVI Bellfield - who is serving two whole-life orders for killing schoolgirl Milly Dowler, Marsha McDonnell, 19, and Amélie Delagrange, 22 - has made a formal statement claiming responsibility for the deaths of Lin, 45, and her daughter, Megan, six.
Here we take a look at the key clues in the hammer horror case.
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Serial killer Levi Bellfield has made a formal statement claiming responsibility for the deaths of Lin, 45, and her daughter, Megan, six Credit: Rex Features 6
Michael Stone, now 61, is serving life for the murders on a bridle path near the village of Chillenden, Kent, on July 9, 1996 Credit: Getty Images - Getty PREVIOUS CRIMES
QUESTIONS were first raised about Bellfield’s potential links to the Chillenden attack after his 2008 convictions for the murders of Amelie Delagrange, 22, and Marsha McDonnell, 19, and then three years later when he was convicted over Milly Dowler, 13.
Bellfield was also suspected of up to 100 further attacks, many carried out with a hammer — the weapon probably used to batter the Russells and their terrier Lucy.
Stone — nicknamed “Mad Mick the Hammer Man” on the police computer — had an appalling history of violence and was arrested after his psychiatrist came forward over an anniversary appeal.
Dr Philip Sugarman said Stone had spoken days before the killings of attacking women and children. However, the dates did not add up and the psychiatrist was never called.
CONFESSIONS
IN his confession to the 1996 murders of Lin and Megan, Bellfield said he went on holiday to Turkey afterwards, fitting with his known modus operandi of going away after carrying out a killing.
The prosecution of ex-heroin addict Stone hinged on an uncorroborated jail confession — which he has always denied.
Stone, 61, is alleged to have told fellow prisoner Damian Daley that the hammer attack on Lin, 45, and daughters Megan, six, and Josie was like “smashing eggs”.
Hardened criminal Daley claimed Stone confessed to him through pipes in their separate cells in the segregation unit at Canterbury jail in September 1997.
Drug user Daley gave evidence twice against Stone, at his 1998 original trial and then a re-trial three years later when he was the sole witness.
Defence lawyers pointed out that Daley had charges of assault, arson and robbery dropped against him after reporting Stone’s alleged confession — and therefore benefited from it.
Daley, now 46, was jailed for life in 2014 for the murder of a Folkestone, Kent, drug dealer.
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EYE-WITNESSES
AN e-fit of the Chillenden attacker, showing him as a chubby-faced man with fair hair and wearing a red T-shirt, bore a stronger resemblance to Bellfield than to Stone.
Josie Russell, then nine, who suffered massive head injuries, also said the attacker was 6ft tall — the same height as Bellfield and taller than 5ft 7in Stone — based on her father’s height.
The suspect was also said to have had spiky fair hair — as Bellfield had at the time.
THE CARS
THE killer is said to have driven a beige or rust-coloured Ford Escort — which Josie said he had driven past the family as they returned home from school.
She said she had waved at the driver, who then got out -and demanded money from them before chasing after her mum and hitting her.
Stone was stopped twice by police in a white Toyota Tercel shortly before and after the murders — but was never connected to a beige Escort.
There were no forensic traces from the murders when the Toyota was examined after Stone was arrested a year later.
Yet Bellfield’s former common law wife Emma Mills said he had been driving a beige Ford Sierra Sapphire at the time of the Chillenden murders — which he confirmed in his confession.
ALIBI
ANOTHER of Bellfield’s partners, Johanna Collings, provided him with an alibi for the Russell murders by saying she remembered he had been with her that day — her 25th birthday.
But she later said she believed it was a Friday or Saturday — not a Tuesday when the Chillenden attack happened.
DNA MATCHES
DNA extracts from a bootlace found close to the scene — which also had blood traces from both girls — is being examined.
But partial DNA codes already extracted from the lace are said to potentially match Bellfield and other men — but not Stone.
DNA from an unknown male was found on strips of towels used by the killer to tie up the Russells. They were examined by scientists for a BBC programme.
Stone was eliminated, but there was a one-in-30 match with a relative of Bellfield — who has refused to provide a profile.
A bloody fingerprint found on one of the girls’ lunchboxes was not Stone’s — but shared characteristics with Bellfield.
FURTHER EVIDENCE
BELLFIELD had links to the Kent area, where his ex Mills said he used to sell drugs.
At his first trial, Stone admitted to burning his clothes soon after the murder.
He said it was because he had put on weight.
Stone, of Gillingham, Kent, also admitted stealing lawn-mowers in the past — raising suspicion as an orange Flymo mower was stolen in the area on the day of the murders.
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'Fragments' of DNA found on a bootlace could identify Bellfield as the killer 6
Bellfield was also suspected of up to 100 further attacks, many carried out with a hammer — the weapon probably used to batter the Russells and their terrier Lucy Credit: Kent Police 6
Stone, of Gillingham, Kent, also admitted stealing lawn-mowers in the past — raising suspicion as an orange Flymo mower was stolen in the area on the day of the murders Credit: Kent News and Pictures 6
A bloody fingerprint found on one of the girls’ lunchboxes was not Stone’s — but shared characteristics with Bellfield