RELATIVES of serial killer Levi Bellfield are convinced he was responsible for the hammer murders of Lin and Megan Russell.

       The family also believe 53-year-old Bellfield carried out dozens of further unsolved attacks.

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       Relatives of serial killer Levi Bellfield are convinced he was responsible for the hammer murders of Lin and Megan Russell 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

       A close female relative told The Sun that she would be prepared to provide DNA if it helps to nail him for the 1996 horrific attack on the family.

       She spoke after The Sun on Sunday revealed how Bellfield — already serving a whole life tariff — last month made a formal four-page confession.

       He told in detail how he killed Lin, 45, and Megan, six, as well as the family’s dog, and left nine-year-old Josie with horrific injuries.

       Yet Michael Stone, now 61, is serving life for the murders on a bridle path near the village of Chillenden, Kent, on July 9, 1996.

       He would be eligible for parole this year if he admitted the murders, but instead has always denied any guilt.

       Bellfield has previously retracted another confession to the killings he made to a prisoner.

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       And he has repeatedly lied to police about other crimes he initially claimed responsibility for, before backtracking.

       But the close relative told The Sun: “I’m convinced Levi carried out the Russell murders.

       “I’ve thought that for years. This confession is no shock to me. He’s a monster, pure evil.”

       Bellfield was earlier given an apparent alibi by former partner Johanna Collings, who said he had celebrated her 25th birthday on the day of the murders.

       However, it is now thought Joanna mixed up the day of the week.

       Bellfield’s relative, who asked not to be specifically identified, said: “The alibi provided at the time is not something I believe.”

       She went on: We want to help Michael Stone. I’ve always believed Bellfield did this.

       “We will provide anything they need. We’d do DNA tests which may assist any future police investigation.

       “This confession has got to be taken seriously. Bellfield is capable of -anything. We all think Michael Stone is innocent.”

       The relative continued: “Bellfield is the worst person in the world. We abandoned him years ago. The word monster doesn’t do him justice. My personal belief is he is responsible.

       “He’s pure evil. This needs to be looked at again because I think you’ve got a man like Michael Stone serving a life sentence when he shouldn’t be. This is a detailed confession. It’s specific.”

       She added: “We fear there’s dozens more out there who he attacked and even killed.”

       'PURE EVIL'

       Bellfield’s ex-partner Rebecca Wilkinson, who split with him the year before the Russell murders, also believes his new prison confession.

       She said: “I knew he would say it after his mum Jean died a few years ago.”

       Bellfield is serving a whole life tariff after being convicted in 2008 for the hammer murders of French student Amelie Delagrange, 22, in 2004 and gap year student Marsha McDonnell, 19, the year before in South West London.

       In 2011 he was convicted of the murder of 13-year-old Milly Dowler, abducted as she walked home from school in -Walton, Surrey, in March 2002.

       Bellfield is currently being held in the vulnerable prisoners unit at Durham’s Frankland prison.

       Stone is being detained on the main wing of the same jail.

       The Criminal Cases Review Commission is considering his conviction and his family have urged investigators to take Bellfield’s confession seriously.

       Stone’s sister Barbara said of Bellfield’s statement: “I am one hundred per cent convinced that what he said is genuine.”

       Bellfield made the confession to Stone’s solicitor Paul Bacon, who yesterday urged cops to re-open the case immediately.

       He said: “The statement Bellfield has made, I believe, is the truth.

       'DETAILED CONFESSION'

       “It now needs the police to interview Bellfield under caution and we can then establish Michael Stone’s innocence at last.”

       Lin’s husband Shaun said he had doubts about Stone’s guilt too. He said: “All the way through there’s been this niggling doubt.

       “If I’d been on that jury I think I’d have been one of the two against the ten who thought he was guilty.

       “I couldn’t have said 100 per cent that he killed Lin and Megan, and while there is that doubt I cannot direct my anger towards him.”

       Mr Russell also said prison officers who know Stone say he “acts like a man who has been wrongfully accused”.

       But Colin Sutton, the former Met detective who caught Bellfield, has previously insisted that the serial killer was not responsible for the Russell murders.

       And he has suggested Bellfield could now be making up his involvement, possibly just to get more attention.

       He reckoned: “Knowing Bellfield as I do, this could be him playing mind games.”

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       Lin Russell with Josie (left) and Megan picnicking in 1995 Credit: Russell Family - Sunday Times 6

       Bellfield was convicted of the murder of 13-year-old Milly Dowler in 2011 Credit: PA:Press Association 6

       The murder scene of Lin and Megan Russell in Chillenden, Kent 6

       Bellfield is currently being held in the vulnerable prisoners unit at Durham’s Frankland prison Credit: PA:Press Association