‘Their bodies were found huddled together on this isolated track just half a mile from their home in Gillingham.’ … ‘The family were beaten with a blunt metal instrument like a hammer.’ The Chillenden Murders I, news reports, BBC 2017
In the summer of 1996 a young family were attacked down a quiet country lane in Kent. The hunt for the killer became one of the biggest stories of the decade. A year later Michael Stone was arrested. He was tried, convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment. ibid.
Doubts continue to be raised about Michael Stone’s guilt. And for the last twenty years Stone himself has stuck to the same story. ibid.
‘He had a previous conviction for a hammer attack for which he got a two-year sentence.’ ibid. investigator
‘You’d expect him to leave his DNA on the items … It’s 1996.’ ibid.
‘One of the three alleged self-confessions they used in the first trial – Thompson subsequently admitted it was all false.’ ibid.
‘The second prisoner … Jennings … had been paid £5,000 via his sister by The Sun with another promise of £10,000 to come.’ ibid.
Stone’s conviction was overturned and a new trial was ordered. ibid.
In 1996 the murders of Lin and Megan Russell and attempted murder of Josie Russell on a quiet country lane in Kent horrified the nation. The Chillenden Murders II
Doubts being raised about Stone’s guilt. And Stone himself has stuck to the same story. But is he a liar and a killer, or could the wrong man be in prison? ibid.
But Jo-Ane Goodwin’s article questioning Sheree Batt’s evidence and Michael Stone’s guilt was published. ibid.
Its star witness – a former prisoner called Damien Daley … ‘I said, You’re fitting Stone up, and he said, Yes.’ ibid.
Every area where they’ve got a positive [DNA], it’s not him [Stone]. ibid.
One name keeps cropping up – Levi Bellfield … he used a hammer as a weapon. ibid.
A mother, Lin Russell, her two daughters Megan and Josie, and Lucy their family dog, are making their way home after a swimming gala … One of the most controversial and tragic cases Britain has ever witnessed. Who Killed Lin & Megan Russell? Channel 5 2023
One of the eye-witnesses who had seen a man in a beige car driving away from the scene helped police to produce an e-fit. ibid.
More than two years after the murders, the trial of Michael Stone begins at Maidstone Crown Court. ibid.
Within days of the verdict, a revelation in the media shocked the nation: ‘I Told a Pack of Lies’ [headline]. ibid. witness
‘I was very surprised he was found guilty the second time because the second jury had even less to go on than the first one.’ ibid. journalist
‘No DNA evidence was actually found on the bootlace. None of it could be linked to Stone.’ ibid.
The car that Stone owned at the time was a white Toyota. ibid.
Michael Stone lost a second appeal against his conviction in 2005. In 2011 Stone’s legal team was refused permission to apply for judicial review of the CCRC decision not to refer his case to the Court of Appeal. ibid. captions
I’ve suffered for it mentally and I just want to get some closure. The Russell Murders: Who Killed Lin & Megan? I: Horrific Crime, No Suspect, rozzer revisits scene, Sky Documentaries 2023
Police investigating the murder of a mother and daughter in Kent say they were victims of a brutal frenzied attack. ibid. BBC new
We have now received a full confession from Levi Bellfield. ibid. rozzers’ press conference
A mother and her two daughters bludgeoned by a hammer was just horrendous. ibid. woman
The motive at the moment is incomprehensible. The Russell Murders: Who Killed Lin & Megan? II: The Media vs Michael Stone, rozzer
It Wasn’t Me. I Wasn’t There. ibid. Michael Stone
Police will be very reluctant to admit they made a mistake. ibid. journalist
They [rozzers] were set on me like a pack of hounds. ibid. Michael Stone
They [rozzers] always assured me there was DNA found at the scene. ibid. Michael Stone’s sister
The first muttering of doubt over the [Stone] conviction were beginning to emerge. The Russell Murders: Who Killed Lin & Megan III: Confessions & Serial Killers, journalist
The appeal judges insisted on a retrial. ibid.
He [prison witness] would have sold his grandmother down the pan to get the charges dropped. ibid. Michael Stone
The jury came back with guilty. I nearly had a heart attack on the spot. ibid.
RUXTON, BUCK: News Reports - Daily Mirror - Gabriel Weston: Catching History’s Criminals TV -
Yard Called In To Ravine Crime: Bodies Dissected by Expert? News report
Cyclops Eye Find In Ravine: Suggestions That There Were Three Bodies. News report
Doctor Accused Of Murder: Sensation During Ravine Mystery Inquiries. Daily Mirror front page
The bodies were of two women. Great Crimes & Trials s3e12: Buck Ruxton, BBC 1996
Lancaster police were already interested in Dr Ruxton since not only had his nurse-maid disappeared but his wife as well. ibid.
In 1930 Ruxton bought a substantial general medical practice in Lancaster. ibid.
When she [housekeeper] came to clean the carpets Mrs Hampshire found that they had been soaked in what appeared to be blood. ibid.
Ruxton was questioned at length, and finally at 7.30 that evening he was charged with the murder of his wife and Mary Rogerson. ibid.
Public interest was intense. ibid.
He was sentenced to death. ibid.