The man jailed for a horrific double murder exactly 30 years ago hopes he can now prove his innocence through new advanced DNA tests.
This Thursday (July 9), Michael Stone will be visited by an investigator from the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC).
Michael Stone, serving three life sentences for the horrific Chillenden attacks. Picture: Kent Police
A sample of his saliva will be taken for new forensic testing, which will be able to isolate male DNA even when the sample is a mixture of the female victim and an unknown man.
His legal team believe that if the DNA of another man is found and identified, it would prove he was innocent and the real murderer could be found.
The new scientist involved wants to test samples from a bloodstained shoelace used to tie one of the victims’ wrists and tapings from the victims’ bodies, as they have not been tested since 1996.
Speaking to The Times, a CCRC spokesman said: “It is important to get a forensic strategy in order to determine what should be tested and in what order.
“It is two and a half years since a fresh review was commenced in November 2023 and considerable work has been done not only on forensic aspects of the application but on the several other aspects of the application which Mr Stone’s lawyers wished to be investigated.
Lin Russell and daughter Megan, killed in a hammer attack 30 years ago this coming Thursday. Picture: Kent Police
“The applicant’s forensic scientist had the exhibits over a period of seven months of that time to prepare a forensic strategy and the CCRC’s forensic scientists took 10 months to prepare one.”
On the afternoon of Tuesday, July 9, 1996. Lin Russell, 45, and her daughter Megan, six, were killed in a hammer attack in the countryside in Chilenden, Dover district, as they walked home from a swimming gala.
The third victim, Megan’s sister Josie, nine, survived despite suffering horrific head injuries.
The inquiry led to one of the biggest manhunts in British police history.
Gillingham resident Stone, now 66, was in the 1990s a known heroin addict with a criminal record for previous violence.
Josie Russel, the child who survived the 1996 hammer attack. PA photo
He was arrested in July 1997, convicted in 1998 and again in a retrial in 2001.
He was given three life sentences for double murder and attempted murder and his appeal against conviction was turned down in 2019.
But doubt has always surrounded the case because there was no forensic evidence linking Stone directly to the scene.
By last January, the CCRC had confirmed it was considering a fresh application by Stone’s legal team.
The lawyers stressed that advances in DNA testing are now far more sophisticated than at the time of the original investigation.
It is important to get a forensic strategy in order to determine what should be tested and in what order
Stone’s barrister Mark McDonald said no DNA belonging to Stone had been found on key exhibits, adding these were items on which forensic material from the attacker “would normally be expected”.
It includes the bootlace used in the murder and to tie up the victims, which could be the subject of more advanced testing now.
Stone was eligible for parole in 2022, but has refused to apply, believing it would be an admission of guilt.