The Chillenden Murders

Lin, Megan, and Josie Russell

Updated on July 9, 2019

On this day in 1996, Dr. Lin Russell, her two daughters, Josie and Megan, and their dog, Lucy, were attacked by a man wielding a hammer while walking home from a swimming gala in Chillenden, Kent, England. The man blindfolded and tied them up and then proceeded to bludgeon them to death one by one. Nine-year-old Josie survived the attack but some of her brain tissue was so damaged that it had to be removed. She had to relearn how to talk after surgeons inserted a metal plate into her head to cover the area where her skull had been smashed.

On July 17, a man named Michael Stone was arrested for the attack. Stone had a record of burglary and a history of drug abuse and mental illness. He had been recognized by a BBC viewer after the network had broadcast his picture and description during a special about the case. When asked where he was on the day of the murder he told police he couldn't remember because he was on drugs and it had been so long ago.

Several witnesses came forward to testify against Michael Stone during his trial. Claims were made that his stepfather had beaten him with a hammer when he was a child. Several inmates claimed that he had confessed to the crime. Finally, his neighbors claimed that he had shown up at their house wearing blood-splattered clothing the morning after the murders. On October 23, 1998, Stone, 38, was convicted and given a triple-life sentence. Shortly after the conviction, Barry Thompson, one of the inmates who had testified against Stone in court, retracted his testimony in a newspaper article. A Court of Appeals threw out Stone's conviction based on Thompson's false testimony.

After a second trial, Michael Stone was again convicted and sentenced to three life terms. He began serving his sentence on October 5, 2001. His attorney pledged to continue to fight for his release and there are several people who still believe that Stone was wrongly convicted. In December 2006, a High Court judge ruled that Stone must serve at least 25 years of his sentence before he can be considered for parole. A 2017 documentary produced by the BBC suggested that serial killer Levi Bellfield actually committed the murders.

In September 2018, Josie Russell (the sole survivor of the attack on herself, her mother Lin, her sister Megan, and their dog Lucy) appeared on the ITV talk show Lorraine. During the appearance, she shared that she and her boyfriend of thirteen years got engaged and were in the process of renovating the Russell family home. She credits her recovery, chronicled in the book Josie's Journey, to art and animals. She is now a successful textile artist.

Related Reading:

The Chillenden Murders: who is Levi Bellfield and is the BBC documentary linking him to the crime?

What happened to Chillenden survivor Josie Russell whose mum and sister were murdered

Michael Stone found 'not guilty' of murders of Lin and Megan Russell by television jury who suggest the real killer could be walking free