The Investigation
Over the course of the next year, pressure mounted on the police to find the perpetrator of the brutal murders. They interviewed 9,000 people, took 1,000 statements, and identified a number of suspects. One person was arrested but was later released without charge.
Josie and her father Shaun had moved from Kent to start a new life in North Wales in December 1996. Her injuries left her with speech problems, and she had little to no memory of the attack. On 1st May 1997, she had recovered enough to give an interview to the police. However, leads were unpromising or non-existent.
On 6th February 2022, more than 25 years after the murders, notorious killer Levi Bellfield allegedly admitted to the attack. Michael Stone's lawyers received a written statement that included details about what he was wearing and how he made his escape.
Bellfield is currently serving a life sentence for murdering a 13-year-old girl in 2002, and has also been found guilty of another murder and attempted murder.
A missing shoelace was found in police storage in 2020 that could provide important DNA evidence and link Bellfied to the scene of the Russell attack.
