DNA test for Michael Stone 30 years after Lin and Megan Russell murders

New DNA samples will be taken from a man jailed for a double murder, exactly 30 years after a mother and daughter were beaten to death.

The bodies of Dr Lin Russell, 45, and her daughter Megan, six, were found in Chillenden, Kent, on 9 July, 1996. Megan’s sister Josie Russell, then nine, was left for dead with severe head injuries.

Following the murders, Josie returned with her father to live in Gwynedd, where she works as an artist.

Michael Stone is serving three life prison sentences, but the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) is re-examining evidence after serial killer Levi Bellfield reportedly admitted the murders.

The DNA will be taken from Stone on Thursday.

Stone’s solicitor, Paul Bacon, said he was “very hopeful” the CCRC review and DNA test “will eventually lead to the real culprit being found”.

“We hope then to be able to bring Michael before the Court of Appeal and for him to regain his freedom after all these years of incarceration,” he said.