Michael Stone New Evidence Tonight

[nugnug]

Josie was subsequently to become the principal eyewitness in the case against Stone. She described her assailant as having short, yellow, spiky hair, clean-shaven, medium build, aged 25 and slightly taller than her father, who was 6ft. The car was described as brown or red.

At 4:10pm a gardener reported seeing a beige Escort parked by a tree, with the boot open. He described a man stood alongside, about 5 feet 6, close cut, light hair, wiry, aged about 35-40. In 1996 Stone was 35 years old. When the gardener returned with his dog he saw a string bag with strips of blue towelling which had been ripped off, pushed into a hedge.

At 4:30pm a local woman had seen a clean-shaven man of medium build wearing a dark blue baseball cap and carrying a hammer.

Nichola Burchell had been driving along the B2046 when a beige car pulled out at a junction causing her to slow down. She followed the car bumper to bumper and described a man looking at her continually in his rear mirror. She described him as round faced with chubby cheeks, aged 30-35, short gingery blond hair and fair complexion.

seems to me like the witneses described 3 diffrent people

[Steve_uk]

seems to me like the witneses described 3 diffrent people

"Another local woman saw two men near the murder scene, one with short blond hair "like Robert Redford" and the other with darker hair and carrying a clipboard. She also saw a rust-coloured Ford Escort containing three young men. One had a "Gazza" haircut and wore a red T-shirt, another wore a baseball bat, the third resembled an E-fit likeness published by the police."

[nugnug]

Yes that's true, but the man near the hedge surely has some involvement in the murder? There was also allegedly anecdotal evidence (not allowed at trial) that Josie was presented with a picture of Stone on a transport pass taken three days after the murders to which she exclaimed: "That's him!"

were does that come from ive certanly necer heard it before.

it  wouldent of been admissable evedence becouse its a totally iproper ay of doing an id.

[Steve_uk]

were does that come from ive certanly necer heard it before.

it  wouldent of been admissable evedence becouse its a totally iproper ay of doing an id.

It's from research done by barristers David Wolchover and Anthony Heaton-Armstrong. I have no means of verification, that's why everyone has to judge the case for themselves.

[Steve_uk]

At the time of the Chillenden murders Levi Bellfield was driving an E-registered beige Ford Sierra Sapphire. According to former girlfriend Emma Mills he would drive to Kent to sell drugs and work as a wheel clamper. Michael Stone also had contacts with the area: he had spent time in a children's home nearby and had a history of stealing lawnmowers from secluded homes in the Kent area. On the day of the murders the owner of a caravan in the locality had reported an orange Fly-Mower had been stolen from him.

[nugnug]

"Another local woman saw two men near the murder scene, one with short blond hair "like Robert Redford" and the other with darker hair and carrying a clipboard. She also saw a rust-coloured Ford Escort containing three young men. One had a "Gazza" haircut and wore a red T-shirt, another wore a baseball bat, the third resembled an E-fit likeness published by the police."

but josie seemed pretty sure there was only one person in the car i think her acount ha to given a tiny bit more weight than the others.

[Steve_uk]

No forensic link has ever been established between Stone and the Chillenden murders. This seems incomprehensible given the savagery of the beatings. Four hairs were found on Josie's beach shoes and red fibres found on and around Lyn's body and on a pair of blue tights used to tie Megan. A single blood-stained fingerprint found on a lunchbox at the murder scene could not have been Stone's. though as it was smudged they could not rule out the mother as being the source.


A black boot lace 99 centimetres long was found 45 metres from the scene in circumstances suggesting it had been discarded by the murderer. Stone admitted to using boot laces as a tourniquet for injecting heroin, but denied he possessed a black boot lace. No incriminating forensic evidence was ever found on the boot lace and it mysteriously disappeared whilst in the hands of Kent Police in 1998.

[Steve_uk]

but josie seemed pretty sure there was only one person in the car i think her acount ha to given a tiny bit more weight than the others.

The two barristers write:

Stone is said to be 5ft 7, so significantly shorter than Josie's father, rather than "slightly taller". Of course, to a child a frightening assailant might well appear taller than in fact he is, though the reference to the familiar figure of her father would seem to reduce the impact of that distracting factor. The gardener's estimate of the suspect's height (about 5ft 6) could match Stone.

[Steve_uk]

On 6th October 1998 Michael Stone stood trial at Maidstone Crown Court. After 15 hours of deliberation the jury found him guilty by a 10-2 majority and he was given three life sentences. However after a Prosecution witness, Barry Thompson, admitted to lying at the trial the Court of Appeal quashed Stone's conviction and ordered a retrial.

Allegedly Stone had had an argument with him at Elmeley Prison, Sheerness, in which Stone had exclaimed: "I made a mistake with her. I won't make the same f***ing mistake with you."

Another prisoner, Mark Jennings, testified that when Stone visited him in prison he remarked: "I would kill anyone, women and children, if it kept me out of prison."

[nugnug]

The two barristers write:

Stone is said to be 5ft 7, so significantly shorter than Josie's father, rather than "slightly taller". Of course, to a child a frightening assailant might well appear taller than in fact he is, though the reference to the familiar figure of her father would seem to reduce the impact of that distracting factor. The gardener's estimate of the suspect's height (about 5ft 6) could match Stone.

oh so there baristers moonlighing psycoligists are they.

[Steve_uk]

The second trial started on 5th September 2001 at Nottingham Crown Court. This trial was based on an alleged confession Stone had made to fellow inmate Damien Daley through a pipe in an adjacent cell. There is a suggestion that Daley had read a copy of the Daily Mirror and in this way picked out salient points of the Chillenden Murders. However the Court of Appeal pointed out that Daley reported that Stone told him that he had been picked out on an identity parade, which hadn't been in the public domain. One witness, Nichola Burchill had made the remark that "Stone looked very familiar", though I'm unsure as to whether Police told Stone this during interrogation and this was subsequently imparted to Daley.

Stone was convicted of the murders for the second time on 4th October 2001.

[Steve_uk]

oh so there baristers moonlighing psycoligists are they.

I think they're doing their best to interpret all the data in front of them, just as the people in the BBC programmes are.

[nugnug]

ive often wondered why Josie waved at the car was that a thing she normally did or did she think she knew the driver.

[Steve_uk]

ive often wondered why Josie waved at the car was that a thing she normally did or did she think she knew the driver.

Yes that's strange. Maybe she was just being friendly or thought it was someone who was going to give them a lift home.

[nugnug]

I know in vilages people often do sometimes greet complete strangers and I know sometimes kids just like waving so be reading to much into.

but it struck me as a tiny bit odd.