PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I have been following the Cristhian Bahena Rivera case (Iowa) because of the ‘confession’ related issues - and the degree to which it has become politicized. As the trial is expected to be widely televised (the courtroom will be closed to the public). I will not be reporting on the proceedings on a daily basis. I will only dip in if warranted by testimony, evidence, or issues relevant to this blog. (Jury selection is expected to begin today, May 17, 2021.) Continuous updates of the proceedings provided by the Des Moines Register (Reporter William Morris) at DesMoinesRegister.com.
SUB-HEADING: "A bootlace which was said to have been lost 14 years ago was discovered at a police station and is due to undergo forensic testing. Michael Stone's lawyers believe it could clear him of the murders of Lin and Megan Russell."
GIST: "The man convicted of Lin and Megan Russell's murders, Michael Stone, could be cleared after police found lost evidence 14 years later, it has been claimed."
A bootlace retrieved from the scene in Chillenden, Kent, in 1996, and then misplaced has now been rediscovered and DNA tests could prove Stone, 60, was not guilty.
The prisoner has always denied committing the killings of mum Lin, 45, and her youngest daughter Megan, six, as well as the attempted murder of her sister Josie, then nine.
The latter was found with life-threatening head injuries but miraculously survived.
The three were attacked on a country lane as they walked home from a swimming gala on July 6, 1996.
Stone was arrested the following year before being convicted at Maidstone Crown Court.
Barrister Mark McDonald told The Sun: "For 10 years police have been denying they had the lace, and now at long last they’ve found it. "Michael Stone is hopeful the DNA tests will lead to the real perpetrator being found."
The bootlace had been used to tie up one of the girls and left at the scene by the killer.
In 1998, six segments of the lace were used for DNA testing but results came back inconclusive.
In 2001, Stone, of Gillingham, was convicted for a second time during a retrial after a prisoner who gave evidence retracted his statement.
After a further appeal was rejected in 2005, Stone's lawyers requested the remaining section of lace be tested in 2007, with DNA techniques having progressed considerably.
Mr McDonald said the legal team waited three years for police to respond and "said they didn't have the lace", claiming it hadn't been returned by Forensic Science Service in 1998.
"But the lab insisted they had sent it back. Police then kept saying the lace had been tested to destruction," he added.
The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) began probing the convictions in 2010 and were given the previously tested segments but not the missing 80cm piece.
In 2017, Kent Police said the lace wasn't lost but only "fibrous strands" remained after testing.
In October 2020, Mr McDonald was then told by the CCRC the lace had been found at a police station. However, the lawyer said there are concerns it could have been "forensically contaminated" if it wasn't kept securely. He said the CCRC are now testing the lace.
The review commission had also previously requested a lunchbox which had been found at the scene and contained a bloody fingerprint.
However, it was told it had also been misplaced.
A further review had been launched in 2017 when serial killer Levi Bellfield confessed to the murders before retracting it.
During the CCRC's review, it has previously not found evidence of failures in the way the case had been originally investigated and never referred to the Court of Appeal.
In a statement sent to the Mirror, Detective Chief Superintendent Paul Fotheringham of Kent Police said: "We are aware that the Criminal Cases Review Commission is considering an application from Michael Stone appealing his conviction for the murders of Lin and Megan Russell and the attempted murder of Josie Russell in 1996.\
"We are engaged with the CCRC and have been providing them with all the relevant information and evidence required in relation to the case. "Much like a live investigation, it would not be appropriate at this stage of the review to disclose the nature of the materials provided.
"Since Stone was imprisoned, there have been allegations and statements that have been set against what has already been disclosed and they have not provided information that changes the position of Kent Police in relation to his conviction."
The Mirror has approached the CCRC for comment."
The entire story can be read at:
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/michael-stone-could-cleared-russell-24073826
