Murder of Julia James / Chillenden murders

ClaphamFox

Roofer
A woman was murdered last week in Kent just a couple of miles from where somebody killed Lin and Megan Russell, and attempted to murder Josie Russell, in 1996. Both attacks took place around 4pm on a Tuesday in Kent woodland. In both incidents the victims were walking dogs and were beaten to death. The murder weapon in the attack on the Russells was a hammer; in the case of Julia James the police haven't confirmed the weapon but have said she died from 'blunt force injuries'.

Of course they may not be a link, but given the flimsiness of Michael Stone's convictions for the Russell murders, I hope the police are at least looking into it...

Julia James
 
A woman was murdered last week in Kent just a couple of miles from where somebody killed Lin and Megan Russell, and attempted to murder Josie Russell, in 1996. Both attacks took place around 4pm on a Tuesday in Kent woodland. In both incidents the victims were walking dogs and were beaten to death. The murder weapon in the attack on the Russells was a hammer; in the case of Julia James the police haven't confirmed the weapon but have said she died from 'blunt force injuries'.

Of course they may not be a link, but given the flimsiness of Michael Stone's convictions for the Russell murders, I hope the police are at least looking into it...

Julia James
Stone’s conviction is beyond flimsy. How he has ever been convicted “beyond reasonable doubt” is a mystery to many. A classic case of why we should never reintroduce the death penalty.
Although I might make an exception for Levi Belfield, as I reckon that’s the last face the Russell’s saw.
 
But Levi Belfield cannot have murdered WPC James seeing as he is serving a life sentence in prison.
 
Stone’s conviction is beyond flimsy. How he has ever been convicted “beyond reasonable doubt” is a mystery to many. A classic case of why we should never reintroduce the death penalty.
Although I might make an exception for Levi Belfield, as I reckon that’s the last face the Russell’s saw.
I've never been able to comprehend exactly how Michael Stone got convicted. There was no physical evidence putting him at the scene. There was, however, unidentified male DNA at the scene, which was not a match to his. Josie Russell told police the attacker was around the same height as her father (around six foot), whereas Michael Stone is 5'7".

Stone's conviction seems to rest solely on his supposed 'confession' through the pipes in his cell to Damien Daley. Yet Stone had asked to be put in solitary confinement precisely because he felt like other inmates were trying to trick him into saying something self-incriminating. Why, having been granted this request, would he then whisper a full and detailed confession through the pipes of his cell to somebody he didn't know (who happened to be a known liar and - later - a convicted murderer)?
 
I never said he did, I just reckon he’s the man for the Russell murders.
If he's the man for the Russell murders, then they're obviously looking for somebody else for Julia James. It just seems a bit coincidental to me, though. If you look at the two murder locations on a map, they're just down the road from each other - less than 10 mins' drive. Both were off the beaten track, too, implying local knowledge. What are the chances of two horrifically violent crimes occurring with so many similarities in the same tiny part of rural Kent?
 
I never said he did, I just reckon he’s the man for the Russell murders.
But the whole point of this post and Clapham's attachment is that there is a strong suspicion that whoever killed the Russells also killed WPC James a few days ago.
 
Long time apart Clapham. More likely to be another nutter. Hitting someone with a blunt instrument is not exactly a rare M.O.
Josie Russell described her attacker as being in his mid-20s. That would make him around 50 now. Not implausible.

It is not common at all for people to be bludgeoned to death by a stranger in broad daylight while walking through woodland. The attack on the Russells was extraordinarily violent - a real psychopath’s crime. The early indications are that Julia James met a similar fate. These are rare crimes - and it’s extremely rare for two such crimes to occur in the same community - albeit 25 years apart.

It will be interesting to see whether the police have collected any DNA evidence from the latest murder. If they have, it wouldn’t be much effort to compare it to the DNA collected from the attack on the Russells.
 
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Josie Russell described her attacker as being in his mid-20s. That would make him around 50 now. Not implausible.

It is not common at all for people to be bludgeoned to death by a stranger in broad daylight while walking through woodland. The attack on the Russells was extraordinarily violent - a real psychopath’s crime. The early indications are that Julia James met a similar fate. These are rare crimes - and it’s extremely rare for two such crimes to occur in the same community - albeit 25 years apart.

It will be interesting to see whether the police have collected any DNA evidence from the latest murder. If they have, it wouldn’t be much effort to compare it to the DNA collected from the attack on the Russells.
Which is why I personally don’t think they are connected. That degree of psychopathy will not stay dormant for that length of time.
 
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