THE RUSSELL MURDERS: Stone was a police informer

The Investigation

THE BREAKTHROUGH in the hunt for the killer of Lin and Megan Russell came after almost a year, when the name of Michael Stone first emerged as a prime suspect.

But Stone was no stranger to the police. For several years he had been one of their informers and met his handler in a Kent pub the day after he carried out the two murder sand four days before them. While the police last night celebrated the conviction, questions were raised about the control and use of registered "grasses".

The jailing is, nevertheless, a triumph for Kent police in what was their biggest investigation, Operation Scribe. It came down to old-fashioned detective work as the wonders of forensic science failed to provide any link. Detectives set about uncovering a "magic circle" of circumstantial evidence.

On 8 July 1997, the day before the first anniversary of the murders, things looked bleak. But the big break for the investigation, led by Detective Chief Inspector Dave Stevens, came when Stone's name was given by several of the 600 calls made in response to the reconstruction of the murders on the BBC television Crimewatch programme.

Stone's handler was Detective Sergeant Norman Larmour who was a member of Kent police's informer unit. During police interviews Stone revealed he had met Dt Sgt Larmour at the Lower Bell pub in Kent on 5 and 10 July 1996. "I think the arrangement was to meet Norman at the pub at 10 or 11," he told officers.

Stone fitted the bill as a prime suspect for a vicious multiple murder. He had a psychopathic personality disorder, a long criminal record, and a heroin habit - perversely also traits that were considered useful in a police informer.

His long criminal record included a four-and-a-half year prison sentence for stabbing a man and attacking a policeman while in custody.

Following the tip-offs to Crimewatch he was first arrested for the Russell murders on 17 July 1997, a year after the killings. Detectives arrived at his dingy flat in Gillingham, where the gaunt suspect stubbornly denied any involvement in the murders - claiming that he had been so high on drugs he could not remember the week in question.

By September he was still not charged with the murders. Instead, he faced unrelated offences of armed robbery, two burglaries, and witness intimidation. All these charges have since been dropped.

It took more than 9,000 interviews and 1,000 statements in a nationwide and international inquiry that included France, Belgium and the United States, to cull enough evidence to build a case. At the height of the investigation, 60 officers were working on the case.

The horror of the crime, and the fact that it was against two children and a woman, also appeared to work in the police's favour when three criminals came forward saying that Stone had admitted to the murders.

The credibility of one, Mark Jennings who is serving life for murder, was somewhat undermined by the disclosure that his family were likely to receive pounds 10,000 from The Sun newspaper for photographs and their story if Stone was convicted. Damien Daley, a prison "enforcer" and jail hard man, who was in a cell next to Stone while on remand in a segregation wing in Canterbury prison, testified that his fellow inmate had admitted to the murders. The third witness, Barry Thompson, an inmate in Canterbury prison, claimed the suspect had threatened to kill him by saying: "I made a mistake with her, I won't make the same mistake with you."

The testimonies proved vital as the forensic scientists drew a blank.Two hairs found on shoes worn by Josie did not belong to Stone, police could not connect a shoelace to him and fingerprints found in blood on Megan's lunch box were too smeared to give a true reading.

After Stone was charged, the police continued extensive investigations. It is thought that they were seeking a second man who may have been working alongside Stone in robbery.

Even on the first day of the trial the police feared that they were going to lose the case. With no forensic evidence or an eyewitness it appeared a high risk gamble to go to court.

But in the end the jury appear to be have been convinced by the testimony of three fellow criminals - ironic considering Stone's role as an informer.