Milly Dowler: Detective who caught Levi Bellfield sceptical of confessions

Colin Sutton, who is now retired, said he was surprised Bellfield had confessed to the crimes, and believed he would never do so until his mother died

Levi Bellfield (PA)

Police have contacted only a handful of families linked to the prison confessions of the serial killer Levi Bellfield amid scepticism of his motives for claiming responsibility for a string of violent crimes, it is understood.

Detectives expect to conclude within six weeks whether Bellfield’s confessions stand up to scrutiny as the former officer who brought him to justice warned that it could be an elaborate long-term exercise to position himself for release.

His confessions included the murder of Milly Dowler, for which he was sentenced to a whole-life tariff in 2011. He had always denied killing the 13-year-old girl in 2002.

Scotland Yard, which is co-ordinating the investigations, has given few details of Bellfield’s alleged confessions in Wakefield prison last year, in part to protect the feelings of families of the victims in the event he had made them up.

Colin Sutton, who led the investigation that convicted Bellfield, said he understood nine police forces were examining their files following Bellfield’s confessions.

Bellfield was already serving life in prison for the murders of two young women and the attempted murder of a third when he was jailed for Milly’s murder. Detectives had suspected that he was responsible for up to 20 serious attacks dating back to 1980.

Lawyers for Michael Stone – convicted of the murders of Lin Russell, 45, and her daughter Megan, six, in Kent in 1996 – claimed that he was more likely to have been the killer. Dr Shaun Russell, the father of Megan, confirmed that he was not among the small group who had been contacted by police investigating the confessions.

Mr Sutton, who is now retired, said he was surprised Bellfield had confessed to the crimes, and believed he would never do so until his mother died. He suggested Bellfield was “attempting to put himself in a better position”.

“The other possibility is that he has decided he wants to come clean and get things off his chest. People do it, but it’s unusual for someone like him with sociopathic and psychopathic tendencies who don’t like to think they have done anything wrong.”