Chillenden Mill - Kent
"She had kissed me goodbye, which is unusual for us because we were normally in a rush,"
Dr Shaun Russell giving evidence at Trial in October 1998
July 9th 1996 probably like an ordinary day, or any other morning in the Russell house but just over 2 years later Dr Shaun Russell, an academic, who woke up that morning as a married father of two, would have to recount the day from the witness box as a widower and father of one.
The family lived at Granary cottage –near Chillenden in Kent, they had moved there from Wales a few months earlier as Shaun had got a full time job and they family had decided that if Shaun was commuting there would be less family time.
Chillenden is a village in east Kent, England, between Canterbury and Deal, and is a few miles south east of Canterbury, the area is rural and known as the Garden of England due to it's natural beauty and miles of countryside.
Dr Lin Ruseel, also and academic, at that time was not working and was busying herself during the day whilst Shaun was at work doing all housework, decorating and gardening and taking their daughters to and from school and their various after hours activities.
Dr Shaun and Dr Lin Russell's daughters Josie aged 9 and Megan aged 6 had a busy day, after school there was to be a swimming gala, following the walk home from school at about 4pm, they would be trying out Brownies, and Lin had accepted an offer of a lift from her friend Liz to drive them there with her daughter at about 5 o'clock that evening.
Before Shaun left to drop the girls at school that morning and continue his journey to work at the University of Kent in Canterbury, Lin had told him that the girl's after school activities meant she may be late home and he was not to worry, he had replied that he was probably going to be late himself as he had work to do, but if he got home first he would start supper.
Lin walked him and the girls to the car, there was a quick kiss goodbye and he drove off, not knowing this would be the last time he would see his wife alive. The last image he holds close to his heart is of his beloved wife walking back through her garden into their home with their pet dogs trotting happily beside her.
Shaun's first stop of the morning was at Goodnestone to drop his girls off outside the school. Both were wearing typical summer primary school uniforms of blue gingham dresses, he last saw them happily running off to join their classmates, not knowing this would be the last time he would see Megan alive, or that the next time he would hold Josie she would be so severely injured she could not speak, he continued onward to work.
The Russell Family
A normal day played out in homes up and down the country, his life would change forever and he would never truly know normal in the same way again.
During the day Shaun had run some errands in Canterbury including trip to library to return some books girls had borrowed he was caught on CCTV going about his normal day, this CCTV was later used by the Police to establish his alibi.
At approximately 7pm he packed up at work and decided to head home. Even though Lin had told him she may be late home, arriving at 7:30pm and finding the house locked up and in darkness still came as a surprise and the only one there to greet him was their old retriever dog Jackie. He had expected them back by then, but assuming plans had changed he began to prepare supper as promised that morning.
Thoughts passed his mind, had Lin decided to go to Liz's for a while? Surely she would have called to confirm? He checked the answering machine, but there were no messages. More time passed but still no word. He began to think of possible reasons for their lateness, he feared the dog had gone missing and the family were searching for it, but as night began to fall he became increasingly worried.
Then at about 8:30pm the phone rang, it was Lin's friend Liz on the phone, he began to panic, as Liz explained she had called at their home at 5pm to take Lin and the girls to Brownies, but that the house was shut up with nobody home, after picking her daughter up from Brownies she found that Lin and the girls had not attended.
Shaun told Liz the only reason he could think of them being away so long was that their other dog Lucy, had got lost, if that had happened he knew his wife would scour the countryside looking for her dog. Liz sounded worried, but promised to call later so Shaun could start ringing around.
Thinking there was a possibility they were out looking for Lucy, Shaun thought he may try and retrace their steps. Then he jumped into his car and drove along the road to Sandwich, trying to follow the route from school to home, hoping that they would just appear, tired but happy at finding their lost dog.
He reached Cherry Garden Lane, a narrow and quiet unmade track in the countryside off Station Road near the small village of Chillenden, between Canterbury and Deal which they would have walked on their route. It was overgrown in summer and too dark to see well so he put his car headlights on and drove along the track feeling every bump in the track, but seeing nothing untoward he came out at the other end and continued home. Unbeknown to him, his family were lying just a few feet from where he had driven, just to the side of the track. As tragic as it was that he missed them by feet, it is perhaps lucky, he was not the one to find them.
Cherry Garden Lane
Eventually he reported his family missing to the police
By 9pm Shaun was frantically ringing around anyone he could think of, he got through to the local police station, being transferred through to an operations centre that told him there had been no accidents reported that evening in he area
He rang hospitals moving further and further afield, but none had admitted anybody by the name of Russell, or fitting the descriptions of his family.
Just after 10pm, Liz rang back for an update but hearing the fear in Shaun's voice she called upon her husband John to get the car out, they were coming straight to Shaun's home, this genuine concern awoke something in Shaun and his next call to the police seemed to make them realise something was seriously wrong and they said they would send an officer around to Granary Cottage.
Liz and John arrived to console the terrified Shaun and shortly afterwards at about 11pm, two Police officers arrived at his house.
Unbeknown to Shaun his first call to the police had been taken more seriously then he had realised and the Police had already prepared a dog unit and search team – so when the two officers arrived they were quickly followed by vans full of dogs and officers and two officers remained with him to commence interviewing him whilst the search was was put underway.
The officers took descriptions of Lin and the girls, and where their last movements might have been. Shaun was quizzed; had the couple had an argument? Could Shaun think of any reasons why Lin would take the kids away without his knowledge? who had he tried? is there anywhere they would go?
Shaun was far to terrified to even consider why the Police were asking him the questions they continued to probe him with, suggesting Lin had taken the girls away of her own accord. it was so late in the evening now, way past the girls bedtime, he did not feel he was wasting Police time, or being over cautious, but still, he was hoping against hope he was worrying unduly and there was a simple explanation for their disappearance.
Years later in his book Josie's Journey Published October 19th 2000 by BBC Books he recalled the events of that evening in clear concise detail:-
"By now I was too worried to be overly concerned at the suggestion. I started giving them more thorough descriptions and telling them what I had already done that evening to find Lin and the girls.
It was late enough now that I felt no embarrassment at calling out the police, but I was still clinging to the notion that a benign explanation could be found for Lin's and the girls' disappearance.
The worst thing that I now considered was that one of them might have been involved in an accident. I tried to avert painful thoughts of one or other of the girls being hit by a car as they walked down the narrow lanes near to home. It never entered my mind that something more sinister might have befallen them.
The questioning continued and frustration started to impinge on the feeling of fear for my family's safety that was now consuming me. How long would this go on before the police started to do something?
The question was answered almost immediately as, at about 11.30pm, a bus full of police officers skidded into the gravel driveway next to Granary Cottage, accompanied by a white van with a dog search team. At about midnight they set off in the direction of Cherry Garden Lane.
Now I was starting to go numb with worry. My brain was not allowing me to think beyond hospitalisation for one of the girls as the worst possible scenario. I was hanging on in a kind of limbo, with the vague hope that someone would arrive with Lin and the girls smiling and embarrassed in the back of their car, and some sort of rational explanation for it all.
I accepted another cup of tea from Liz and John and we spoke very little as we paced up and down outside in the driveway in the darkness.
Lights glowed in police cars parked at the end of the drive, and radios crackled. Suddenly, at about 1am, another police car pulled into the parking area near to the houses. From the darkness emerged the two officers who had questioned me earlier. One spoke quietly to Liz and John while the other asked me in a subdued voice to accompany him back into the house......"
At about a quarter past midnight, officers found Megan's swimming costume in Cherry Garden Lane, Chillenden, and 15 minutes later they came across the bodies of Lin and Megan and Josie with Lucy, the family dog.
Shaun knew terrible news was coming and the officer explained there was some sort of accident, but there seemed to be suspicious circumstances and this was the worst news he had ever had to give anyone as all members of Shaun's family were dead.
Shaun was then told he would need to go to Deal police Station to answer more questions, Liz urged him to stay with them to rest, he was in shock and she wanted to keep him safe from all of the probing questions, but perhaps due to the shock, he decided to go to the police Station.
On the journey in the back of the police car his emotions got the better of him he was delirious with grief and he shouted, cried and talked of ending it all.
Meanwhile at the scene Police, forensics and doctors all sprung into action in the dark. The scene was horrific.
Lin had blunt force trauma injuries and it was found he had been hit on the head at least 15 times, causing severe head trauma and killing her.
Josie’s skull was smashed; brain tissue was protruding from a wound behind her left ear and there were several lacerations to her skull. There was extensive tearing to the covering of her brain.
Megan had been hit at least seven times, suffering massive skull fractures with exposed brain tissue.
Lucy the dog was slaughtered.
Only after some time had elapsed was Josie found to still have a pulse.
Dr Michael Parks, the police doctor who had been called to examine the body, carried her cradled in his arms to the car and she was rushed first to the Kent and Canterbury Hospital in Canterbury and then on to intensive care at King's College Hospital, London.
"In spite of being seriously injured Josie made a recovery that no-one would have predicted,"
Miss Rafferty at the Trial of Michael Stone 1997.
At 6am the following morning whilst at the police Station in Deal, exhausted with grief and being up all night Shaun was told there had been a major development and that despite being told that all members of his family had died that one of the girls had survived although the police did not know which of the girls it was and Shaun heartbrokenly asked whether she had freckles or not.
Shaun was then driven to London to Kings College Hospital so he could identify which of his two girls had survived the attack. Looking at the little girl covered in tubes and masks in the intensive care unit he could still spot the tiny dusting of freckles across her nose and he knew that Josie was alive, suddenly he too found he had a reason to live.
Josie Russell
Meanwhile, due to all of the activity with the police overnight, Shaun had not had time to tell his extended family what had happened it was while he was at the Hospital sitting drinking a coffee in the canteen with one of the police officers that he saw the story on the news. Realising that the story was public knowledge he spoke to the officer about borrowing his phone to call Lin's parents to break the tragic news to them, , but it was too late. tragically, Lin’s parents discovered the new via the media before Shaun had time to break the news of the loss to them.
The police continued their investigation, but suddenly their focus shifted as they had a potential key eye witness, who, not only could shed light on the events of the previous evening, but potentially could be a threat to the killer and may be in danger.
"This is the most horrific and terrible murder I have had the misfortune to come across in my 23 years as a police officer - whoever has done this must have a propensity to do it again."
"The nature of this offence makes it almost unique."
Detective Chief Inspector Dave Stevens. Kent Police - 11th July 1996.
No-one would pretend Josie would be able to give a lucid and coherent account of the attack even if she survived her injuries but two family liaison officers with the police kept a vigil by her bedside, in part to keep her safe from any retributive attack and in part to ensure that should she survive, any detail she could recall, however minor could be recorded as evidence.
After period of time the doctors were confident Josie was recovering and although they could not give a prognosis of any long term cognitive or physical issues she would survive
Police remained at her bedside 24/7 as, due to her improvement she could tell them vital information at any time
whilst Josie's recovery was slowly taking place, Kent Police continued to work on other leads and enquiries and other eye witness testimony in and around the area also helped police create a time line of events
At around 4:45pm (estimated as half an hour after the attack) a man was seen by a driver near to Chillenden Windmill, north-east of the crime scene. He was hanging around at the edge of the winding lane holding a claw hammer. The witness did not see any nearby vehicle that he could have used to get there.
15 minutes later a walker spotted a man parked up in a beige car alongside a hedge acting suspiciously. At 5:30pm he then took his dog out for a walk and went to where the man had parked. There, he found a string bag containing strips of bloody towelling. alerting the Police they retrieved the string bag and its contents . They also found a bootlace on Cherry Garden Lane covered in blood. Josie would later describe being tied up with it and the pathologist thought Megan could have been strangled with it.
A lady who drove past Station Road (which leads to Cherry Garden Lane) shortly after the attack. She described a beige car speeding out of Station Road right in front of her, forcing her to slow down. The driver kept looking in his rear view mirror at her; his behaviour was odd enough for her to remember the event clearly. She was confident enough in what she’d noticed to compile an E-fit with Kent police.
LWT Crime Monthly was the first at reconstructing the crime and it was shown shortly after the brutal attack whilst Josie was still in hospital unable to communicate
It showed actors playing the family walking along cherry lane close the local landmark Chillenden Mill – a white windmill close to the lane reminding the watchers of the idyllic countryside where the Russell family had moved, with the belief this would be the perfect place to raise their children.
An eyewitness had seen a beige saloon car on the lane and a similar car was spotted 20 mins later when a witness saw a man in a red top acting suspiciously close to where the girls school bag was found dumped and an e-fit was released showing a stocky fair haired man
Forensics was slowly progressing and hairs were found on the children’s shoes that didn’t match the family. A single fingerprint was found in blood on a lunch box.
What followed was a manhunt - based on images of a man believed to have been driving the car - while the nation's attention was captured by the horrific events. Meanwhile Josie's' recovery seemed to be nothing less then a miracle
She needed extensive surgery on her head injuries and, still to this day, struggles sometimes with speaking and concentration.
After 6 weeks she was released from hospital and police continued to interview and video her at home to build up a picture of the attack using scapbooks and building models as an aide to Josie who was still having language and speech difficulties
Josie reconstructed the events surrounding the murders using model figures.
Models were made of the murder scene and she giggled as the police showed her little models of herself, her mother and sister and their pet dog Lucy, who was also killed in the attack.
Slowly the events of that day were coaxed from her.
As the family was walking home from school in the neighbouring village of Goodnestone, chatting between them about the events of the day a car had passed them on the track road of Cherry Tree Lane. Suddenly a hush fell on their conversation as they noticed a strange man sitting in his car, which was parked across the lane at an angle across the track blocking their path.
A man got out of the car . They had never seen him before and his menacing manner immediately rang alarm bells. He opened the rear door of the car and from a shelf at the back took out a hammer.
He demanded money from Lin but having just been to the school to pick up the girls she wasn't carrying a bag or any cash. Lin told the man she had no money but she would go home and get some for him.
in May 1997 Josie recalled the events she was able to communicate enough to record a testimony for trial using models, dolls, basic words and sign language, all her testimony was painstaking recorded by the Police:
"The man said: 'Give me your money'.
"My mother said: 'I've got no money. Shall I go back in my house and get some?'
The man said 'no'."
Josie said her mother told her to run home and try to get help.
due to the head injuries she had suffered communication and speech was difficult for Josie but she managed to explain that she had barely made it around the corner before the man caught her up and hit her from behind with the hammer but inflicted only a slight injury.
She said: "No, no. Then tie up and me ran in here (pointing around the corner) and hammer bang. Then okay, okay, okay."
Josie described how her mother told her to try to escape, and added: "Lin said: 'No, no, come on and run.'"
Once Josie was dragged back to her Mother and Sister
Then (he) tie up and me ran in here and hammer bang. Then okay, okay, okay. Josie Russell recalling the events in May 1997
Josie said the stranger bound her with a pair of her tights - but loosened them after she complained.
"I said: 'What are you doing?'
He said: 'Not tight so to take it off.'"
Tied and blindfolded he led the family to trees in a small copse just off the lane, claiming he was going to leave them there before driving off. She was tied to a tree while her mother was bound with strips torn from their swimming towels.
But in an act of unspeakable violence, he started savagely attacking Lin Russell with a hammer - Josie could hear her mother being attacked and Lin crying out for him to stop before being attacked herself.
She passed out and it was more than eight hours before she was found clinging to life
Josie described her attacker as a man in his 20's with blond spikey hair, matching the previously released e-fit of the attacker from the other eye witnesses.
area of Cherry Lane cordoned with Police tape after the family was discovered
The Police struggled with leads on this motiveless crime
why did the killer not take Lin's jewellery?
why beat the family so savagely?
there was no sexual assaults to any victims
the killings seemed completely random
the killer seemed to have no real interest in concealing his identity
the level of violence used seemed excessive
although there was no robbery he did make a search of the girls school bags, before the frenzied attack and used items from the bags such as swimming cotumes and towels to bind the victims.
The level of violence to the family was incredibly forceful; Lin was bludgeoned about the head 15 times with the hammer, Megan 7 times and Josie 16 times.
following the attacked the killer came out of the wooded, got back in his car and drove off, not caring, if they were alive or dead.
A further reconstruction was then developed using Josie’s memories and a Psychiatrist called the police about one of his patients he was worried about, Michael Stone who looked like the e-fit and said "Stone was in the mood for killing." more information bout the life and conviction of Michael Stone will be published in part 2
Following the tragedy, Shaun and Josie Russell returned to North Wales, where they had lived before moving to Kent.
Josie has gone on to become a successful textiles artist. Dr Russell is a leading horticultural expert at the University of Bangor.
Josie now is building a successful art career with stunning landscapes made from recycled cloth.
visit her website below
dedicated to the memory of Lin and Megan Russell and to the bravery and recovery of Josie Russell
(c) Kellie Lemonidis 2021
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