A new podcast investigation revisits the unsolved questions around the 1996 murders of Lin Russell and her six-year-old daughter Megan in the Kent village of Nonington, killed with a hammer on Cherry Garden Lane. Michael Stone was convicted in 2001 largely on the basis of an alleged jail confession, with no forensic evidence linking him to the scene, and he has always maintained his innocence, leaving the village divided over whether the right man was jailed.

The case has gained fresh significance after the Criminal Cases Review Commission confirmed it is re-examining the conviction and arranging DNA testing of both Stone and serial killer Levi Bellfield against items recovered from the murder scene. Bellfield, who murdered 13-year-old Milly Dowler in 2002, confessed in writing to the Russell killings in 2023, though police did not believe him at the time; he has now reportedly claimed he is confident his DNA will be found at the scene. Lin's elder daughter, nine-year-old Josie, survived catastrophic head injuries after being found alive at the scene by police, and the attack marks its 30th anniversary this month.