Twice In Blood

Billie-Jo Jenkins was just 13 when she was found murdered at her foster home in Hastings, Sussex, on February 15, 1997. Her smiling school photo became a regular sight on newspaper front pages as police desperately tried to figure out who would commit such a heinous act. Suspicion and blame eventually fell on her foster father Sion Jenkins, who was accused of physical and mental abuse by his own wife. The jury found him guilty - but his conviction was overturned in 2006. Today, Billie-Jo would have been 43 and possibly a mother herself. But she never got to live her life - and she never got justice. It came at a time when the nation was already in disbelief about the monsters in our midst. On July 9, 1996, just months before Billie-Jo’s death and a mere 56 miles away in Chillenden, Kent, there had been another notorious murder: the horrific hammer attack on mum Lin Russell, 46, and her daughters Megan, six, and Josie, then nine. Only Josie survived. Heroin addict Michael Stone was convicted, had the conviction overturned, was tried and convicted again, but continued to maintain his innocence. In 2022, 26 years on, Milly Dowler killer - and known glory seeker - Levi Bellfield shockingly confessed to the crime. As the authorities continue to investigate, the Russell family is once again questioning whether they have yet to see justice done. Was Bellfield really the real monster behind the slaying? And could the Russell murderer also be linked to the cold case of Billie-Jo? And what do these two cases tell us about our justice system?This book takes a one-of-a-kind deep dive to answer these questions and more. With exclusive new interviews with police, journalists and relatives, it promises to shed new light on some of the darkest cases of modern times.