The Crime Case That Haunts a Veteran Reporter After 24 Years
A seasoned crime reporter reflects on the chilling case of Levi Bellfield, a serial killer whose actions left a lasting impact on victims’ families.
Levi Bellfield, Milly Dowler, Marsha McDonnell, Amelie Delagrange, Twickenham, London, Serial Killer
Twickenham: I’ve been in the crime reporting game for 24 years, and let me tell you, some cases stick with you. Levi Bellfield is one of those names that just won’t leave my mind. He’s one of the most dangerous serial killers in Britain, and it’s not just his crimes that haunt me. It’s the way he toyed with the families of his victims that really gets under my skin.
This guy is serving a life sentence for the murders of Milly Dowler, Marsha McDonnell, and Amelie Delagrange. But detectives think he might be behind around 20 other unsolved cases, including some pretty horrific stuff like murder and rape. I first got wind of his crimes back in August 2004 when he was still out there, lurking around London as a wheel clamper. I was just a junior reporter at the time, sent to cover Amelie’s murder.
Amelie was just 22, a French student who was brutally killed while walking home across a cricket pitch in Twickenham. It was a quiet area, and I remember thinking how safe she must have felt walking home around 10 PM. It’s just heartbreaking.
Detectives quickly connected her murder to that of Marsha McDonnell, a 19-year-old who was also killed with a hammer just a few months earlier. They looked so similar, and it was terrifying to think a serial killer was targeting young blonde women.
Bellfield was arrested a few months later and eventually convicted of both murders. But it wasn’t until 2011 that I saw him in court for the first time during Milly’s trial. He looked so pathetic, overweight and with a high-pitched voice. It was hard to believe this was the man who had caused so much pain.
As the trial went on, his defense was that he had nothing to do with Milly’s murder, claiming she had run away. It was gut-wrenching to watch Milly’s mom, Sally, break down in tears when he accused her of pushing her daughter away. Milly’s sister, Gemma, later said it was the worst day of her life, even worse than when they found Milly’s remains. That’s just mental torture.
Last year, I reported that Bellfield was at it again, taunting another grieving family. He falsely confessed to the murder of Elizabeth Chau, a 19-year-old who went missing in 1999, claiming he could lead the police to her body. It’s just sickening, and sadly, I doubt this will be the last time he tries to inflict pain on those who have already suffered so much.