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Monster Levi Bellfield has renewed speculation about his involvement in the murders of Lin and Megan Russell in explosive letters from behind bars.

The Milly Dowler killer tells a penpal that Lin, 45 – battered to death in a daylight hammer attack with her six-year-old daughter in a country lane in 1996 – was his “type”.

He also described how he liked “outdoor afternoon action” in his “addictive hobby” and had “links” to the family’s home county Kent.

Armed robber Michael Stone was convicted of the killings in Chillenden in 2001, largely based on a cell confession with no forensic evidence.

But Bellfield, 51, wrote in prison letters – seen by the Sunday Mirror – that the murders were not his problem – “at present”.

The ex-bouncer and taxi driver was nicknamed The Hammer Man after using one to batter two victims, Marsha McDonnell and Amélie Delagrange, to death in attacks in London in 2003 and 2004.

(Image: PA)

He had killed 13-year-old Surrey schoolgirl Milly Dowler in 2002 – about six years after the attack on the Russells that left eldest daughter Josie, then nine, as the sole survivor with brain injuries.

Two years ago Bellfield denied claims by a fellow lag at Durham’s Frankland Jail that he had confessed to the Chillenden murders.

But when his penpal asked about the type of woman the killer liked, Bellfield drooled about TV blondes Holly Willoughby and Emily Atack before moving on to a description eerily matching Lin.

(Image: Surrey Police/PA)

He wrote: “You mention the Chillenden murders. I was also attracted to the older woman.

“Dark curly hair, 40-45, slim, the horse type, outdoor dog walker, house-wife type. I had a thing for this type of woman, again who don’t.

Bellfield, who has admitted keeping Milly alive for 14 hours and raping her in broad daylight, also added: “Who don’t like outdoor afternoon action. The more the better. Is that wrong? No, it’s normal.”

In another letter he spoke of being “addicted to sex” and how his bouncer and taxi jobs made it easy for him to carry out his “addictive hobby”.

(Image: ExpressStar)

He said he had “links to London, Surrey, Kent, Bath, Hastings and even as far north as Blackpool” before describing Lin and Megan’s county in detail.

“Kent has many lanes and isolated tracks. Horse fields everywhere, lovely countryside,” he wrote, also describing Surrey where he killed Milly as “the same and a massive area”.

Then he chillingly added: “As you are aware, I did enjoy some outdoor fun. So such areas certainly accommodated my addictive hobby.”

Bellfield – who now calls himself Yusuf Rahim – was first linked to the Chillenden attacks in 2011 when 59-year-old lifer Stone’s legal team tried to overturn his conviction by claiming he was “much more likely” to be the killer.

Then in 2017 Frankland Prison inmate rapist Richard Baker wrote to Stone’s lawyers alleging Bellfield had confessed and even drawn maps of the scene showing the positions of Lin and her daughters.

Baker said he had told him it was “deeply hilarious that numpty Stone is serving life for what I did”. All of this was denied.

(Image: Getty)

The killer has been suspected of crimes involving women dating as far back as 1980 – including his ex-girlfriend 14-year-old Patsy Morris in 1980, found strangled on heathland.

But when it came to Chillenden, he also had an alibi accepted by police.

His ex-partner Johanna Collings, 48 – who has claimed she was raped by Bellfield during their relationship – told them he was with her in Windsor celebrating her birthday.

Bellfield’s crimes were highlighted in ITV drama Manhunt, starring Martin Clunes, aired last January.

Lin’s husband Dr Shaun Russell – who moved to Wales with daughter Josie – said: “Police investigated his claims he was connected with the murders about a year ago and found them fatuous. Both he and Michael Stone said they wanted to be world-famous criminals.”

A Scotland Yard spokesman said an investigation into Bellfield’s other suspected crimes was closed in 2016 “as there was no evidence”.