'Stalker murder' jury is sent out

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/england/london/7262644.stm

Version 0 of 1.

A jury has begun a sixth day of deliberations in the case of a man accused of stalking and killing two women near bus stops in London.

Levi Bellfield, 39, of west London, is accused of killing student Amelie Delagrange, 22, in August 2004, and Marsha McDonnell, 19, in February 2003.

He denies two counts of murder and two charges of attempted murder between 2001 and 2004.

The Old Bailey jury was told on Friday it can reach a majority verdict.

Mistaken identity

Mr Bellfield has told the court he is the victim of mistaken identity.

He denies the kidnap and false imprisonment of Anna-Maria Rennie, who was 17 at the time, in Twickenham, south-west London.

He is also accused of the attempted murders of schoolgirl Kate Sheedy, then 18, and hairdresser Irma Dragoshi, 33.

During the three-and-a-half-month trial, the prosecution alleged Mr Bellfield trawled buses and bus stops for women and attacked them when they rejected him.

Miss Delagrange, a student from France who lived in Twickenham, and Miss McDonnell, of Hampton, south-west London, both died after being hit on the head with a heavy object.