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Bus stop killer facing life terms Bellfield given 'whole life' term
(about 8 hours later)
A man who murdered two young women and tried to kill a third faces life terms in prison when he is sentenced later. A man who murdered two young women and tried to kill a third has been given a "whole life" sentence.
Levi Bellfield, 39, stalked victims by watching bus stops and peering into brightly-lit buses at night. Levi Bellfield, 39, from west London, bludgeoned Amelie Delagrange, 22, and Marsha McDonnell, 19, after they got off buses in south-west London.
The wheel clamper from west London bludgeoned Amelie Delagrange, 22, and Marsha McDonnell, 19, after they got off buses in south-west London. He was also found guilty of trying to kill Kate Sheedy, then 18, and has been named as a prime suspect in the murder of schoolgirl Milly Dowler.
He also tried to kill 18-year-old Kate Sheedy by running her over. He is due before an Old Bailey judge later. Bellfield refused to attend his sentencing due to "bad publicity".
Bellfield, from West Drayton, carried out the attacks on the three students between 2001 and 2004. 'Chronicle of violence'
Milly suspect Sentencing Bellfield at the Old Bailey on Tuesday Mrs Justice Rafferty said: "You have reduced three families to unimagined grief.
"What dreadful feelings went through your head as you attacked and in two cases snuffed out a young life is beyond understanding."
Explaining her sentencing she said: "Aggravating features are the chronicle of violence directed towards lone vulnerable young women during the hours of darkness and substantial premeditation and planning."
Justice Rafferty also praised Det Ch Insp Colin Sutton, who led the case, for seeing through Bellfield's "web of deceit".
Bellfield is main Milly suspect
"This case has depended on thousands of hours of unglamorous, painstaking work by officers who took their lead from you," she said.
Bellfield is the second person to be handed a "whole life" term in four days.
Steve Wright, who killed five prostitutes in Suffolk, was given the same sentence at Ipswich Crown Court on Friday.
The Old Bailey heard that Bellfield refused to attend his sentencing because of a "welter of accusations" that he was behind other unsolved crimes.
His barrister, William Boyce QC told the judge: "Overnight there has been what some consider to be a quite extraordinary explosion of bad publicity."
Blunt instrument
The wheel clamper from West Drayton carried out attacks on the three students between 2001 and 2004.
Police suspect him of carrying out 20 other attacks on women, including date rapes.Police suspect him of carrying out 20 other attacks on women, including date rapes.
He is also the main suspect in the murder of 13-year-old Milly Dowler, who went missing on her way home from school in Walton-on-Thames in Surrey on 21 March 2002.He is also the main suspect in the murder of 13-year-old Milly Dowler, who went missing on her way home from school in Walton-on-Thames in Surrey on 21 March 2002.
class="" href="/1/hi/uk/7263335.stm">Bellfield is main Milly suspect They were cowardly attacks, cowardly crimes he had been sentenced for and his cowardice carried through to this morning, he couldn't even face it Det Ch Insp Colin Sutton Her body was found in Yateley Heath, Hampshire, six months later.
Her body was found in Yateley Heath, Hampshire, six months later. Marsha McDonnell was hit three times on the head with a hammer just yards from her front door after she got off a bus in February 2003.
Police hope Bellfield's conviction will encourage other victims to contact them while detectives are expected to re-interview him in the coming days. In a similar attack in August 2004 Miss Delagrange was hit on the head with a blunt instrument on Twickenham Green when she was walking home after missing her bus.
Miss McDonnell was hit three times on the head with a hammer just yards from her front door after she got off a bus in February 2003. Miss Sheedy, 21, suffered a broken collarbone, a punctured lung and other internal injuries when Bellfield drove his people carrier into her and reversed back over her in May 2004, when she was 18.
And in a similar attack in August 2004 Miss Delagrange was hit on the head with a blunt instrument on Twickenham Green when she was walking home after missing her bus stop. Innocent girl
Wait for justice In an impact statement Dominique Delagrange described the pain of losing her daughter Amelie.
Miss Sheedy suffered a broken collarbone, a punctured lung and other internal injuries when Bellfield drove his people carrier into her and reversed back over her in May 2004, when she was 18. She said: "Her loss is an open wound that will never heal. We shall never get over it."
Brian Altman, prosecuting, told a pre-trial hearing: "He hated women. He hated blonde women." Miss McDonnell's uncle, Shane, said: "Marsha's murder was an act of pure evil, an innocent girl attacked from behind with no motive, no reason and no justification."
The two young murder victims were followed after getting off busesThe two young murder victims were followed after getting off buses
The attacks were consistent "with someone who has great animosity to women". Meanwhile, Miss Sheedy said: "To this day I still suffer from nightmares."
He told the jury: "These women were targeted victims of a predatory man who stalked bus stops and bus routes in vehicles looking for young women to attack." At Bellfield's trial the jury of seven women and five men were unable to reach verdicts on two other charges.
After his conviction Miss Sheedy, now 21, said in a statement: "The fact that Bellfield has been found guilty means more to me than I can possibly say.
"I have waited for nearly four years for this day."
The jury of seven women and five men was unable to reach verdicts on two other charges.
These were the kidnap and false imprisonment of Anna-Maria Rennie, 17, and the attempted murder of hairdresser Irma Dragoshi, 33.These were the kidnap and false imprisonment of Anna-Maria Rennie, 17, and the attempted murder of hairdresser Irma Dragoshi, 33.
The Crown Prosecution Service said it would not seek a retrial on the two counts.The Crown Prosecution Service said it would not seek a retrial on the two counts.
Speaking after the sentencing Det Ch Insp Sutton said he was disappointed Bellfield did not come to court.
"They were cowardly attacks, cowardly crimes he had been sentenced for and his cowardice carried through to this morning, he couldn't even face it."