The UK Hammer Murders
More Charges Against Levi Bellfield
On the evening of May 28, 2004, Gumley House Convent School student Kate Sheedy, 18, stepped off a bus in Isleworth and began walking towards her home when her attention was drawn to a suspicious white car, resembling a Toyota Previa, with its lights turned off and revving engine. The BBC reported that Sheedy tried to avoid the vehicle with blackened windows by crossing the street because she felt uncomfortable. It was then that driver of the car turned on the lights and began to drive down Worton Road before making a U-turn and driving towards her, Sheedy stated in the article. Suddenly, the car ran over her, crushing her torso before reversing and running over her a second time and speeding off.
Even though Sheedy suffered severe injuries including a ruptured liver, collapsed lung, broken ribs and collar bone, she managed to contact her mother on her cell phone, who then contacted emergency services. Sheedy amazingly survived the harrowing experience and was able to provide investigators with important information about the car. The police probing the incident believed that Sheedy's attempted murder was related to the murder of Amelie Delagrange that occurred three months later "due to the similarities between the victims and location," the BBC reported. Both women had similar hair color and were attacked in the same general area in Twickenham.
Investigators managed to obtain CCTV footage of the white vehicle believed to have been involved in the hit-and-run. The video depicted two people in the car at the time of the incident. One of them is believed to be Bellfield who has since been charged with the attempted murder of Sheedy. It would not be his last charge.
In May, 2006, Bellfield was also indicted for the murder of Marsha McDonnell who was killed by a blow to the head by a blunt instrument in Hampton shortly after stepping off a bus on February 4, 2003. However, it is unclear precisely how he is linked to the case. Evidence will undoubtedly be revealed during his trial connecting him to McDonnell's murder.
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Bellfield, was incarcerated at Woodhall Prison prior to standing trial for the series of charges against him. On February 25, 2008, he was found guilty of the murders of Marsha McDonnell and Amelie Delagrange and the attempted murder of Kate Sheedy. The jury was unable to reach verdicts on the attempted murder of Irma Dragoshi and the kidnapping and false imprisonment of Anna-Maria Rennie. Bellfield is sentenced to life in prison with the recommendation that he never be released.
The conviction and consequent lifting of reporting restrictions on the case now allow police to reveal that Bellfield has been linked to at least 20 similar attacks upon young women in south-west London, including the murder of Surrey schoolgirl Milly Dowler.