Netflix has added a true crime documentary about “a case that shocked the nation”.
13:14, 04 Jan 2026Updated 13:14, 04 Jan 2026
Michael Stone is still behind bars(Image: Getty)
A gripping true crime documentary delving into a murder case that “shocked the nation” has just landed on Netflix.
Who Killed Lin and Megan: The Chillenden Murders, initially broadcast on Channel 5 in 2023, unravels the harrowing tale of two lives tragically cut short, sending shockwaves through a small community.
The Netflix blurb describes: “In 1996, an attack on a mother and her two daughters devastated a quiet English village. This documentary reexamines the investigation that followed.”
The film probes into the brutal killings of Lin Russell, a 45 year old mother, and her six year old daughter, Megan. Lin was strolling down a country lane with Megan, her elder daughter Josie, aged nine at the time, and their dog Lucy when they were accosted by a man.
The Chillenden Murders documentary is airing on Netflix(Image: Handout/PA Wire)
In a horrifying twist, he tied them up and savagely beat Lin, Megan, and their beloved pet to death with a hammer, leaving Josie as the sole survivor of the onslaught.
Michael Stone, then aged 37, was apprehended a year later for the murders and attempted murder, reports the Express.
He was handed three life sentences with a tariff of 25 years and has since sought to challenge his conviction.
The Netflix documentary, first aired in 2023, concludes with the note: “Michael Stone lost a second appeal against his conviction in 2005.
“In 2011, Stone’s legal team was refused permission to apply for judicial review of the CCRC decision not to refer his case to the Court of Appeal. Michael Stone’s case has been under active investigation at the Criminal Cases Review Commission since 2017.
The documentary revisits the tragic deaths(Image: Kent Police/PA Wire)
“The Commission is yet to reach a decision regarding whether or not to refer the case back for appeal. Michael Stone still protests his innocence of these crimes and his legal team continues to work to overturn his conviction.”
Serial killer Levi Bellfield confessed to the killings of Lin and Megan in 2022, only to later withdraw his admission.
The documentary, helmed by Pierre Thiebaut, was originally described by Channel 5 as: “A look at the complex story of the 1996 murders of Lin Russell and her six-year-old daughter Megan as they walked home from school in Chillenden, Kent, a brutal crime that shocked the nation.”
Who Killed Lin and Megan: The Chillenden Murders is available to stream now on Netflix.