Criminal Files - British serial killers - Levi Ballfield

Yusuf Rahim (born Levi Rabetts; 17 May 1968), formerly known as Levi Bellfield, is an English serial killer. He was convicted on 25 February 2008 of the murders of Marsha McDonnell and Amelie Delagrange and the attempted murder of Kate Sheedy, and sentenced to life imprisonment.

On 23 June 2011, Bellfield was found guilty of the murder of Milly Dowler. On both occasions, the judge recommended that he should never be released. He converted to Islam whilst in prison.
Bellfield was found guilty of the murders of Marsha McDonnell and Amelie Delagrange (as well as the attempted murder of Kate Sheedy) on 25 February 2008 more than three years after the last of the three attacks. The following day, he was sentenced to life imprisonment with a recommendation that he should never be released. Bellfield was not in court to hear his sentence, as he had refused to attend court owing to "unfair press coverage" following his conviction.

On 30 March 2010, Bellfield was charged with Dowler's abduction and murder, pre-dating the earliest of the other three charges by almost a year. Milly was 13 years old when last seen alive on her way home from school in Walton-on-Thames on 21 March 2002; her body was found in woodland near Yateley, Hampshire, six months later. Bellfield was named as the prime suspect in connection with the murder in the immediate aftermath of his trial in 2008. As a result, the inquest into the death was adjourned. On 6 October 2010 he appeared in court via video link and was formally charged with one count each of attempted abduction, (actual) abduction, disposal of evidence[citation needed] and murder.

Bellfield's second trial began at the Old Bailey on 10 May 2011 and on 23 June 2011 the jury found Bellfield guilty. He was again sentenced to life imprisonment the following day and the trial judge recommended that his life sentence should mean life – just as the judge at his trial for the other crimes had done three years earlier. The trial of Bellfield on another charge of attempted abduction of Rachel Cowles, an 11-year-old girl offered a lift in the Walton area by a man in a red car on the day preceding this murder, was abandoned due to newspapers publishing prejudicial material, and the judge ordered that the charge should remain on file.

On 27 January 2016, Surrey Police announced that Bellfield had admitted, for the first time, abducting, raping and murdering Dowler, after being interviewed about whether he had an accomplice. Levi Bellfield later issued a denial that he made any such confession, but Surrey Police stood by their earlier statement.