What happened at White House Farm?

In today's episode, we start with the basics, what happened at White House Farm?

This episode is based on the accepted and known facts in the case, the basis for my investigation.

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Transcript

 It's the wee hours of the 7th of August, 1985. The height of summer. And aside from the early morning birds, the only sound that can be heard is the distant ringing of a telephone. The traditional ring ring of an original model landline. And as it reverberates through the cottage in a quiet town in Essex, a young man is jolted from his sleep.

Stepping into his zippers, there's a soft glow cast throughout the bedroom, and for a moment, he wonders who might be calling. He casts a quick glance at the nearest time telling device, whether that be a clock or a watch, and notes that it's sometime after 3am. Just moments after he was awoken by the trilling of the telephone, Jeremy Bamber picks up the landline.

And in that moment, his entire life is changed forever. On

the other side of the telephone line was his ageing father, a kindly stalwart farmer who lived just a short distance away on the family farm. And what Neville has to tell him is shocking. After all, very rarely does good news come via a phone call in the dead of night. With some possible variation to the wording, Neville tells Jeremy that Sheila, his older sister, has gone crazy and that she has somehow gotten hold of one of the many guns within the property.

Then, just as suddenly as the call has come in, it ended. For a split second, Jeremy Bamber sits in a stunned silence. Unsure of what to do with the information. He knows that he has to get to the farm, and either before or after calling the police, he manages to pull some clothes on. Having briefly debated whether or not Jeremy should even call the police, he eventually decides to do so.

Opting to place a call to the police station as opposed to the emergency line 999. And like now, in 2022, when finding a phone number is as easy as searching on Google or opening your contact app, Jeremy had to do things the old fashioned way and grabs his copy of the Yellow Pages. While finding the number, Jeremy Bamber seemingly ignores the warning box that sits under the police station's number in the phone book, choosing to call the station anyway.

Whether or not he read the warning box is unknown, but it urged those in an emergency situation to call 999, stating that that was far more appropriate in emergency situations. Having tried to call the local station at Whittham, but getting no answer, Jeremy then successfully placed a call to Chelmsford Police Station, a call that was answered by PC Michael West.

While 999 calls were handled by Chelmsford Police Station, the number Jeremy had dialed only dealt with exchange calls and all 999 calls were routed into a different building. For P. C. West, there were numerous aspects of Jeremy's call that made it unique, but in that moment, he could never have known what that fateful call would become.

Answering the phone, P. C. West was greeted by the voice of Jeremy Bamber, who informed him that he'd received a call from his father. That before being disconnected, Neville Bamber had advised Jeremy, in some variation of these words, That Jeremy's sister, Sheila, had gone berserk and had gotten hold of one of the farm's guns.

Nothing was mentioned about Neville or anyone else being injured. But Jeremy felt that his father was likely in some danger. According to Jeremy, the officer failed to take him seriously at first. After all, wouldn't a call of this nature have been made to 999? But eventually, whether on Jeremy's persuading or just to be on the safe side, PC West takes the details.

He asked Jeremy Bamber several questions to help him establish more information about the ongoing incident, requesting some information on the farm, those who might be within it, and any weapons that might be on the property. At this point, Jeremy revealed a possibly concerning piece of information.

There were five members of his family within the property, two of whom were young children. The twins and Sheila had arrived at the farm just a few days prior to the incident, and at numerous points, Sheila and her children had been seen around the Bamba property. Those who saw her reported that she seemed lethargic but calm, but that for the most part, she appeared to be happy.

The day of the murders, Sheila and the twins had been seen within the farm grounds, with her having been witnessed with the boys in the rape fields at around 4pm. During this time frame, Sheila and the twins were also seen having a brief conversation with Jeremy, who had spent the entire day inside a tractor.

After this, the boys and Sheila returned to the farm while Jeremy resumed his work within the vehicle, allegedly later telling Julie Mugford that he'd been thinking about the murders for the entirety. Later that evening, before the deaths, Jeremy Bamber had also seen Sheila for a second time, this time inside of the farmhouse.

However, by this point in time, the twins were already in bed. His sister and his parents were said to have been sat at the table, having something to eat, while Jeremy ate his snack over the sink. Much has since been made of Jeremy's suggestion that Sheila and his parents were having a heated conversation.

with the subject of contention supposedly being around the care of the boys. And as we will discuss in later episodes, there is some circumstantial evidence to support that there was tension within the farm on that evening. Another important detail here is that before leaving, Jeremy alleges that he noticed some rabbits in one of the fields and that he withdrew one of his father's guns from the cupboard, intending to shoot them.

But by the time he left the property, the rabbits had disappeared. Returning to the farm, Jeremy removed the magazine, but unintentionally left the gun and the ammunition accessible. Returning to the phone call, PC West realises that he needs the support of Chelmsford HQ, the part of the force that deals with emergency calls.

He places Jeremy Bamber on a short hold. Malcolm Bonnet was a civilian member of staff that happened to pick up the call that evening, and it is he who is able to dispatch the relevant officers. In turn, he then speaks to police within Witham station and asks them to head to the property. At this point, West returns to Jeremy Bamber and asks for further information on the weapons within the farm.

He also advises Jeremy Bamber that he should meet officers at the residence. According to Jeremy Bamber, he was impatient and annoyed at how long the entire process was taking. Remember that for a later episode. But according to PC West, Bamber was remarkably calm, even asking if the officers could pick him up at the cottage on the way to the emergency.

That request was denied, and instead Jeremy made his own way to the farm. The farm itself is a short drive away from the cottage in Goldhanger, the village where Jeremy Bamber lived, and yet despite the difference in distance between the farm and the Wytham Police Station, the police officers were the first to arrive.

This was a surprise to them, as they had been told that the reporting relative would be waiting for them, and yet no one was there. While en route to the farm, the police officers had passed a car that was driving dangerously slowly, and it was to their dismay when this car pulled up alongside them at the farm.

A young man exited the vehicle. To the surprise of the officers, it was their source of information. It was Jeremy Bamber. The first thing that the police did was attempt to understand exactly what was happening, to assess the situation and to try and understand what they might be facing. Alongside details about the farm and its weaponry, Bamber was also asked for further information regarding Sheila.

with the police preparing for what might now be a hostage situation. Specifically, in a bid to prepare for what might be worst case, police asked Jeremy if there was anyone who Sheila might be willing to speak to, if, specifically, there was anyone who might be able to calm her down. He offered the name of a psychiatrist that Sheila had been seeing, and when the police called him, he reinforced all the information that Jeremy Bamber had provided.

that Sheila was a diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic and that she'd recently received inpatient treatment for her condition. It's important to point out that much of the information regarding this part of the timeline comes directly from the police logs, and while they are far from flawless, they do offer an excellent source of information for building out our timeline.

The first thing that the police wanted to do, having spoken to Jeremy Bember, was to take a walk of the scene, wanting to check if there was any obvious resolution before calling for reinforcement. A quick walk around the scene only heightened the officer's concerns. It was eerily and unnervingly quiet.

At some point in time during this walk around, movement was spotted in a bedroom window, but it was quickly eliminated as a trick of the light. But this did nothing to silence the concerns. At this point, PC Booz requested firearms officers attend the scene. To Chris Booz, an experienced firearms officer, who you will hear from in a later episode, there was something off about the scene.

And as far as he was concerned, there were only two potential outcomes. Either they were all back in bed having resolved the conflict, the less likely in his mind, Or, the police were already too late. Having previously worked within the firearms team, P. S. Bewes had an understanding of what the tactical firearms support officers would want, and so he set about obtaining that information.

It started with a crudely drawn map of the scene, asking Jeremy to label two key factors. Where were the weapons? And where would each family member be sleeping? Over the course of the next few hours, numerous police outfits descended on the scene. But it wasn't until after 7am that they finally entered the property.

The hours in between are fairly well documented via the police logs, and for various reasons we will come back to most of these points at a later date. But for now, it's worth touching on some of the key moments. Between the arrival of the police and the eventual entry to the farm, police had gathered outside in considerable numbers.

Jeremy Bamber present the whole time, offering a source of information for the police. This is something that is demonstrated by a 5. 25am annotation on the running incident log. It records That police were in conversation with someone from within the farm. For those who believe in Bamber's guilt, this reference could only refer to Bamber himself.

But for those who believe in his innocence, it's much more indicative of it being someone other than Jeremy Bamber. It's discoveries such as this which have led the campaign team to conclude that Sheila was alive at this point in the timeline. And while police were standing outside with Jeremy Bamber, Sheila was walking around the farm.

Meaning that Jeremy Bamber could not have been the murderer. A short while later, at around 5. 30am, the TFS, the Tactical Firearms Officers, attempted to contact those inside the farm. Using a loud hailer in a bid to open a conversation, the running log of the scene records the results of this endeavour.

No response. Following this, and despite no indication of life within the farm, At 5. 38am, the TFA requested an inspector and a further six officers be brought to the property. Again, the campaign team take issue with this, questioning why further officers are needed if there is no sign of life. This suggests to them that there was sign of life.

For Jeremy Bamber, this entire ordeal had already been long and drawn out, traumatic even, as he waited with officers for news of his family fate. And yet, unbeknown to him, the situation was far from over. It was around this time in the morning that Jeremy Bamber expressed to police that he wanted to call his girlfriend.

He wanted her to be brought to the farm to be with him, and police agreed, organising for a car to collect her from her London address. Being the 1980s, mobile phones were not what they are now, and Jeremy needed to tell Julie that she was going to be collected. At 5. 40am, the police took Jeremy to a local phone box so that he could pass on the details to Julie in a brief phone call.

Said to have told her that she shouldn't go to work and that a police car would be there to collect her, information was lacking, and Julie was left entirely unaware of what was taking place. He told her that he loved her before hanging up and being taken back to the farm. All the while, even more police vehicles were descending on the scene.

Something that seems questionable, again, to those who believe this is a miscarriage of justice. But for others, it simply points to the confusion at the scene, and the police almost seeming to be delaying the inevitable. Because by this point, 6. 45am, there had been no direct contact with anyone within the property for over three hours.

And yet still, at a local pub, a backup team was gathering, themselves being briefed on what was happening. The time was now fast approaching 7am. Back at the farm, one firearms officer reported that she believed she'd seen a weapon leaning up against the bedroom window. And at this time, P. C. Woodcock from the TFG was advised of what was believed to have been unfolding.

With it having been labelled a siege and Sheila having been described as the perpetrator. He was advised that it was likely she was armed with one of the guns in the farm. And they also confirmed that there had been no contact from inside the farm since the alleged phone call to Jeremy. Throughout this time, the house remained eerily silent, this being despite the police presence outside.

Something that surely suggested the unimaginable. After all, if there was life within the property, surely someone would have made them aware, have reassured them that all was okay, or have stepped outside to tell the police that there was just a misunderstanding. And so as the situation dragged on, the police's hope of an easy and peaceful resolution had started to wane.

As far as police were concerned, things were now only going to go one of two ways. Either they were already too late, or it was a siege situation. While nothing suggested there was still life in the farm, nothing suggested otherwise. And so, veering on the side of caution, police treated it as a siege situation.

As with the initial officers who had arrived at the scene, It was vital that the tactical firearms officers had some understanding of what was happening inside. To that end, just before entering the farm, P. C. Collins was instructed to creep towards the property. Covered by his fellow officers, P. C.

Collins gingerly made his way towards the window, looking in and noticing what appeared to be a body inside the kitchen. At 7. 37am this was reported on the incident log, with it being noted that a female body had been found. Shortly after, based on this information and feeling that they were as prepared as they could be, PC Woodcock used a heavy sledgehammer to break down the back entrance to the property.

Unsure of what they would find, but with an ever present sense of dread, the police began their walk through. The first room that the police came to was the kitchen, a scene that seemed to suggest that a struggle had taken place, but more importantly, they found the body of Neville Bamber. Awkwardly sat on the back end of a chair which had been set to the side of the aga, just inside the door.

It was clear that Neville had been shot multiple times, but not before he had been severely beaten. Despite being male, when PC Collins had reported female, it was obvious that it had been the same body. With Neville's long grey hair now matted with blood, falling in front of his face. His arms lay lifeless at his side, was inside a cold scuttle.

The police radio that they had found the body of a man. In error, the log records that a female and male body were found in the kitchen. Heading towards one of the three staircases within the property, P. C. Delgado called out to Sheila Bamber to make herself known. There was no response, and so the police used a mirror to gain sight around the blind spot.

It was through the mirror that they spotted the body of an older woman, June Bamber, who was slumped in the doorway of the master bedroom. It was clear that she too had been brutally murdered, with an initial scan of the room suggesting that she had been shot in bed before managing to get up. and move around for a short time before being shot a final time.

At 7. 48am, police radioed from the scene, asking their surgeon attend to examine two bodies. For those who believe in Bamba, this proves that there were two bodies in the kitchen and that Sheila had to have been originally discovered there. As suggested earlier, this is one of the defense's staple theories, as they believe that Sheila was likely alive at the time when police entered the property.

And it is something that we will discuss in much greater detail in later episodes. But for those who don't believe in Bamber's innocence, this log was likely because they had seen Neville's body in the kitchen and June's via the mirror. Hence, one of the officers recorded that a surgeon was now needed for two bodies, before they'd even set foot upstairs.

Entering the master bedroom, the police could see a set of feet protruding from the far side of the bed, and as the only other adult known to be in the property, police approached with caution, presuming that this was probably their suspect. Their assessment was correct. It was Sheila. She was found laying lengthways alongside the bed with an open, overturned Bible slightly to the right of her body.

Across her chest lay a rifle, and there appeared to be two clear bullet wounds to her neck. Her nightdress, meanwhile, was remarkably clean, with only blood present seeming to be consistent with those of her injuries, and yet, despite the obvious anomalies that those of us with hindsight can immediately spot, at first glance, the police were satisfied.

Sheila had taken her own life following the murders that had now been discovered. Shortly after, the bodies of Sheila's two sons, Daniel and Nicholas, were also found. Discovered in their beds, it was clear that they had been shot while sleeping, seemingly not waking throughout the entire ordeal. At this point, having found all five members of the family, having located the gun on the suspect, and having been satisfied that the farm presented no external entry suggestion, The police believed the case was over and done, a tragedy beyond compare, but one that had been closed and dealt with conclusively.

It was a case of four murders and a suicide. At 8. 10am, the crime log records that the scene had now been thoroughly searched by firearms teams and that three further bodies had been found, five in total. Again, much has been made of the three further bodies comment, when in actuality four bodies were found upstairs.

And again, to the campaign team, this can only suggest that there were two bodies in the kitchen when the police entered. Depending on your viewpoint, this is either suspicious or easily explained. Either it suggests that there were two bodies in the kitchen and three upstairs, meaning that one had to have moved, hence suggesting that said person wasn't actually dead, or it simply refers to the fact that three final bodies were discovered.

Let's think about that for a second. The police walk into the property and report that the body of Neville Bamber has been found in the kitchen. They start to climb the stairs, don't set foot on the second floor, but via the mirror they find the body of June Bamber. The two bodies that are immediately visible upon entry, without any further searching having taken place.

After the two bodies are witnessed, unaware of the situation with Sheila, police radio for a surgeon, knowing that whatever the case with everybody else in the house, they now have at least two bodies. As they make their way through the property, they then find Sheila. who is visible to the other side of the bed, and then, of course, they find the twins.

Two found immediately, three further bodies found upon further investigation, five dead in total. Again, we'll discuss this in a later episode. At 10am, Dr Craig attended, and in a detail that could now have been pivotal to the case, he was unable to offer an accurate time of death, only suggesting that it happened at some point the night prior.

Once the crime scene pictures had been taken, the bodies were taken to Essex Hospital, where Dr Van Ness conducted the autopsies over a two day period. On the day of the tragedies, the 7th of August, Sheila and Neville's autopsies were undertaken, with June and the twins taking place the following day on the 8th.

Ultimately, all were found to have died from multiple gunshots. If you're already familiar with the Bamba case, then you'll be well aware that allegations of incompetency began from day dot, with police immediately making mistakes that were glaring even for the 80s. As confirmation bias sank in, Police handled the case as they would for the weeks to come, as if it was solved, no investigation required.

One example lays with how the police handled fingerprints, failing to take Jeremy Bambers for six weeks, something that is usually standard practice for elimination purposes. In cases where there are survivors who might have accessed a crime scene, even if that be innocently, prints are usually taken for elimination.

This allows police to consider whose prints should be there and whose prints shouldn't be, meaning that any anomalies can be highlighted and potentially pinpointed as a suspect. Additionally, officers at the scene failed to wear gloves, even when collecting the suspect weapon. The search of the scene was anything but thorough, with them taking days to find some cartridges and the family themselves finding the now famous moderator.

Within days of the discovery, in an abundance of sympathy towards the only surviving Bamba, The walls were scrubbed clean and the bloodied evidence such as carpet was entirely destroyed. The scene was disorganised and unprotected, something that no doubt still stings Essex Police to this day. Many of these decisions haunt the case, contributing to the speculation and debate that continues, because perhaps without these apparent mistakes, there'd be no debate and we'd not still be talking about this case all these years later.

The confirmation bias continued past the scene and into the pathology investigation, as the pathologist, Dr. V, was immediately told that this case was a known murder suicide, something that isn't standard practice when investigating a suspicious death. This isn't what should be done. More often than not, the pathologist is provided with the circumstances and told a brief overview of the case, but not conclusively told what the case was believed to be.

In her book about the history of forensics, Val McDermid outlined the reasons why pathologists are given such little information. Quote, If the pathologist knows too much, it might bias the autopsy. If he knows too little, he might overlook something important. Pathologists use that knowledge, most usually in a morgue or hospital, locked in the intense focus of autopsy.

How and why did that person die? Was it suicide, murder, an accident, old age, or is it impossible to tell? There are seldom straightforward answers. A bullet that has passed through someone's head could have been shot suicidally, murderously, or accidentally. The scope of a forensic pathologist's curiosity is very broad when he enters the morgue.

It gradually narrows its focus to the small details, before broadening out again to incorporate those details into his conclusion. End quote. And in many ways, the pathology in this case therefore unfolds backwards. With the circumstances of the death being presented as definitive from the get go, leaving the pathologist with little reason to question what he was being presented with.

After all, the police must surely have good reason to believe the circumstances to enter the morgue with such confidence. But it also tainted other decisions within the case. Dr. V was surprised to hear that there would be no ballistic expert present, in addition to the fact that he was not invited to see the bodies in situ, something that immediately gave him cause for concern.

There's a reason why pathologists prefer to see the scene itself. As well as the bodies, because it helps them to connect the dots and ascertain if there is anything wrong with the evidence presented. Again, as Val McDermid states in her book, Forensics, the Anatomy of a Crime, quote, Every sudden violent death carries its own story.

To read it, investigators begin with the primary source. The crime scene and the body of the deceased. End quote. Understanding that the body and the scene are both the crime scene helps pathologists to understand the relationship between the two and can help to reconstruct a sequence of events. It's not always the case, but it can be helpful.

In this case, the pathologist wasn't able to consider that link, but regardless, he was there to do his job, and so, despite his reservations, he set about the examination. Usually, detectives want the pathologist to offer a likely time of death, and with hindsight, this is just one single part of the case that could have avoided all these years of speculation.

A few hours difference in time. is all that exists between this potentially being a murder and this potentially being a definitive suicide. If the deaths occurred before 3am, then they could possibly have been Jeremy or Sheila. But if any of the deaths occurred after 3am, the police can eliminate Jeremy from their story.

As at that time, he was outside with the police. But Dr V was unable to answer this pivotal question and could only comment that the deaths occurred sometime the night prior. Ultimately, at the end of his investigation, the pathologist found no reason to dispute the police's conclusion, basing his verdict on the information provided and what the police had told him regarding the bodies and how they were found.

He also found no reason to believe Sheila hadn't committed the murders and believed that she could have been capable of beating Neville. In the years to come, this decision would be questioned and Dr V would revisit it himself, offering the opinion that he now believed his conclusion had been tainted and that had he seen the bodies in situ, he would have had more questions.

In the end, police had their confirmation. Dr. V initially believed it was a murder suicide, and as far as they were concerned, it was all but over. For Colin Caffell, Sheila's ex husband and the father of the twin boys, back in London, the memory of that fateful morning is more traumatic than most. And in his beautiful book, In Search of the Rainbow's End, he recounts how he found out the tragic news.

It was roughly midday on the 7th when police knocked on his door, offering the kind of message that none of us can imagine receiving. For Colin, the news was devastating. Quote, I was desperate to know why they thought Bamse had done it, and asked Jeremy to tell me everything he knew. Sitting on the sofa, he told me that the family conference after supper the previous evening had been about Bamse's ability as a mother.

that his mother and father had told her they didn't think she was capable of looking after the twins anymore, especially in her current mental state. They had said they were going to make arrangements for the custody of the children. End quote. And in that instance, it initially made sense to Colin because, quote, If Neville and June had said something like that to Bams in the position she was in, I could almost understand her doing something desperate just to protect her children, to save them from what would have appeared to her to have been a fate worse than death.

But in the midst of his despair, his thoughts turned to Jeremy, feeling desperately sorry for him for having lost everyone, his whole family. But for the wider family of Neville and June, something didn't add up. And as the days passed, their doubts only continued to grow. As far as they were concerned, Sheila could not have managed a gun, let alone used it in the way that was being alleged.

And Jeremy, well, he was painting pictures of a beautiful, loving family when the wider family knew that it was anything but. As police began to close the case, despite the pending inquest, the family's investigation was only just beginning. In the days and weeks that followed the murders, it's fair to say that Jeremy Bember certainly handled things in his own way.

And for those around him, something didn't feel right. Unable to find any reason for feeling this way, life started to move forward. Feeling a sense of deep sadness for Jeremy and what he must be experiencing, Colin invited Jeremy and Julie to stay with him. And while there, Colin immediately started to notice quirks about Jeremy's moods.

But ultimately, he put it all down to the medication Jeremy was taking. Quote. This ebullient mood persisted from then on, but I put much of this down to the tranquilizers his doctor had prescribed, and the fact that he was taking them and regularly washing them down with large quantities of alcohol. He therefore spent most of the weekend asleep, and was always conveniently crashed out whenever my family were around.

And yet, with hindsight, Colin also recalls something that happened just after the murders. It related to the police statements that they had given, with Jeremy almost seeming to boast of the length of his statement, stating that his was 24 pages long as opposed to Colin's 8, offering the comment that it was to be expected, given the length of time that he'd known Sheila.

It was during the same conversation that Jeremy then went on to tell Colin that Sheila may have been taking hard drugs. Something Colin conceded was unlikely, but possible, potentially due to a dubious relationship she'd recently been in. And so, as time was moving on, Colin was also beginning to notice things.

Quote, I began to feel that I was constantly being observed and copied by Jeremy, as if he wasn't aware himself of what was appropriate behaviour and needed to follow my lead. In retrospect, these often overstated displays came over as both clumsy and grandiose. But above all, devoid of any proper feeling.

During this time, the murders had become a focal point of much media speculation. And for Colin, this only added further distress. Within hours, Bamse had been submitted to trial by Fleet Street, found guilty and executed. Those of us who knew her were left reeling by the savagery with which she had been condemned.

For me, it was impossible to reconcile the memories of my two laughing children and their loving mother with the grossly distorted images that had been presented. End quote. And yet while he struggled to see this, Colin accepted what the police were telling him. After all, they must have had a good reason.

On the 14th of August, the inquest into the incident opened, and despite protestations from the family, based on the evidence provided, the bodies were released to the family, with Colin receiving the twins and Jeremy receiving the other family members. Christianity and religion are an ever present theme within this case, and it was therefore common knowledge that June and Neville wished to be buried.

But Jeremy decided to go against their wishes. Opting for a cremation, something that deeply upset the wider family. During a discussion about this, Jeremy is alleged to have told the family that due to the shootings and postmortems, the bodies were no longer complete and that Christian burials would therefore no longer be appropriate, something that never made sense to them.

But regardless, Jeremy opted for cremation and volunteered to pay for the funerals of the twin boys, as well as those of his parents and sister. Two days after the inquest began, on the 16th of August 1985, the funerals of Neville, June and Sheila took place, with the twins funeral due to take place a few days later.

For Colin, Sheila's funeral was a deeply saddening event, not just because of the obvious loss, but because of how Sheila had been treated, with it being noted that the twins weren't mentioned once throughout the entire funeral. And when Sheila was mentioned, it was with the blame for the entire event having been placed firmly on her shoulders.

Quote, The congregation was called upon to show forgiveness to her and told, Love does not keep a family record of wrongs. Just for a moment, I thought I could detect a hint of compassion. But when the elderly Canon said, We pray for God's mercy for Sheila, Sadly and tragically deranged, I felt like screaming out.

Their self righteousness, They couldn't even recognize the sickness within their own congregation. End quote. It was also during the funeral that Colin was forced to acknowledge just how little the wider family had known about Sheila's mental health. But little did he know, behind the scenes, suspicions had already started to show.

There's an age old saying which suggests that funerals are for the living, not for the dead. And in many ways, they offer a sense of closure for those that remain. And when a funeral ends, there's often a natural sense of relief. Marking the start of an altogether different period of grieving. And yet while Colin Gaffell felt this too, he found himself troubled by Jeremy's behaviour.

As the cars followed three hearses out of the church, quote, We all breathed a sigh of relief. But as we followed the three hearses out of the village, with the undertaker walking slowly in front, Jeremy started cracking jokes, and laughing. To some extent, I could accept it as an understandable release of tension, but his joking became unnecessarily smutty, making all sorts of remarks about Julie.

It was in poor taste in any circumstance, but with my family in the car, it was completely out of order. Over the years, the funeral has become another famed part of this case, and thanks to the media who swarmed it, much photographic and video content still exists to this day. A few days later came the funeral of the twins, and Colin wanted it to be a deeply different affair to the funerals of the other family members.

He wanted it to be reflective of the children, and to be more of a celebration than a mourning. In the end, the twins were buried in the same coffin, in their pyjamas, facing each other, as if they'd simply dozed off. Additionally, Colling had received Sheila's ashes, and was able to reunite the twins with their mother, something that was entirely contrary to media reporting at the time.

The three were then buried in the hauntingly beautiful Highgate Cemetery, with Colling having found the perfect plot in the shade of an old rosebush. It also happens to be the only place where the twins could be buried in the same coffin. Sadly, there doesn't seem to be a grave marker any longer, but the three rest in ease in the shadow of the rosebush.

Following the funerals, Colin spent some time in Norway, but when he returned, he learnt that Jeremy was now living in Sheila's London flat, and so he decided to pay him a visit. In an encounter that now seems chilling in the context, what follows are direct quotes from Collins book. Quote, For the next ten minutes, he resumed a denigration of his remaining family, punctuated by endless talk by himself.

But I really wasn't interested and had also begun to feel very uncomfortable in his presence. He had changed a lot since we last saw him, almost as if he had begun to make light of the sadness, that I need not worry, he would make sure we were well looked after when he got his money. I finally reminded Jeremy that my main reason for coming was to sort out the boys things and to collect all Bambi's photographs and correspondence.

My heart sank when he told me that he and Brett, his friend who was staying with him, had already cleaned out the boys room and put all of their clothes into a bin bag in the hall cupboard. The box also contained modelling shots, some of which were said to have been nude. And of course, it's these images that Jeremy Bamber later attempted to sell.

For those unfamiliar with the details in this case, between the murders and Jeremy Bamber's arrest, Jeremy attempted to sell a number of nude images of Sheila to the British media. Requesting a fee of 20, 000 for the images. The plan failed miserably, and instead of offering the fee, the journalist actually reported it to the police, and then published that alternative story.

Interestingly, Brett seems to suggest this never happened in my interview with him. And yet, we know it did. For Colin, these images came as a shock, as he'd had no knowledge of Sheila ever having taken them. Quote, I couldn't believe it. Bams had always been very adamant about not doing any glamour work.

She must have been really desperate for work. I later discovered that these were just test shots taken by a friend, and were never published or never likely to be. Then I realised Jeremy was gloating over my shoulder, eager to tell me they were more in similar boxes. According to Colin, Jeremy was laughing as he told Colin how much detail you could see in the images.

Something that seemed juvenile and not in keeping with the tragic circumstances they'd all found themselves in. I was finding his behaviour extremely distasteful and more like that of an immature schoolboy ogling his first girly magazine, sniggering with classmates, nor a 25 year old man looking at photographs of his dead sister.

Of course, within a few weeks, Colin saw the headline. Bambi brother in photo scandal. He tried to peddle sex snaps of model. He realised what must have happened and where those images had come from. It's important to point out here that grief does strange things to people, and there is no single way to grieve.

And so as strange and questionable as Jeremy's behaviours might be, acting strange does not a murderer make. For the family members, it was the gun itself which had first caused them alarm. With none of them believing that Sheila was truly capable of what the police were telling them she had done. They also had serious concerns over Jeremy Bamber's story.

To many on the farm, the idea that the gun had been left hanging out in a place so accessible to young children was unthinkable. Especially as Neville was said to have been incredibly safety conscious, and hence, had the gun been left out, he would likely have put it away. Yet that confuses the story, because it's hard to believe that Sheila would have been able to choose the gun and the corresponding bullets.

But for the campaign team and other Bamba defenders, there's issues with this story still. Because a handful of crime scene images do suggest the presence of at least one other gun outside of the gun cupboard. There is no suggestion that this gun was the one that was used, but it was certainly not locked in the gun cupboard as we would believe.

But for the campaign team and other Bamba defenders, there are issues with the story. There are a number of crime scene images that do show a second gun outside of the gun cupboard. Seeming to cast doubt on the idea that Bamba didn't leave any guns outside of the cupboard. Of course, there is a possibility that both versions of this story could be true, perhaps with just one slight anomaly.

Perhaps Neville did occasionally leave one or two of his weapons around the property, as it was rare for children to be present. And while in breach of contemporary gun laws and his license, it's likely that he saw no danger in that habit. However, that said, it's also possible that while leaving guns out, he'd still taken action to render them safe, ensuring that none of the weapons had bullets anywhere near them.

hence making them impossible to use. But these are all theories, and while suspicions matter, they aren't evidence in any way, shape or form. The turning point in this case came on the 12th of August 1985. While conducting their own search of the property, the Weider family found the gun's missing moderator.

Scratched, specked with red paint, sticky, and with a grey hair, the moderator was inside the gun cupboard. Further illustrating how inadequate the police's search had obviously been. After much persuasion, a few days later, the police collected the moderator. But by the time it got to the lab, the grey hair had vanished.

Yet unknown to all involved, it was tension between Jeremy and his girlfriend, Julie, which was to blow the case open. Following a brief stint in Amsterdam as a group of three, Brett Collins, Jeremy Bamber and Julie Mugford were now back in the United Kingdom. But Julie was unhappy with the dynamics of their relationship.

And whether jealous or distrustful of Brett, his involvement was starting to cause her concerns. It was therefore of little surprise when she and Jeremy went their own ways. Shortly after, Jeremy and Brett travelled to the south of France for a holiday. Unbeknownst to them, Julie Mugford was slowly being persuaded that calling the police was now the right thing to do.

Having sat with the information that she had done for months, close friends of hers had finally persuaded her to talk. Over the weeks since the murders, Julie had slowly let slip to friends that she knew much more than she'd previously stated. Having sat on the information for months close friends of Julie had finally persuaded her to talk.

Over the weeks since the murders, Julie had slowly let slip to friends that she knew much more about what was going on than she'd stated. And ultimately, this all came to crescendo. On the 7th of September, a month after the murders, DS Stan Jones received his own game-changing phone call. It was Judy's friends.

And Julie was ready to talk. When DS Jones arrived at the friend's home, he had just one question for Julie. Did Jeremy do it? Yes, she replied. And he took her to the station for a detailed interview. Over the coming weeks, Julie Mugford would tell the police that Jeremy had long been planning to commit the murders of his family, but that he'd told her the crime itself had actually been committed by a hitman.

What emerged was a story that painted Jeremy Bamber as a cold, calculated and methodical killer who'd almost got away with murder. Arriving from the luxury holiday in the south of France, Brett and Jeremy were greeted by a rather unwelcoming welcome party because as they drove off the ferry, they were asked to wait in a waiting room.

Assuming that it was about their duty free purchases, they sat patiently waiting, surprised when the police arrived. They quickly learned that it was about the murders, and while Brett was free to leave and did so, Jeremy Bamber was now under arrest. For 18 hours, Jeremy Bamber was questioned at Chelmsford Police Station, not breaking once.

For Colin Caffell, the 17th of September 1985 was what marked a turning point, as the media slowly began to reveal leaks that there were two gunshot wounds to Sheila, and that a moderator had also been found. And eventually, he was forced to consider that perhaps the aching doubt he'd felt all along had been more than just a suspicion all along.

This episode stands as a basic overview of what are considered the legally accepted facts of the case. And in future episodes, we will delve into some of the key and contentious points in much further detail. But for now, this is where this episode is left. In 1986, following his trial, Jeremy Bamber was convicted of five counts of murder, with a 10 to 12 verdict having been accepted by the judge.

But Jeremy Bamber continues to protest his innocence.