White House Farm murderer Jeremy Bamber has insisted that he was ‘framed’ for murdering his own family and says there’s ‘no evidence’ against him as he made a phone call from his prison cell in a bombshell new documentary.
Bamber, now 64, killed his adopted parents, sister and two six-year-old nephews at their home in Tolleshunt D’Arcy, Essex in 1985 – but has always maintained that he is innocent of the crime.
Now, in a new documentary titled White House Farm: Murder, Bloodline and Betrayal, which aired on Channel 4 this week, he claimed he was ‘being framed’ during his 1986 trial, when he was found guilty of gunning down five members of his family in the dead of night on August 7, 1985.
The documentary also heard from members of the Jeremy Bamber Innocence Campaign, who cited the reasons they believe he’s innocent of the crime and its aftermath, which they refer to as the ‘longest miscarriage of justice in English legal history’.
The case has been the subject of several appeals over the 40 years since the murder occurred – and all have concluded that Bamber was the killer without doubt.
However, Bamber still maintains that there’s ‘no evidence’ against him, describing the guilty verdict as ‘nonsense’ and ‘ridiculous’.
Speaking on June 25 this year in a phone call recorded from his cell in HMP Wakefield in west Yorkshire, Bamber said: ‘It just seems scandalous to me that they are so frightened to have a proper investigation into my case at the Court of Appeal that they would object to the evidence.
‘Because I don’t know what evidence I need to prove my innocence. There isn’t anything that stands up. Is it just complete stupidity?’
White House Farm murderer Jeremy Bamber has insisted that he was ‘framed’ of murdering his own family and says there’s ‘no evidence’ against him
Jeremy Bamber is pictured in tears during his family’s funeral with his ex-girlfriend Julie Mugford
According to crime journalist Danny Shaw, who gives testimony in the documentary, Bamber’s behaviour was inconsistent in the initial months after the murder – when it had been ruled as a murder-suicide carried out by his sister, model Sheila ‘Bambi’ Caffell.
Bamber had appeared ‘extremely upset’ at his family’s funeral – at one point crying to his then-girlfriend Julie Mugford and his knees buckling during the service – but soon afterwards, he went on a trip to Amsterdam with his friends, and offered to sell pictures of Sheila to the newspapers.
But Bamber continues to insist the press perception of him was ‘distorted’ through hindsight and says he’s never ‘flown first class’ or ‘stayed in a fancy hotel’.
‘The press perception, it’s what they’ve wanted me to be, not who I really am. Anyone who has known me, and has known me all these years, knows that I’ve never been a big spender,’ he said during the documentary.
‘I’ve always had a very comfortable lifestyle – I had a nice car and a nice house and I travelled widely – but I’ve never been in first class, I’ve never been business class.
‘I’ve never stayed in a fancy hotel my whole life. You know, I’m a bed and breakfast man.’
The Bamber estate was valued at £475,000 in 1985 – close to £1.5million today. If Sheila had carried out the killings then, as the only surviving family member, Jeremy Bamber would have received all the money.
The Jeremy Bamber Innocence Campaign, a group set up to plead his innocence and see the case re-examined, accuse the police and Bamber’s relatives of ‘changing their story’ throughout.
At first, all eyes turned to troubled daughter Sheila Caffell, a former model dubbed ‘Bambi’, who was blamed for the bloodbath, but now, the gripping documentary has laid bare the chilling truth
Bamber’s adoptive father Nevill had been shot eight times, the kitchen was in state of disarray, and his body was found over a broken chair
Bamber (pictured) has always maintained that he is innocent and continues to insist there is no evidence against him
Last month, the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) stated that four out of ten grounds raised by a 2021 appeal did not meet the threshold for referral to the Court Of Appeal. They are continuing to examine the remaining six grounds.
One member, Philip Walker, said: ‘As Jeremy always says, his story hasn’t changed for 40 years, it’s only the police narrative that has been chipped away at. The mass of evidence we’ve presented to the CCRC of Jeremy’s innocence, we believe will show that is the case.
‘We do firmly believe that Jeremy will be exonerated, and when he is, this will end the longest miscarriage of justice in English legal history.’
They cite a logged call from Jeremy’s adoptive father, Nevill Bamber, which only came to light in 2010, which said ‘my daughter [Sheila] has gone beserk’ – ten minutes before Jeremy’s own call saying she was ‘crazy’.
They also allege that, according to the guilty verdict, Jeremy would have needed to get from White House Farm to his Goldhanger home on a bike in just 10 minutes – something they say isn’t possible in less than 16 minutes.
Bamber added: ‘It’s ridiculous to suggest I got on a bike and rode through the fields in the middle of the night without lights, you couldn’t close the main catch from outside. It was all nonsense.’
In addition, Bamber’s ex-girlfriend Julie Mugford, who testified against him after their relationship ended, had initially claimed Bamber told her he had hired a hitman -Matthew McDonald – to kill his family.
Bamber was found guilty during his 1986 trial and was since sentenced to life in prison
The innocence campaign on his behalf cites a call made by Nevill Bamber on the night of the killings, which appears to implicate Sheila
When it was found that McDonald had a ‘stone-cast’ alibi, she changed her story dramatically and said Bamber had carried out the killings himself.
The innocence party also claims that a key piece of evidence – that a silencer added to the gun made it too long for Sheila to carry out the shooting – is flawed.
In the first episode of the documentary, the programme examined the key mistakes made by Bamber gave police a lead that he was the true murderer.
At first, all eyes turned to troubled daughter Sheila Caffell, a former model dubbed ‘Bambi’, who was blamed for the bloodbath, but now, the gripping documentary has laid bare the chilling truth.
In a case that’s baffled and enraged the public for decades, the programme uncovers the damning trail of clues that finally exposed Jeremy as the twisted killer behind one of Britain’s most notorious crimes.
A chilling detail emerged early on, there were five bodies found and 25 bullets fired, the magazine only took 10, which meant it must have been reloaded twice, requiring expertise.
Speaking in the documentary, Dr Keri Nixon, a forensic psychologist, said: ‘Originally on the night of the murders, Jeremy Bamber said to a police officer that Sheila had used guns and had actually shot guns with him.
A new documentary has revealed how Jeremy Bamber (pictured) was finally outed as the real White House Farm murderer in Tolleshunt D’Arcy, Essex
‘He later said that he didn’t recall saying that. Other family members said she had no experience of using guns.’
Perhaps most telling of all was Bamber’s bizarre behaviour the night of the murders. Instead of dialling 999, the standard number for emergencies, Jeremy rang the local police station, wasting precious time.
Retired Essex Police sergeant Chris Bews, the first officer to speak to Jeremy that night, said alarm bells rang almost immediately.
Chris said Jeremy told him ‘I just didn’t think’ of phoning 999 instead – this was the moment he first started to have ‘doubts’.
Bews was struck by how quickly Jeremy began painting his sister as mentally unstable.
Chris said: ‘I’m starting to form an opinion. He’s painting a really bad picture of her mental state for us. She’s under psychiatric treatment, she’s been out of the mental hospital all the time. That’s what sticks out – he was really ramming down our throats that she was mentally unhinged.’
What’s more, when Chris told Jeremy that his entire family had been found dead inside the home, his reaction was far from that of an innocent victim.
Chris recalled: ‘I’ve told people many times, he coughed a bit and started crying. The first thing that hit me, is that I thought, that is not genuine.
Jeremy Bamber, Sheila’s adoptive brother, who pulled the trigger killing his adoptive parents, Nevill Bamber and June, his sister Sheila, and her six-year-old twin sons Daniel and Nicholas, (pictured) as they slept in their beds.
In the first episode of a new two-part documentary on Channel 4 , White House Farm: Murder, Bloodline and Betrayal, the case is re-examined 40 years on after five family members were gunned down in their farmhouse in the dead of night on August 7, 1985
Sheila’s hands and feet were found to be completely clean, a striking inconsistency if she had carried out such a brutal and bloody attack
Meanwhile Nevill, Jeremy’s adopted father, was found in the kitchen amid signs of a physical struggle
‘When you break bad news to people, in my experience, more often than not, they don’t take it in right away and their demeanor doesn’t change much, they just go into shock.’
Police initially concluded it was a murder-suicide, believing that Sheila, who had a history of schizophrenia, depression, anxiety, and delusional episodes, had killed her family before turning the gun on herself.
However the documentary revealed a damning combination of forensic evidence and Jeremy’s own inconsistent statements that slowly unravelled his story.
That evening, August 6, 1985, Jeremy had been shooting rabbits with his father’s gun – and said he had left it downstairs.
His phone call to police: ‘My father has phoned from White House Farm and he sounds really frightened. He says my sister’s gone crazy and she’s got a gun.’
When police were initially investigating, crime journalist Danny Shaw said Jeremy would flit between seeming ‘worried’ and ‘joking’ with the police moments later.
Next to Sheila’s body was a .22 rifle, the same that Jeremy had taken to shoot the rabbits, but what baffled investigators was the fact she had two head wounds.
Speaking in the documentary, Dr Stuart Hamilton, a forensic psychologist said that while this was ‘entirely physically possible’, it’s unlikely to be ‘plausible’, as the pain and confusion from the first wound would make it difficult to commit to a second shot.
Retired Essex Police sergeant Chris Bews, the first officer to speak to Jeremy that night, said alarm bells rang almost immediately
Speaking in the documentary, Dr Stuart Hamilton, a forensic psychologist said that while this was ‘entirely physically possible’, it’s unlikely to be ‘plausible’, as the pain and confusion from the first wound would make it difficult to commit to a second shot
Next to Sheila’s body was a .22 rifle, the same that Jeremy had taken to shoot the rabbits, but what baffled investigators was the fact she had two head wounds
Author and journalist David James Smith said: ‘If that rifle had the silencer on it, at the time of the killings, then it was too long for Sheila Kaffel to have held the trigger and shot herself’
‘Purely from the pathology, it is physically possible for you to shoot yourself twice, if the shot is not fatal and it doesn’t incapacitate you, then you can do it again.
‘Whether it is particularly plausible that somebody who has just shot themselves in the neck, to the extent that they are essentially bleeding to death, to then repeat that through the pain and the shock, is a little more difficult to count on.’
Meanwhile Nevill, Jeremy’s adopted father, was found in the kitchen amid signs of a physical struggle.
Nevill had been shot eight times, the kitchen was in state of disarray, and his body was found over a broken chair.
Forensic psychologist Dr. Stuart noted that Nevill was physically fit and in good health, while Sheila was described as very slight in build.
He explained that the logistics of the shooting were improbable- the rifle’s long barrel would have made it extremely awkward, if not impossible, for Sheila to have used it to take her own life.
The discovery of a silencer hidden in one of the farm’s cupboards only deepened suspicions.
Its use would have extended the length of the weapon even further, making the suicide theory even less plausible.
When blood group analysis was carried out on the silencer, it confirmed Sheila’s blood was present – meaning it must have been used to kill her.
They found red paint on the silencer, matching that of the shelf in the kitchen, suggesting the same gun was used in the struggle against Nevill in the kitchen.
Author and journalist David James Smith said: ‘If that rifle had the silencer on it, at the time of the killings, then it was too long for Sheila Kaffel to have held the trigger and shot herself.
‘Her hands would not have reached the trigger with the silencer on the end of the barrel. So if the silencer was on the rifle when the killings occurred, Sheila Kaffel wasn’t responsible for the killings.’
Dr Keri Nixon, consultant forensic psychologist, said that it had never been previously reported that Sheila was violent, despite her mental health.
Sheila’s hands and feet were found to be completely clean, a striking inconsistency if she had carried out such a brutal and bloody attack.
His story didn’t add up. On the night of the murders, Jeremy claimed that Sheila had experience with firearms. But later, he backtracked, saying he couldn’t recall making that statement.
The Bamber estate was valued at £475,000 in 1985 – close to £1.5million today.
If Sheila had carried out the killings then, as the only surviving family member, Jeremy Bamber would have received all the money.
It comes after Bamber made a bombshell claim about the events of that horrifying day, the Mirror reported.
The infamous murderer has now alleged Essex Police accidentally shot his sister’s corpse before blaming the killings on him to cover it up.
He said: ‘They were the ones who, when they took the gun off, shot her a second time – and then tried to pretend that was down to me.’
The force has previously declined to challenge or comment on Bamber’s astonishing claim.
Bamber is determined – even after being behind bars since 1986 for the crime, convicted on a majority verdict – an upcoming appeal will prove he is blameless.
The killer has insisted his latest words are supported by documents from his original trial.
But a whopping 226 prosecution files from the original coroner’s inquiry, which he and his supporters believe may contain the crucial evidence, have been locked up.
They will not become publicly available at the National Archives until 2054.
Bamber is now arguing the second wound on Ms Caffell’s body came after the officers examined it, recording one shot, but before crime scene photos were taken.
Mr Walker explained the prisoner and his supporters now believe a gun was accidentally fired during this training exercise process – inflicting the second shot.
Multiple officers at the time noted a disparity between the initial appearance of Sheila’s body and the gun and what was documented in crime scene photos.
Mr Walker concluded, alleging: ‘This would obviously be a big embarrassment for Essex Police.
‘To go around shooting dead people accidentally is not a good look – so they just covered it up.’
An Essex Police spokesperson told the Daily Mail: ‘In August 1985 the lives of five people, including two children, were needlessly, tragically and callously cut short when they were murdered in their own home by Jeremy Bamber.
‘In the years that followed this case has been the subject of several appeals and reviews by the Court of Appeal and the Criminal Cases Review Commission – all of these processes have never found anything other than Bamber is the person responsible for killing his adoptive parents Nevill and June, sister Sheila Caffell and her two sons Nicholas and Daniel.
‘Essex Police will continue to assist the Criminal Cases Review Commission as required.’
White House Farm: Murder, Bloodline and Betrayal is available to stream now on Channel 4.
