Jeremy Bamber has accused Essex Police of accidentally shooting his sister Sheila Caffell’s dead body and then framing him for her murder to cover it up
Jeremy Bamber, the man convicted of the now infamous White House Farm murders, has explosively claimed Essex Police accidentally shot his sister’s corpse and then pinned the murders on him to cover their tracks.
Despite being behind bars since 1986 for the murder of his parents, sister, and six-year-old twin nephews, Bamber maintains his innocence after nearly four decades in prison and is convinced that an impending appeal will exonerate him. Essex Police recently declined to refute Bamber’s latest shocking claim, which he insists is backed by original documents from his trial. Yet a staggering 226 prosecution files, which Bamber and his advocates believe may hold crucial evidence, have been locked away until 2054.
When questioned about their confidence that these sealed files held no proof of an accidental discharge by an officer, Essex Police chose not to respond. It comes after Bamber was hoping the discovery of new photographic evidence could set him free.
“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,” Bamber claimed, in exclusive remarks to Newsquest. Bamber’s sister, Sheila Caffell – a model hailing from Maida Vale, North London – was discovered dead at her parents’ White House Farm in Tolleshunt D’Arcy, Essex, back in August 1985.
The crime scene also revealed the bodies of her parents Nevill and June, as well as Sheila’s twin boys, all fatally shot. Sheila was found with the firearm used in the massacre resting on her chest, leading authorities to deduce she had eliminated her family before turning the gun on herself amidst a psychotic break.
She had been in a psychiatric facility with schizophrenia, expressed suicidal thoughts and had told social services she feared she could harm her children.
However, the police later revised their stance, concluding that her brother had killed all five victims before making it appear as a murder-suicide. Bamber is currently serving a life sentence after being found guilty by majority verdict in 1986. At trial, the prosecution contended that Sheila had been shot twice – once in the neck and once through the chin into her head.
“The prosecution say on that evidence alone, it is inconceivable that she shot herself,” the jury was informed. Bamber’s defence suggested that Sheila had managed to shoot herself twice, which, while rare, is not impossible in suicide cases.
After years behind bars poring over his case files, Bamber now asserts that one of the bullet wounds was administered post-mortem. Statements from police officers and a police surgeon who were present at the scene mentioned only one gunshot wound on Sheila’s body.
The surgeon, Dr Ian Craig, testified during the trial that he observed just one wound, and reaffirmed this in a post-trial review: “I saw only one gunshot wound at that stage.
“We thought, ‘Okay, this is highly suspect’,” remarked Philip Walker, a staunch advocate for Bamber. “It turns out the police had held firearms training exercises at the farm that morning – and they don’t dispute this.
“They had to admit that, partly because they asked Jeremy’s permission to do it and he, in his sort of shocked state, said, ‘Yea, okay’.
“They brought all these new recruits from their recently formed firearms unit to see what a real crime scene looked like, how you’d go about dealing with it.”
Police logs confirm the arrival of six firearms officers post-discovery of the bodies. Jeremy Bamber and his advocates argue that the second wound on the body was inflicted after officers examined the body and observed one wound, but prior to the taking of crime scene photographs.
“We think what happened was, the gun accidentally discharged during this training exercise and that is how the second shot happened,” Mr Walker explained.
Several officers documented at the time discrepancies between the initial sighting of Sheila’s body and the gun and their depiction in subsequent crime scene photographs. Mr Walker alleged: “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.”
Essex Police declined to comment on the claims. Supporters of Bamber claim that comprehensive records from the coroner’s inquiry remain undisclosed. Over 200 case files have been archived and sealed until 2054 at the National Archives, which means Bamber will be an elderly man by the time they are accessible.