New Evidence
As shown by the Sunday Mirror
19th September 2004
THIS PHOTO PROVES I DIDN'T KILL MY SIS
DRAMATIC NEW EVIDENCE IN BAMBER CASE
By Justin Penrose
THIS is the gruesome photograph Jeremy Bamber says proves he DIDN'T murder his family.
It shows blood pouring from a gunshot wound in his sister's neck. And medical experts say this means she must have been shot by someone else - because Bamber was with police at the time they claim the shooting took place.
The photo is one of several to be uncovered that were not shown to the trial jury in 1986, but now seen by the Sunday Mirror. Bamber, then 25, was jailed for life for killing his adoptive parents, sister Sheila Caffell, 27, and her twin sons Nicholas and Daniel, aged six.
Bamber, 43, branded a psychopath, has always denied committing the murders at the family's farmhouse in Tolleshunt D'Arcy, Essex, to get his hands on a £500,000 inheritance.
Now two independent medical experts have said that the photos - which were taken between 8.30am and 9am on the day of the murders - show that the killings must have happened no earlier than 7am. And Bamber was with police from just after 3.30am.
He claimed that he had been at White House Farm the evening before the murders when there was a row between his parents and Sheila over whether Sheila's twins should be fostered or not, as she was schizophrenic and having problems looking after them.
Bamber also said that he had a call from his father at about 3.30am saying Sheila had gone mad - and then the phone went dead. Bamber, who lived six miles from the family home, claimed that he called the police and met them at the house. Police logbooks show that officers were in conversation with an unidentified person in the house at 5.25am.
Armed officers believed there could have been hostages in the house and decided to wait until daylight before storming it at about 7.45am - and found the family murdered.
Bamber's lawyer Giovanni di Stefano said the new pictures tie in with evidence that police officers were talking with somebody in the house.
He said: "The fact that our medical experts say that the killing must have taken place no later than 7am means that it could not have been Bamber.
"It's clear from the photo that this is a fresh wound but it was not put before the trial jury. The photos they were given were a lot darker, giving the impression that the killings happened some time before. It looks like they have made them darker to look like the blood is not still flowing and this is extremely concerning.
"The pictures are important and powerful evidence that support the fact that there was a person inside the house who was in conversation with police when Bamber was outside."
At first police believed his sister Sheila - a model nicknamed Bambi with a history of mental illness - killed her family before turning the gun, a .22 semi-automatic rifle, on herself. She was found with her hand on the rifle butt with which she appeared to have killed herself with two shots to the chin and throat.
But the theory fell apart when relatives found a silencer for the murder weapon in a cupboard which officers had missed. It had a spot of blood inside that was said to be Sheila's.
Then a month after the killings, Bamber's girlfriend Julie Mugford told police that he had often bragged that he was going to kill his parents and claim his inheritance.
The new evidence will be sent to the Criminal Cases Review Commission who will decide if the case should go before the High Court.