Murder of British family: New evidence could clear 'killer'

The new evidence should certainly show the conviction as "unsafe" (in British terms) and needing reversal

Jeremy Bamber, the man convicted of massacring five family members at an Essex farmhouse in 1985, could launch a fresh appeal after new evidence came to light.

A phone log not used as evidence during his trial appears to support what Bamber insisted from the start – that his schizophrenic sister Sheila, known as Bambi, shot her parents and children before turning her gun on herself.

Bamber, 50, was jailed for life for the killings but could now be proved innocent after the fresh evidence raised questions over a key element of the prosecution's case against him.

The document appears to show that Bamber's father Jeremy called police on the night he died alongside his wife, daughter and two grandchildren, saying his daughter had gone "berserk" and stolen one of his guns.

The log, entitled "Daughter gone berserk", reads: "Mr Bamber, White House Farm, Tolleshunt d'Arcy – daughter Sheila Bamber, aged 26 years, has got hold of one of my guns."

It came ten minutes before a second emergency call from Bamber himself, who told officers his father had telephoned him in distress before describing an almost identical situation.

According to the second log, Bamber told police: "You've got to help me. My father's just phoned me, he said, 'Please come over, your sister has gone crazy and has got the gun'." The judge told the jury – who were unaware of the first log – that whether the conversation between the two took place or not was a key point on which the case hinged.

Prosecutors initially claimed Bamber fabricated the conversation with his father, Nevill, in order to help his defence but the close similarities between the two logged calls could support Bamber's claim that the pair had spoken. The documents, obtained by the Daily Mirror, are among 100,000 papers being examined by Bamber and his lawyers.

The evidence has been submitted to the Criminal Cases Review Commission, meaning Bamber could now have a third appeal.

He was found guilty of the murders of Nevill, 61, his mother June, Sheila, and her twins Nicholas and Daniel, both six, in order to receive an inheritance of £436,000.

Police who attended the farmhouse found the bodies of Bamber's father, mother and two nephews riddled with bullets, while Sheila, a former model, was lying next to a Bible with two gunshot wounds to her neck.

Officers initially believed Bamber's claim that Sheila had carried out the massacre, until his ex-girlfriend Julie told police he had discussed having his parents murdered by a contract killer.

Further forensic examination of the rifle's silencer appeared to link Bamber to the murders and he was convicted by a 10-2 majority in October 1986, but the decision could now be reversed. A spokesman for the Criminal Cases Review Panel said: "We're still reviewing the evidence. No decision has been made whether to refer the case."

Original report here



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