The lead detective in the Jeremy Bamber case had his say on the case some time ago.
Former Detective Sgt Stan Jones rejects new evidence 'Bambi' went 'berserk' as farcical.CLAIMS of vital new evidence that could clear Jeremy Bamber of five horrific murders have been dismissed by the former detective at the heart of the investigation as "farcical".
Bamber is reported to have uncovered a police phone log that he hopes will show he was innocent of the shooting deaths of five members of his family on August 7, 1985.
Bamber girlfriend Julie Mugford arrives at Court escorted by DS Stan Jones and colleague.
Reports in a national newspaper suggest the missing phone log shows Bamber's adoptive father Nevill, 61 – who died with his wife June, Bamber's adopted model sister Sheila "Bambi" Caffell and her six-year-old twin boys – called police at 3.26am to alert them that Sheila had gone berserk with a gun.
It was ten minutes ahead of Jeremy Bamber's call to the police station at Chelmsford – timed in a log at 3.36am – in which he said his father had called him and also claimed Sheila had gone berserk.
But former detective sergeant Stan Jones, a 30-year veteran of the force, said the note of the timing was a mistake and there was only one call.
"All this came out in the original Chelmsford Crown Court trial," he told the Chronicle. "It is irrelevant.
"The only person who telephoned the police was Jeremy Bamber. There is no way his father phoned. To suggest it is farcical," said Mr Jones, who still lives in the Maldon area.
Although the logs are said to have been uncovered by Bamber sorting through 100,000 pieces of paper in his cell at Full Sutton Prison near York, Mr Jones said that all the paperwork, including statements that were not used in the trial, were given to the defence.
The family died in White House Farm, Tolleshunt D'Arcy, in a massacre that has become notorious worldwide.
Bamber, now 50 and serving a whole life sentence, has always protested his innocence and says Sheila, who suffered from schizophrenia, was responsible.
New evidence is being examined by the Criminal Cases Review Commission to see whether there should be a third appeal after Bamber's conviction in 1986, but a decision is not expected for some time.
Mr Jones, now 71, said it came out at the trial that Jeremy had even telephoned his girlfriend Julie Mugford at around 3am – before the call to the police – to tell her "something had happened at the farm."
At first, police did think Sheila, 28, had carried out the shootings before turning the gun on herself.
But they switched the focus of the investigation a month later when Bamber's girlfriend Julie Mugford came forward with vital new information and told them Jeremy had discussed killing his family.
Mr Jones said he was always sceptical of Bamber's innocence and raised his concerns at a meeting of detectives.
"On the second day after the shooting I spoke out and said it was Bamber who did it. I was ostracised and (I) spent a month of hell.
"When I chatted to Bamber I didn't get the reaction of someone who had lost all his family. On the day of the discovery I was chatting to him at his home in Goldhanger when Julie turns up."
As the couple spoke he thought he heard Bamber laugh.
"I thought 'was that a laugh or a cough' and later she confirmed it was a laugh and Jeremy said 'what an actor I am'."
Mr Jones said: "I knew the family were not happy and I was not happy."
He took possession of what became vital evidence, a silencer found in a cupboard, on which he noticed red paint stains and blood.
Mr Jones said the red paint came front the home's mantelpiece where he noticed scratches on the underside, scratches which were later vital in Bamber's conviction.
In February this year, a forensic expert claimed new photographic evidence would clear Bamber.
During Bamber's trial the jury was shown a close-up image of the scratch marks allegedly made by a silencer fitted to a .22 Anschutz semi-automatic rifle.
Prosecution lawyers said the marks were made during a violent struggle between tenant farmer Nevill and Bamber.
However, the forensic expert's analysis of negatives of early images, some never used in evidence, found no trace of the scratch marks.
Bamber's expert claimed the photo shown to the jury was taken 34 days after the murders.
Sheila was found upstairs with the .22 gun with no silencer. She had been shot twice.
Mr Jones pointed out that her manicured fingernails were still intact, but the killer would have had to have reloaded the gun at least twice.
Sheila's blood was also found in the silencer, but it would have been impossible for her to shoot herself with it attached as she wouldn't have been able to reach the trigger.
Mr Jones said there was a pile of circumstantial evidence which eventually pushed the detectives to their conclusion.
"Bamber consistently presents material which has already been discussed and adjudicated on in court and appeal hearings.
"It seems wrong to me that he should be allowed an appeal on the recent things he has mentioned.
"On top of all this he causes upset to the Bamber relatives as a result of his continued claims."
http://www.thisistotalessex.co.uk/Detective-rejects-new-evidence-Bambi-went-berserk-farcical/story-12648386-detail/story.html#ixzz2NTYzLyVY
