17. Shortly after the marriage Sheila’s mental health began to fail and the couple divorced in
May 1982. During 1983 Sheila was admitted to a psychiatric hospital and subsequently was
diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic. In March 1985 she was re-admitted to hospital
before being discharged a little under four weeks later. For the months before their death,
the children had been living with their father, although seeing their mother frequently. On 4
August 1985 (three days before the killings) Colin Caffell had taken his ex-wife and
children to spend a few days with their grandparents at the farm in Essex.
https://murderpedia.org/male.B/images/bamber_jeremy/20011745.pdf page 4.
23. Barbara Wilson, the farm secretary telephoned the farmhouse at 9.30 p.m. and spoke to
Nevill Bamber. He was not cheerful and Mrs Wilson thought she had interrupted an
argument. In evidence she described Nevill as abrupt, very impatient and very short. Pamela
Boutflour, June Bamber’s sister also telephoned the house that evening at about 10 p.m. She
spoke first with Sheila Caffell who was quiet and then to her (page 5)
38. At 8.10 a.m., Dr Craig attended the scene to formally certify the deaths. In cross-examination at the trial he said the deaths could have occurred at any time during the
previous night. The appearance of Sheila Caffell’s body suggested to him that the wounds
had been inflicted by her own hand. In answer to the judge the witness made it clear this
was not an opinion the jury should rely upon as a true indication that the injuries had been
self-inflicted. (page 7)
39. Dr Craig also saw the appellant outside the farmhouse. He said he appeared to be in a state
of shock. At one stage he broke down and cried and he also appeared to vomit. The
appellant told the doctor there had been “some considerable discussion” amongst the family
about the future of Sheila Caffell’s children the previous evening, during which the question of their being fostered had been raised. He said that the family was concerned that his sister
had been abusing the children.
65. As regards the twins, four of the five injuries suffered by Daniel were caused when the gun
was held within one foot of his head, the fifth was from over two feet away. The three
wounds to Nicholas were contact or close proximity shots.
83. Colin Caffell (her ex-husband) said that although there had been violent outbursts by Sheila
during their time together, this had involved the throwing of pots and pans and the
occasional striking of him. To his knowledge she had never harmed the children or behaved
violently towards anybody else. (page 14)
154. In dealing with the second question, whether Sheila Caffell may have killed the others and
then committed suicide, the judge made clear that answering this question involved a
number of different considerations. He suggested that one was “clearly of paramount
importance”, namely whether the second and fatal shot to Sheila Caffell was fired with the
silencer on. If it was, she could not have fired that shot. He made clear that there were
other considerations and the jury could come to the conclusion that Sheila Caffell did not
carry out the killings “even without reference to the sound moderator”. He added that the
evidence relating to the sound moderator could, however, “on its own” lead them to
conclude that the appellant was guilty.
Was Jeremy Bamber even in the house at that time?
