White House Farm - The Bamber Murders. Jan 8th ITV 9pm

[Dogleg]

Is anyone else planning to watch this six part series? I vaguely remembered the killings and on seeing this advertised have now lost hours to reading up about it online and have also downloaded a book about the case. I’m really looking forward to this one!

www.radiotimes.com/news/tv/2019-12-25/itv-drama-white-house-farm/

[Bluerussian]

I thought it was very well done so far, chilling of course. I do remember the case but not the details.

Even if Jeremy did hate his family, murdering them all is beyond the pale.

[NotQuitePerfect]

Sadly, some vets would have done this (put healthy animals to sleep) in the 1980’s.
In 1985 my mother finally found the courage to leave my bullying father. He took her beloved dog & 4 cats to the vets where they were destroyed. He then rang me and said to tell my mother what he’d done.
Pretty sure it wouldn’t happen now .

[TweetUsOnFacebook]

I know very little of this case. It's so shocking. I can almost understand why someone would kill parents that they have grown to hate in order to inherit, but those little boys? It's so just absolutely beyond belief that anyone could do that, let alone an uncle, maybe that's why people believe he's innocent?

As for the police, I can't believe they didn't find the broken window latch. Really sloppy investigation.

I had to leave the room for the autopsy scene, worried they might show the children, but dh said it wasn't graphic at all.

[Rastamousehat]

Sadly, this is just what did happen. The crime scene wasn’t preserved and numerous people who had no business being there were allowed to parade in and out, tramping all over the house. Essex Police then apparently thought it appropriate to hold a training exercise at the crime scene.

To follow in the same vein, the relatives then miraculously ‘found’ a sound moderator in a cupboard that had supposedly already been searched. Did they immediately tell the police? No. They took it home and tampered with it by unscrewing the baffles. Therefore, it should have formed absolutely no part of the evidence as it had been interfered with. The entire investigation was a clusterfuck. No wonder Essex Police are still withholding evidence some 35 years later.

Why would they just go with the first theory of murder/suicide without preserving the crime scene or exploring other possibilities? This is what DH and I were struggling with - why they were so defensively and aggressively shutting down the guy that suggested it doesn't add up?

[MrsPelligrinoPetrichor]

Why would they just go with the first theory of murder/suicide without preserving the crime scene or exploring other possibilities?

The bloke in charge was a bullying arsehole by the looks of things,that would involve him backing down and admitting he could've been wrong.

[dogsdinnerlady]

I think police forensics were very different in those days. No white overalls and gloves then.
My friend's daughter is a vet and she had to put down a dog with epilepsy at the owner's insistence even though the vet offered to try and rehome her.
Just realised where I have seen the actor playing the niece. She was Shakespear's daughter in Upstart Crow and Anne Lister's sister in Gent Jack. Used to be a standup comedian apparently.

[MrsPelligrinoPetrichor]

I think in general we dote on pets a lot more than we used to. It doesn't surprise me at all that the vet PTS.

[Rollergirl11]

dogs dinner: I know her as Yara Greyjoy in Game of Thrones. Didn’t realise she was a stand-up comedian.

[ElderAve]

I really want to know what happened to the police officers involved, the bully in charge who was determined it was murder-suicide and the sergeant who dug his heels in.

[TheCountessofFitzdotterel]

The bully in charge died in a freak accident falling off a ladder (nothing suspicious, in case you were wondering) before the trial.

[ElderAve]

Blimey Countess, another twist that might be considered too far fetched in fiction.

I'd like to think the sergeant got some sort of commendation but I doubt it.

[Spidey66]

I would imagine to WRT the dog that farmers had less sentiment for animals than the general population, especially back then.

Presumably he killed the twins to get no inheritance to them?

[Wingedharpy]

@HelenaDove : Thank you.
Crispy (the dog) is a little gem.

[JaneJeffer]

She was Shakespear's daughter in Upstart Crow and Anne Lister's sister in Gent Jack.
Thanks dogs. I couldn't remember where I knew her from and I mixed her up with Cal Freestone.

[HeIenaDove]

@NotQuitePerfect

[RightOnTheEdge]

I've just watched an interview with Mark Addy and he said the sergeant didn't get any recognition or thanks for what he did because he had broken the rules and gone over the head of his boss.

[Supersimkin2]

The police officers on the ground were the ones who nailed Epstein too, athough you can see why the toff officers weren't so keen in that instance.

@TweetUsOnFacebook Jeremy Bamber thought the boys were damaged because of their upbringing. He had spoken in concern about it, but whether that was genuine who knows; latterly their DF not Sheila was bringing them up. And, of course, the twins stood to inherit anything Sheila didn't, depending on what Nevill's will said.

[frillyfarmer]

@Spidey66 I think that's a rather unfair comment with regards to the dog. It quite clearly wasn't a working animals, farmers are more than capable of loving their animals - I love my dogs more than most people...

I doubt in 2020 a vet would euthanise in similar circumstances, but Bamber said the dog was struggling without its owner and for some dogs, separation anxiety is all consuming - I doubt in the 80s anyone was as sympathetic to things like that and behavioural problems in animals were often addressed by putting to sleep.
I have had a perfectly "healthy" fit horse put down recently down to behavioural issues we could not iron out - my vet agreed it was preferable and more responsible than attempting to rehome and ending up with it being passed from pillar to post as a cheap project and inevitably injuring someone through its behavioural problems. Even in 2020 there are much worse fates for an animal than a quick and painless death.

[paulinespeaksmanylanguages]

I'm 'enjoying' it and I think, based on nothing other than this programme, (!) that JB did it.

Who inherited the farm and money? I'm assuming JB wasn't able to keep it,

[paulinespeaksmanylanguages]

Enjoyed that clip @HelenaDove!

[LordOfTheWhys]

I'm finding the murderer's supporters quite unsettling. They're all over the Twitter threads about the programme.

[Equanimitas]

They took it home and tampered with it by unscrewing the baffles. Therefore, it should have formed absolutely no part of the evidence as it had been interfered with

That wouldn't be a valid reason for ignoring a piece of evidence. It may weaken it, but the jury should still take it into consideration.

[Equanimitas]

I was struck by the number of injuries apparently found on Neville Bamber, compared with very little for Sheila Caffell. If that's correct, it does seem to suggest it couldn't have been her because surely he would have fought back and at least caused her some injuries.

[AlexaAmbidextra]

That wouldn't be a valid reason for ignoring a piece of evidence. It may weaken it, but the jury should still take it into consideration.

Of course it would. It was contaminated with every man and his dog’s DNA.

[LordOfTheWhys]

Equan that struck me too. It's a pity they didn't check Jeremy for injuries.