At first glance, the case appeared to be an open-and-shut murder-suicide. Sheila Caffell, a young mother of two and former model, had allegedly taken a rifle and “gone berserk”, killing her adoptive parents and six-year-old twin sons before turning the gun on herself. A devastating incident, but one, it seemed, with a clear explanation.
Dubbed the “Farmhouse of Death”, the killings flooded newspapers. The story was grimly compelling: ‘Bambi’, the glamorous, mentally ill daughter, had snapped – murdering her father, Nevill Bamber; her devout Catholic mother, June; and her sons, Daniel and Nicholas Caffell.
But the narrative soon began to unravel.
Following the police investigation, a silencer was discovered in a cupboard at the crime scene – something that didn’t match the theory of murder-suicide. Then, the girlfriend of Sheila’s adoptive brother, Jeremy Bamber, changed her story, placing suspicion on Jeremy himself. The focus of the investigation shifted. Jeremy was arrested, tried, and sentenced to life in HMP Wakefield – known as “Monster Mansion”. He continues to proclaim his innocence, prompting a long-running campaign that has become central to debates around miscarriages of justice.
Nearly 40 years on, the White House Farm murders remain one of Britain’s most controversial cases – with only one person alive who truly knows what happened that night.