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Solved case · 1985
Also known as White House Farm killings · White House Farm shootings
White House Farm, Tolleshunt D'Arcy, Essex, 2007 (brightened)Credit: Glyn Baker·CC BY-SA 2.0·Source
The short answer
On the night of 6 to 7 August 1985, five members of one family - Nevill and June Bamber, their daughter Sheila Caffell, and her six-year-old twin sons Daniel and Nicholas Caffell - were shot dead at White House Farm in Essex, England. Sheila's adopted brother, Jeremy Bamber, was convicted of the murders in 1986 and has always maintained his innocence.
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White House Farm, a farmhouse near the village of Tolleshunt D'Arcy in Essex, England, was the home of Nevill and June Bamber. Nevill Bamber, 61, was a farmer and local magistrate; June Bamber, 61, was his wife. During the night of 6 to 7 August 1985, they were killed at the farm along with three other members of the family: their daughter, Sheila Caffell, 28, and her six-year-old twin sons, Daniel and Nicholas Caffell, who had been staying at the house. All five died from gunshot wounds inflicted with a .22 semi-automatic rifle kept on the farm.
When armed officers entered the house on the morning of 7 August, they found the rifle lying across the body of Sheila Caffell, who had been diagnosed with schizophrenia. Investigators initially treated the deaths as a murder-suicide, concluding that she had shot the others before taking her own life. That interpretation was later challenged. A relative found the rifle's sound moderator, which carried traces of blood and paint, and a witness told police that the family's adopted son, Jeremy Bamber, had implicated himself. Prosecutors came to argue that Bamber, the only surviving member of the immediate family, had shot all five relatives and arranged the scene to resemble a murder-suicide.
Jeremy Bamber was arrested and charged in September 1985. His trial at Chelmsford Crown Court ended on 28 October 1986, when a jury convicted him by a majority verdict on five counts of murder. He was sentenced to life imprisonment and was later told he would never be released. The prosecution presented inheritance as an alleged motive; the defence maintained that Sheila Caffell had killed her family and then herself.
Bamber has consistently maintained that he is innocent, and the case remains contested. An application for permission to appeal was refused in 1989. Following a referral by the Criminal Cases Review Commission that focused on scientific evidence relating to the rifle's sound moderator, the Court of Appeal reviewed the conviction and upheld it in December 2002. Bamber and his legal representatives have continued to seek a further review, and questions about the conduct of the original police investigation have persisted. As of the most recent proceedings the conviction stands, while efforts to reopen the case continue.
9 dated entries · 1985–2023
Five members of the Bamber family - Nevill and June Bamber, Sheila Caffell, and her twin sons Daniel and Nicholas Caffell - are found shot dead at White House Farm, near Tolleshunt D'Arcy, Essex.
Jeremy Bamber, the adopted son and only surviving member of the immediate family, is arrested.
Jeremy Bamber is charged with the five murders.
Bamber's trial opens at Chelmsford Crown Court.
A jury convicts Jeremy Bamber on five counts of murder by a majority verdict; he is sentenced to life imprisonment.
An application for permission to appeal against the convictions is refused.
Bamber is informed that his life sentence is a whole-life term, meaning no possibility of release.
The Court of Appeal upholds the convictions following a referral by the Criminal Cases Review Commission based on scientific evidence relating to the rifle's sound moderator.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct finds that Essex Police failed to refer complaints about the handling of the original investigation.
6 named in this file
Victims first. Every legal label is set from public records and court outcomes, not from the prose.
Six-year-old son of Sheila Caffell; one of twin brothers staying at the farm.[2]
Adoptive mother of Jeremy Bamber, aged 61.[2]
Adoptive father of Jeremy Bamber; a farmer and local magistrate, aged 61.[2]
Six-year-old son of Sheila Caffell; one of twin brothers staying at the farm.[2]
Daughter of Nevill and June Bamber and mother of the twin boys; aged 28; had been diagnosed with schizophrenia.[2]
Adopted son and only surviving member of the immediate family; convicted on 28 October 1986 of five counts of murder and serving a whole-life sentence. He has consistently maintained his innocence, and the conviction was upheld on appeal in 2002.[1]
From the record
3 cited
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PressBAILII (British and Irish Legal Information Institute)Accessed Jul 5, 2026
EncyclopedicWikipediaAccessed Jul 5, 2026
EncyclopedicWikipediaAccessed Jul 5, 2026
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