FARM SLAUGHTER
THE White House Farm Murders in 1985 were one of the worst crimes committed on British soil in decades - five members of the same wealthy family were gunned down in cold blood in their Essex farmhouse.
ITV's horror narrative has captivated audiences across the nation. But to the shock of many viewers, White House Farm is far more truth than fiction.
Is White House Farm based on a true story?
ITV’S White House Farm is a chilling true story, based on the events that took place on the night of August 6 to the early hours of August 7, 1985.
Thirty-five years ago, in a crime spree that both horrified and consumed the nation, three generations of the same family were murdered at an Essex farmhouse.
The victims were 24-year-old Sheila Caffell, her twin six-year-old sons Daniel and Nicholas, and her adoptive parents Nevill and June Bamber, both 61-years-old.
It would be one of the most brutal massacres in British history.
Jeremy Bamber - who had been adopted by the family as a baby - met officers at the home, saying his sister was a "nutter" who knew how to use guns.
Police initially suspected Sheila, the former model, had committed a murder-suicide, before the horrifying truth was discovered – that Jeremy, motivated by hatred and greed, had murdered his entire family in a bid to inherit “considerable” sums of money.
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How was Jeremy Bamber caught?
Jeremy Bamber was the only surviving member of the family, insisting he had been at his home a few miles away when the shooting occurred.
In the aftermath of the family tragedy, Essex Police investigated the possibility that Sheila Caffell had killed her family before turning the gun on herself.
However, Detective Sergeant Stan Jones, who was working on the case, had doubts about the murder-suicide theory, and about Sheila’s brother Jeremy, who first called the police to the farm to report the deaths.
Jeremy had claimed he received a call from his father Neville, who told him that Sheila had "gone crazy" with a gun.
The police discovered that the gun used to kill the family was too long for Sheila to use on herself, before attention turned to focus in on Jeremy.
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A famous piece of news footage showed Jeremy struggling through his family’s funerals, consumed with grief as he fell on his knees in front of microphones, howling in tears.
But, Colin Caffell, the ex-husband of Sheila and father of the murdered twins, claimed as soon as the cameras stopped rolling, Jeremy’s whole demeanour changed.
Colin revealed: "Jeremy started cracking jokes and laughing… [about how] he couldn’t wait to get back to the house with Julie [Mugford, his then girlfriend] and have some fun."
It was the first crack of Jeremy’s façade that would see him exposed.
His behaviour again came under scrutiny some weeks later when he contacted The Sun hoping to sell topless modelling shots of his dead sister.
The Sun declined – and instead ran a story about the bizarre approach.
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But it was only a month later when Julie Mugford – the now ex-girlfriend who had accompanied Jeremy to the funeral – got in touch with police that the case against him really started to build.
She told officers he had previously spoken of killing his family to inherit the sprawling £500,000 farm estate.
Julie told the police he'd rung her on the night of the murders to say "it's tonight or never" and that he'd been plotting to kill his family for 18 months.
At about 3am, he phoned her again. “Something is wrong at the farm,” he said. “I haven’t had any sleep all night.”
The pair’s relationship had fallen apart by this point, and Jeremy has always maintained his former girlfriend made up the allegations as revenge for him ending their relationship.
But a jury in 1986 did not believe him. He was found guilty of the five killings and sentenced to a minimum of 25 years in prison.
The Judge, Justice Drake described him as “evil, almost beyond belief”.
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Why was his sister Sheila originally suspected?
In the aftermath of the family tragedy, Essex Police investigated suspected that Sheila Caffell, who had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, had killed her family during a psychotic episode before turning the gun on herself.
Her mental health struggles were well-documented in the press over the weeks following the murders - a model, whose marriage to husband Colin had broken down, she'd received treatment for paranoid schizophrenia and anorexia.
As well as taking anti-psychotic medicine, she was snorting cocaine - racking up drug debts of £40,000 - and sleeping with older men.
Her relationship with her adoptive parents had been strained.
It seemed logical she was responsible, until police finally turned their attention to the real killer.
Where is Jeremy Bamber now?
Jeremy Bamber’s murder conviction sent shockwaves across the nation – guilty of shooting his adoptive parents, sister, and twin nephews.
Jeremy is currently serving life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.
In 1994, Jeremy was informed he would never be released, one of the few UK murders who is subject to a whole-life order.
To this day, Jeremy Bamber still maintains his innocence and is continuing to appeal his sentence.
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