A notorious 1980s family killing in rural England is getting a fresh jolt from new forensic work commissioned by the Guardian. Forensic biologist Sue Carney-Gannon has reviewed long-overlooked crime-scene photos from the 1985 White House Farm shootings and concluded that the blood patterns on 28-year-old Sheila Caffell's body and clothes are consistent with her using the rifle on herself—directly challenging the prosecution theory that her brother, Jeremy Bamber, killed the family and staged her suicide. Caffell, who had a history of serious mental illness, was originally thought to have murdered her parents and 6-year-old twin sons before turning the gun on herself, but Bamber was later convicted and has now spent 41 years in prison.
Carney-Gannon's findings question claims that every shot hit its target and that a silencer must have been used—both pillars of the case against Bamber. The report is being sent to the Criminal Cases Review Commission, and "it is hard to see how the commission will not be swayed by Carney-Gannon's findings," writes Simon Hattenstone. "After all, the new evidence regarding stray bullets that were shot at the bed; June Bamber sitting down and walking around after being hit by an unskilled shooter; and, most importantly, the blood stains suggesting that Sheila Caffell shot herself, turns the case on its head." Essex police maintain Bamber's guilt. Read the full story. (The New Yorker also has raised doubts.)
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
