HOW IT HAPPENED?
First a few points
The female body seen through the window if true.
It could not be Sheila because there was no vertical staining to her nightdress, which would be inevitable if shot in the neck. The only person it could have been if true is June. She could have received some wounds or been knocked to the ground by SC who had run out of bullets. She may have just been sleeping near her dead husband with SC having sought more ammunition and gone upstairs and shot herself thinking June dead. Was she playing Possum?
If June was in the kitchen could she have heard the police and the loud hailer if they were at the front of the building? Had she acquired a weapon (Shotgun?) Had she been nursing Nevill and collapsed through exhaustion. Had she been trying to access the phone and was she successful? All are possibilities. Also a possibility is that she knew when the police were about to enter because she heard them forcing entry and sought refuge in the box room.
In other posts I have suggested that she may have made it to the phone to maybe summon help. If she did it would not have been a one-way conversation. The police would want information about the others in the house and their state. If she did tell them about SC she could only have said that she was alive or did not know because if she told them she was dead the police would have made immediate entry. It is also possible that she received further injuries whilst on the phone or was given advice as to what action she should take.
There is no way EP wanted June alive before entry so they came up with the misidentification of Nevill to get around that issue.
Junes physical appearance
I suggest she would look in ‘a right state’ she may have been in a fight and showed it. Whether wounded or not it is possible that her nightie was heavily stained with blood from others but most likely from Nevill she would have wiped her hands on her nightie. If wounded, there would be signs of blood even if she subsequently applied some first aid.
The Box Room
This room as a sanctuary has unique qualities. Firstly, it has two exit/entry points. If pursued via one you could duck out through another. Both doors could be lockable to say, prevent anyone from the twin’s room entering and disturbing sleep. It was large but without photographs we do not know how much space there was or whether there were objects inside you could hide behind. Perhaps the most important feature was the positioning and opening direction of the doors. No one can enter at either point without being fully exposed. There is no cover from a door. If someone is in there with a loaded weapon you would be a sitting duck upon entry.
It is possible that Sheila was in the box room in the early stages. Nevill and June dare not enter. She may have been saying stuff such as “You will not take my boys away from me” If you try I will shoot you. In such circumstances Nevill and June could have descended to the kitchen to phone JB. It also meant that June was aware that it provided a place of relative safety.
Raid team statements
I think given the circumstances of this case that we all would agree that whatever they have said or say is likely to be false. They all sing from the same hymn sheet and despite differences generally back each other’s versions of events as far as the main structure of the event with some minor differences in detail. I have written about the reconstruction using video of the restaged scene and will post this again if required/requested
Scenarios
There are number of alternative scenario to the one I have chosen as to how the raid team was deployed. I can demonstrate others but we cannot know exactly how it played out. It is for illustrative purposes only.
The catastrophic outcome.
There are three teams. Team one responsible for ground floor. Team two responsible for SC’s and main bedroom. Team three to use back stairs. Checking out the other ground floor rooms before heading upstairs for further checks and to rescue the twins if possible.
Working together teams one and two to check ground floor from kitchen through to main hall. At this point team one to check dining room and lounge whilst team two ascends main staircase.
It is possible that SC shoots herself as team two approaches. A quick glance into and around the main bedroom shows no bodies. They make their way to SC’s and find her dead on her bed.
Pictures of Sheila’s bed show a large item of material. This could have been used to cover the blood that ran from her neck onto the right hand side of the bed.
They return to main bedroom. Team one reports from ground floor “one dead male” and team two reports “one dead female”.
June hears the shot but thinking it a ruse to draw her out she stays put. When she hears “one dead female” she exits box room.
Startled by her appearance (was she armed?) she is shot by TFG officer.
Alternatively, they check the main bedroom before SC’s. whist returning, they hear the box room door opening leading to a similar result.
Another possibility is that June hears team three entering the twins room she is spooked and exits the box room.
There are numerous possible ways it could have happened but they all involve June presenting herself in a manner that startles the TFG leading to a nervous reflex response and her death.
Eight minutes later the message “three further bodies found upstairs” is radioed.
I hope this helps. Please feel free to ask any sensible questions. I do not have all the answers but would argue my examination of this case is, if nothing else, insightful.
