The only thing to me which signals they MAY have been done by a signs of life test is that there are three burns in sharp prescion Which would show the killer tested twice before and wasn't satisfied.
But if JB was trying to set up " crazy lost the plot shelia" this is 360 turn in doing so. Someone who would do this if this is what happened is someone thinking calm clear and logically.
A pulse check would have been the best bet though.
Spot on, ILB, now you're talking my language! Just why on earth would Sheila be burning Nevills back!
Personally,the more I think about it the more I believe the Aga made the marks.
There simply wasn't any rational reason for either JB nor Sheila to burn Nevills back, no reason whatsoever.
I mean, when did the killer even get the chance to inflict the burns? Well obviously it must have been after Nevill was resting on the scuttle?
After all, the evidence seems to show that Nevill was being shot as he ran down stairs heading for the kitchen, so definately no time to inflict three burns in a straight line at that time surely?
So Nevill has been pursued to the kitchen having probably been shot twice in the face and twice in the arm/shoulder, ending up on the scuttle at deaths door.
Now, the two suggestions we get, are that either Nevill sustained the marks at this stage checking to see if he was dead or as a form of torture.
Now I cant work out why the killer wouldn't just shoot Nevill in the head to make sure he was dead, you could argue that JB didn't want to use more bullets than neccessary to point more to Sheila as the killer, but all the other victims had recieved several shots anyway, so why suddenly worry about the bullet count, besides, the killer went on to put four more bullets into Nevill anyway! Its just nonsense!
And what about the claim that the marks were a form of torture? Well reading about the severity of the face shots and the fact that Nevill had an overlapping fracture to his arm I dont really think a few burns to his back could make things much worse painwise anyway!
As for heating the end of the rifle, how was this done? What is the claim? Was it heated in the oven or on the hot plates on the top?
Even inflicting the wounds using the rifle wouldn't be easy, the killer would be holding the rifle straight up and down with their arms outstretched above Nevills body! And keep them in a straight line too? And as Adam says, in this scenario the killer would have to lift Nevills pyjama top and then replace it!
No, I think sooner or later it will be widely accepted that the Aga did indeed cause the burns to Nevills back. The marks are simply too near to the spacings of the Aga handles to be coincidence, surely?
Now I can understand those who think Bamber is guilty being afraid to accept the evidence as it suggests either a guilty Sheila or police interference, but what I cant understand is Bamberettes [as Steve calls us] dismissing the Aga evidence so readily.
The likes of Cutie wont entertain the Aga evidence at all, but if the Aga made the marks, this in no way goes against her theory about JB being framed! On the contrary, it backs up her theory that Sheilas blood was planted in the silencer! Had to be if the Aga burns point to an innocent Bamber, which in my opinion they do!
So, there you are ILB, I will continue to believe that the Aga made the marks, and probably always will, even if the powers that be reject the claim!
