The Firearm

[mb1]

Thanks for that Kaldin. Presume the cartridge rolled under the wardrobe.

Do you have a similar plan of the kitchen?

Seeing the bedroom plan was interesting for me, as clearly the primary focus of the killer was (at least initially in this room) the door side of the bed.
If a 'beserk' killing, you would target on the focus of your rage irrespective of the consequences i.e. Sheila hating her mother? If planned (money motivated) you would take out the biggest threat who was clearly Neville.

As you say, the order is crucial. Has it been definitively proved that the 'assault choreography' started upstairs, went down to the kitchen, then returned upstairs? Could it have also been  kitchen, bedrooms, kitchen, bedroom?

Sorry - what I'm trying to express is somewhat clearer when it's just in my head!

[Kaldin]

Thanks for that Kaldin. Presume the cartridge rolled under the wardrobe.

Do you have a similar plan of the kitchen?

Seeing the bedroom plan was interesting for me, as clearly the primary focus of the killer was (at least initially in this room) the door side of the bed.
If a 'beserk' killing, you would target on the focus of your rage irrespective of the consequences i.e. Sheila hating her mother? If planned (money motivated) you would take out the biggest threat who was clearly Neville.

As you say, the order is crucial. Has it been definitively proved that the 'assault choreography' started upstairs, went down to the kitchen, then returned upstairs? Could it have also been  kitchen, bedrooms, kitchen, bedroom?

Sorry - what I'm trying to express is somewhat clearer when it's just in my head!

This is the kitchen plan.

http://jeremybamber.com/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=225.0;attach=548;image

Re the shooting sequence, Mike has a theory about that, but please don't ask me to explain it. 

[Kaldin]

Anyway, so when the cartridge is ejected does it just fall straight to the floor or does it sort of ping away from the gun? Also, what side does it come out of?

[mb1]

So do the DRH numbers indicate that SOC/gun experts forensically proved the order of the shots?

If so, Sheila's are the first.

If not, why go upstairs, then downstairs, then up again with the number sequencing?

Or is this the order in which the casings were discovered by soc? In which case, they concentrated on Sheila first - based on JB's statement alone?

[Kaldin]

So do the DRH numbers indicate that SOC/gun experts forensically proved the order of the shots?

If so, Sheila's are the first.

If not, why go upstairs, then downstairs, then up again with the number sequencing?

Or is this the order in which the casings were discovered by soc? In which case, they concentrated on Sheila first - based on JB's statement alone?

I don't think they are in the order that they were fired. I'm not sure why they numbered them that way. Mike might know I suppose.

I also don't know why they labelled them DRH, or why the bullets were also called DRH.

[simong]

Sorry i could be misunderstanding here but if the case is not rejected until the next bullet is reloaded then Sheila shooting herself last would leave one empty shell case still in the weapon would it not? On the map, though there is two cases accounted for Sheila. Sorry i am no expert on guns either

[Kaldin]

Sorry i could be misunderstanding here but if the case is not rejected until the next bullet is reloaded then Sheila shooting herself last would leave one empty shell case still in the weapon would it not? On the map, though there is two cases accounted for Sheila. Sorry i am no expert on guns either

I'm also still confused. I thought a semi-automatic ejected the cartridge when the bullet was fired, but Mike says it doesn't.

I also still want to know where those cartridges go after they leave the gun because it would help to establish where the killer was standing when the gun was fired.

[Kaldin]

There's something else too. I'm sure I've read that there were no bullets left in the gun, but I can't remember where I read that.

If that's the case, the killer loaded the gun with five bullets only on the last reload. Did Neville get shot with three of those? That left two. It just seems a big coincidence to me that there were just enough bullets in that last reload to guarantee that Sheila was killed. As we know, the first bullet fired at her didn't kill her, and there was only one left then - if what I read is right. 

[Hartley]

I'm also still confused. I thought a semi-automatic ejected the cartridge when the bullet was fired, but Mike says it doesn't.

I also still want to know where those cartridges go after they leave the gun because it would help to establish where the killer was standing when the gun was fired.

Mike is incorrect and is describing a bolt action, a semi automatic rifle fire one bullet per trigger pull but is self loading and self ejecting of spent cartridges.

What was the model of the Anshutz .22 semi-automatic rifle?

[Kaldin]

I'm also still confused. I thought a semi-automatic ejected the cartridge when the bullet was fired, but Mike says it doesn't.

I also still want to know where those cartridges go after they leave the gun because it would help to establish where the killer was standing when the gun was fired.

Mike is incorrect and is describing a bolt action, a semi automatic rifle fire one bullet per trigger pull but is self loading and self ejecting of spent cartridges.

What was the model of the Anshutz .22 semi-automatic rifle?

Thanks Hartley. Maybe Mike could clarify a bit.

It was a 525 I think.

[mb1]

So, to summarise what SG and K have unravelled, if the info on the gun is correct then:
       Sheila was fortunate to fire the fatal shot with the final bullet.
But
        Aren't the shell casings around her head/shoulder area and not waist/thigh area where her stretched
        out arms would have been firing from? She could have moved, knocking the first shell, but not the last.
        How did she then try to load an empty chamber, thus ejecting the final spent shell?

Just seen new posts while typing this, but it still questions the shell positions. Unless a truly automatically ejects in a different way.

[Kaldin]

So, to summarise what SG and K have unravelled, if the info on the gun is correct then:
       Sheila was fortunate to fire the fatal shot with the final bullet.
But
        Aren't the shell casings around her head/shoulder area and not waist/thigh area where her stretched
        out arms would have been firing from? She could have moved, knocking the first shell, but not the last.
        How did she then try to load an empty chamber, thus ejecting the final spent shell?

Just seen new posts while typing this, but it still questions the shell positions. Unless a truly automatically ejects in a different way.

This is why I'd like to know if the empty cartridges ping away from the gun or if they just fall straight out, and also which side they come out of.

[Hartley]

The shells are ejected to the right side of the weapon, if that makes any difference.

[simong]

Hi Hartley,

Thanks for the info. Would the rejection of empty cases be consistent with regards in distance if rejected in an clear area?

[Kaldin]

The shells are ejected to the right side of the weapon, if that makes any difference.

Yes it does, thank you Hartley. I was wondering why so many shells were near the bed in the main room, so that would make sense. I guess the shells might ping away and bounce a bit as well.

I still wonder why there was one on the kitchen stairs though. That's rather odd.