6. Unusually in a case of this kind, it was accepted at trial that there were only two possible explanations for the dreadful events of that night. The first, as alleged by the prosecution was that the appellant had killed all five members of his family, shooting them with a .22 rifle with the probable motive of inheriting the whole of the family estate. The second, the defence case, was that Sheila Caffell, who had a history of mental illness, had murdered her parents and her two sons with the rifle, and had then turned the gun upon herself in an act of suicide. The view realistically accepted by all at trial was that the facts that were common ground enabled any other possibility to be ruled out.
Following on from the valid point you make Hartley is that i could argue convincely that both Jeremy and Sheila did not commit these murders. Lets hope that a third person was not involved otherwise a killer and more pertinently a child killer has been walking the streets for nearly 26 years.
