Jeremy gave evidence that Sheila had 'flipped' as she was prone to doing.
Sheila had been in an unsuccessful marriage. When the marriage broke down she became depressed and her state of mind deteriorated further, resulting in her becoming a sufferer of paranoid schizophrenia. On two occasions she had had been admitted to a hospital because of her condition. Indeed just days before the shootings she had been discharged from a hospital. Psychiatric reports noted that her illness was centred on her children whom she referred to, according to one report, as "the Devil's children". Sheila's psychiatrist, Dr Ferguson, wrote in his report that Sheila had also expressed suicidal ideation. Before the shootings, she had not been taking her prescribed medication that was used to control her state of mind.
According to Bamber, a discussion had taken place on the eve of the deaths, during which it was suggested that Sheila's two twin sons should be fostered on a part time basis due to her illness, or that another alternative for their care should be considered. Such discussions could have sparked a schizophrenic episode, creating the belief in her mind that killing her children, her parents and then herself, was the most appropriate means by which the issue could be resolved.
I find this hard to believe. Ralph and June would have cared for the twins should it have become necessary. Fostering out of the family would have been a non starter. In any event, the twins were normally looked after by their father, Colin Caffell.
One must remember that both Sheila and Jeremy were adopted since Ralph Nevill Bamber and his wife June could not have children.
