What makes Bamber innocent?

[mike tesko]

(9), he was requested to consider the Crown's evidence concerning traces of substances that might have been transferred from the rifle and ammunition, which was used in the murders of members of the Bamber family, to the person responsible. Jeremy Bamber  was convicted of the murders. But Lloyd was aware that Bamber was maintaining that the murders were committed by his sister, who then shot herself...

(10), Lloyd looked in particular at the evidence of the Crowns experts Fletcher, and Elliott...

[mike tesko]

(11),  Fletcher had stated that if the wounds to Sheila Caffell were self inflicted he would have expected oil and discharge residue to have been transferred from the rifle to her nightdress, whereas he detected no such residue. Whilst testifying during the trial, Fletcher said, ' after 25 shots I think there would have been a good chance, of some {residue of the propellant or oil or both} being on the person firing, a very good chance (trial transcript page 56A) Also, you get visible residues on your hands from the  loading procedure - from the material of the bullet and the lubricant on the bullet (56D). After a demonstration was made in court of a loading of blank ammunition into the magazine, Fletcher said, ... I still got black all over my hands, unfortunately' (61D). Presumably the ammunition was deactivated ammunition from the actual case (57C)...

[mike tesko]

(12),  the hand swabs taken from Sheila Caffell, together with a blank control, were examined, but a fourth swab taken from her hair was not examined. Elliott arranged testing of hand swabs taken from two members of the Lab' staff who had loaded the magazine of the alleged murder weapon. Presumably the pertinent ammunition was used, but this is unclear. In his statement, Elliott said that higher levels of lead were found in the testees' swabs than in swabs taken from the hands of Sheila Caffell. At trial, he said that the results implied (Sheila Caffell) had not carried out a process of loading 18 or more cartridges into the magazine (119D)...

[mike tesko]

(13),  On the 27th May, 2002, Lloyd had witnessed experiments conducted by Mr Peter Brooke's of the Forensic Science Service Metropolitan Laboritary. The experiments were an investigation into the possibility that Sheila Caffell's nightdress would have become contaminated by residue from the gun in the manner suggested in his evidence by Fletcher...

[mike tesko]

(14), Lloyd reviews the following documents, (3) APPRAISAL, (3.1.) LAB' NOTES, (3.2.) SWAB EXAMINATION PROCEDURE...

[mike tesko]

(15), the receipt date of the Sheila Caffell swabbing kit at the Lab', as 13th September, 1985, the '13 ' being a correction. The date on which the hand swabs were taken does not appear in the details noted from the labelling of the kit. Examination of swabs conducted on 24th October, 1985. Simultaneous experiments on members of Lab' staff who had loaded the magazine of the rifle concerned, conducted on the 29th October, 1985. Two persons have initialled the notes, 'AR', and an illegible initial presumed to be Elliott's...

[Steve_uk]

Sorry for Quality of upload, but as one can see, 'Lloyd' does not think that the prosecutions expert testimony could establish that which it claimed during the trial, now there's a turn up for the books...

I can't make it out Mike.

[mike tesko]

(16), The notes state that the swabs were an acrylic wool moistened with petroleum ether. Each swab was extracted with 10 ml (10 millimetres) of dilute nitric acid, of unstated concentration, which was subsequently evaporated down to a fiftieth of its original volume. The residue was applied to a disc of filter paper for presentation to an x-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectrometer, which analysed the chemical elements present on the filter paper...

[mike tesko]

I can't make it out Mike.

I am typing out the numbered details of the report...

[mike tesko]

(17),  The condition e.g. the degree of soiling, of the Sheila Caffell swabs or of the testees' swabs, when they were examined, should have been recorded in the notes. The notes are silent in this respect: no such trecord was made...

[mike tesko]

(18),  Although the Sheila Caffell swabs are described as 'moistened' (with petroleum ether) in the notes, it is likely that they would have become dry before they were extracted. Otherwise the petroleum ether was probably deliberately removed by evaporation. Petroleum ether does not mix with dilute nitric acid...

[mike tesko]

(19), As earlier noted, at the trial Fletcher gave evidence and demonstrated that when  cartridges were loaded into the magazine an oily black deposit was transferred to the hands. Because of the paucity of the Lab' notes, it is unknown whether any such material became transferred to the testees' in Elliot's experiments, or had  become transferred to the Sheila Caffell hand swabs.The effect should have been clearly evident from the condition of the swabs - a blackened oily soiling would have been present (petroleum ether is a good swabbing solvent for this kind of material). If  such an obvious effect had occurred, or if the Sheila Caffell and the testees' swabs had differed significantly in appearance, then the absence of a record in the Lab' notes would be surprising. There appears to be no reason to suppose that there was any important differences between the condition of the Sheila Caffell swabs and the testees' swabs...

[mike tesko]

(20),  At present there is no information by which the presumed absence of obvious soiling of the swabs from the testees' may be reconciled with Fletchers evidence...

[mike tesko]

(21), The cartridges used in the Brooke's recent experiments, which were of the same type and date as the original cartridges, were coated with a black lubricant. However, the cartridges could be loaded into the magazine  of the rifle without their producing any obvious soiling of the hands.Inquiries may be made by Brooke's into the composition of the lubricant in order to determine whether some change in the consistency of the lubricant could have occurred as the lubricant aged...

[mike tesko]

(22), I understand that Sheila Caffells hands were blood stained but their condition at the time of the swabbing is unclear, on the information available. Possibly the hands could have been cleaned. Blood either wet or dry, is insoluble in petroleum ether. If dried blood was present, any residue from the gun or ammunition on the skin surface could have been shielded from the swabbing, although some flakes of blood probably would have been picked up. Wet blood would have been transferred to the swabs. Even so, it is doubtful that the areas of bloodstained skin would have been swabbed but, if so, this would have been apparent from the condition of the swabs, and should have been recorded...