Why didn't Bamber put the silencer on prior to shooting rabbits ?

[Adam]

I thought the silencer was designed espescially for shooting vermin. Such as rabbits.

If Bamber saw rabbits and surprisingly decided the situation was worthy of going to try to negate them, surely it was worth putting a silencer on.

Maybe Bamber didn't believe he had time to put it on. However he had time to fully load the rifle.

Bamber said he saw rabbits, rather than one rabbit. Being a farmer and proficient with the rifle he would know that after one shot without the silencer on, all the rabbits would dispearse. So why bother fully loading the rifle ?

If the rabbits were so dangerous, surely it was worth shooting or attempting to shoot them all.

Or maybe the silencer was already on the rifle. A relative said he saw the rifle with the silencer attached shortly before the massacre. There really was no reason to take it off as it still fitted in the gun cupboard.

As it happened, Bamber went outside and didn't fire a single shot at the rabbits. They must have all dispersed in a short period.

[Adam]

http://jeremybamberforum.co.uk/index.php/topic,6221.msg292159.html#msg292159

Of course a previous thread shows  it is very very unlikely Bamber would have bothered attempting to shoot rabbits. With or without a silencer attached.

[sami]

also adam.how did he manage to see the rabbits from the kitchen it was pitch black outside

[Adam]

The whole seeing rabbits scenario sounds much too contrived.

It's all very unlikely. It is a typical case of a guilty person trying too hard to set the scene, in an attempt to frame another person.

It was more credible to just say Sheila must have gone to the gun cupboard and taken a rifle. She would know where the gun cupboard was. Or just say Neville had left a rifle outside the gun cuoboard.

[sami]

The whole seeing rabbits scenario sounds much too contrived.

It's all very unlikely. It is a typical case of a guilty person trying too hard to set the scene, in an attempt to frame another person.

It was more credible to just say Sheila must have gone to the gun cupboard and taken a rifle. She would know where the gun cupboard was. Or just say Neville had left a rifle outside the gun cuoboard.

yes i agree adam.they also caught him out on the number of bullets found on the worktop as to the number fired.

[lookout]

also adam.how did he manage to see the rabbits from the kitchen it was pitch black outside

Erm---you can hear them scuttling around !

[Caroline]

Erm---you can hear them scuttling around !

We have lots of rabbits here (this year more than ever for some reason), you can't hear them at all.

[lookout]

We have lots of rabbits here (this year more than ever for some reason), you can't hear them at all.

You probably don't have straw outside. They rustle around looking for food and you can occasionally hear them thump their hind legs when they take off. If there's a few together you'll hear them.
I always thought you couldn't hear hedgehogs,but-------------they make a noise too,like a grunting sound.

[Caroline]

You probably don't have straw outside. They rustle around looking for food and you can occasionally hear them thump their hind legs when they take off. If there's a few together you'll hear them.
I always thought you couldn't hear hedgehogs,but-------------they make a noise too,like a grunting sound.

No, we have gravel - still can't hear them.

[lookout]

No, we have gravel - still can't hear them.

You probably won't hear them on gravel,just on solid ground where,at WHF,they'd probably been previously heard by others and not just JB ?

[Adam]

Did Bamber say he heard or saw rabbits ?

In a kitchen with several other people, there is no way he would hear rabbits through windows several metres away.

[Caroline]

You probably won't hear them on gravel,just on solid ground where,at WHF,they'd probably been previously heard by others and not just JB ?

You can't hear them at all unless they're wearing DM's?  However, Jeremy didn't say he 'heard' them, he said he 'saw' them. He also said he was in a hurry, but proceeded to 'fill' the magazine

[lookout]

You can't hear them at all unless they're wearing DM's?  However, Jeremy didn't say he 'heard' them, he said he 'saw' them. He also said he was in a hurry, but proceeded to 'fill' the magazine

Well my own personal thoughts have always been that he possibly used the " rabbits " excuse as a diversion from what was going on around the supper table ( intense discussion or argument ) so his way of leaving the room was that he saw rabbits,which he may well have done if the back door had been open and a light shining as you can see eyes glinting in creatures outside, then  " filling " the magazine would seem more natural/normal rather than an approach with an empty one ?

Only those who say he's guilty will see a motive in him doing this,as it HAS to fit in with the rest of his foibles.

[Adam]

The only realistic scenario is he saw rabbits as he walked up to the kitchen door.

His only option then was to go straight out with a fully loaded rifle (minus silencer ?) and hope the rabbits were in the same place. Which they obviously were not.

That would mean he returned to the kitchen early evening and left the rifle sprawled out in full view of all adults while they were still up, awake and having supper.

But Neville and June still didn't put the rifle away. Or tell Bamber to put it away.

Bamber also didn't bother putting the rifle back where he found it, which would have taken him another 10 seconds.  If he made the effort to go outside to shoot rabbits,   you would think he would be able to put the rifle away.

[sami]

Well my own personal thoughts have always been that he possibly used the " rabbits " excuse as a diversion from what was going on around the supper table ( intense discussion or argument ) so his way of leaving the room was that he saw rabbits,which he may well have done if the back door had been open and a light shining as you can see eyes glinting in creatures outside, then  " filling " the magazine would seem more natural/normal rather than an approach with an empty one ?

Only those who say he's guilty will see a motive in him doing this,as it HAS to fit in with the rest of his foibles.

he paid enough attention to the discussion because he told police what it was about.