A very good and fair post Gringo. I think it will be impossible to pin point any true and accurate times now, which is a shame, the one thing that would have helped and cleared things better would have been a 999 call? They are more accurate with time keeping and used to this sort of call, maybe it threw West and Bonnet with the nature of the call that would normally gone through emergency services and not the local police?
How do we believe anyone, everyone changed their story, Julie changed hers because she was covering up for Bamber and probably had pressure from the police, Bamber could not remember the times he made the calls, if he phoned Julie first then the police, also he could not remember what he said to Julie yet Julie could, he changed his story from Sheila to Sister to she.
I think that you are probably correct to say that pinpointing a definitive time is now quite likely impossible, Justice. This state of affairs, however, can be blamed in it's entirety on Essex Police and their record keeping and record "disposal" as well as their record withholding.
This balance needs to weighed fairly when considering the changing stance of prosecution and defence.
In fairness to JB, he was coerced by EP into changing his times by their dubious claims whilst interviewing him. I think any of us would doubt our recollections if we were told that things were "known" which cast doubt on our own recollections.
Bamber did not withhold any documents or edit any statements. All he and his defence had to go on was whatever EP and the prosecution provided as supposed full disclosure.
Essex Police on the other hand should be held to a much different standard and we all know this really. With all that we now know about the conduct of EP, both during and after the investigation and trial, it is mind boggling that anyone anyone treats any statement/pronouncement from them with anything other than a heavy dose of scepticism.
Quite aside from the shoddy approach to gathering evidence, the "horseplay" by officers at the scene which was photographed and the burning of much evidence by EP within days. EP also failed to record accurate times of death, or so we are, at least, led to believe. It would not surprise me to find out that accurate times were recorded after all and have been hidden somewhere for 30 years.
Bizarrely, there are those who would have us believe that the "cunning/manipulative/evil/scheming Bamber" tricked EP with his plot and it is because of him that the investigation and evidence gathering was so shoddy.
Because of this evil scheme by the cunning Bamber, EP then had to conceal some logs which would cast doubt on their own claims. If only they hadn't been fooled into burning the evidence or ascertaining times of death by the cunning Bamber.
The existence of logs which show either evidence of a second call or,at the very least, evidence which casts serious doubt on the timings presented to the court were not disclosed and were hidden. Eventually years later the logs were mistakenly disclosed by EP. The logs had a number of discrepancies as well as recording different call times and it was decided that these be kept from the defence, judge and jury.
It is barely debatable that EP have shown themselves, with their actions and behaviour, to be disrespectful, incompetent and dishonest.
The discerning observer would treat anything they have to say with doubt. They have ignored court orders to disclose evidence and then destroyed it , with the apparent connivance of Special Branch and to this day still withhold requested evidence.
Is all of this is just "one mistake by West"?
