The John Kennedy Bradley, testimony at Bambers trial...

[mike tesko]

And, was Ralph Neville the hitchhiker who was trying to get to a port to leave the country at around midday on the first morning of the police investigation?

If so, what about his camper van, why did he leave it at the scene, and leave the country as fast as he could?

Lets fremind ourselves about what the hitchhiker told the local person who gave him a lift - he tol the driver that he had been staying at a farm with a family who had all been shot dead, and that police and the press were everywhere!

[mike tesko]

Lets fremind ourselves about what the hitchhiker told the local person who gave him a lift - he tol the driver that he had been staying at a farm with a family who had all been shot dead, and that police and the press were everywhere!

I hope I'm not getting muddled up because of the passage of time (if I had my notes to hand I could be more certain of what I am saying) but it seems to me that what took place at whf could have had something to ddo with Ralph Nevilles speedy departure to flee the country...

The tractor in his possession overnight, his camper van parked up at whf, and his sudden desire to flee the UK on the first morning of the tragedy - and if what Jeremy told me about Ralph Neville having to suddenly leave South Africa in a hurrry, because of firearms offences, or whatever, it provides food for thought...

[mike tesko]

Who was Ralph Neville, does aanybody know?

Was he related in some way to the Bamber, Boutflour, or the Eaton families?

[mike tesko]

Who was Ralph Neville, does aanybody know?

Was he related in some way to the Bamber, Boutflour, or the Eaton families?

Apparently, he was a student:-

[Steve_uk]

Who was Ralph Neville, does aanybody know?

Was he related in some way to the Bamber, Boutflour, or the Eaton families?

I wonder if he was a relation of Ralph Nevill, father of Beatrice Bamber and therefore Nevill's grandfather.

[Jane]

I wonder if he was a relation of Ralph Nevill, father of Beatrice Bamber and therefore Nevill's grandfather.

I think we may take it as read -from his name- that he was related to Nevill Bamber. His family appear to have had few parameters.

[Caroline]

Just find the threads from the last time he was discussed in detail and the answers will all be there.

[Jane]

Just find the threads from the last time he was discussed in detail and the answers will all be there.

Yeah, is this the second or third airing it's had?

[Caroline]

Yeah, is this the second or third airing it's had?

God knows but if there was only one tractor, I think that fact would have been highlighted long ago. Jeremy mentions that he was in the NEW tractor which obviously means they had more than one - most farms do.

[Steve_uk]

Sheila had very recently 'had a relapse' and had been back into hospital - I believe it to be true that to some people who she came into contact with, or was observed by them, that she hadn't behaved in an unnormal manner, she may have appeared to them to be lethargic and sluggish in her motability. However, despite that arguably being the case one cannot assess her thought processes, one cannot possibly gauge the turmoil that might have been festering inside her head, pressure which must have been building up from that week-end party, knowing that Colin was never coming back to her, and that she, her two boys and Colin would never live together as a family again. Colin had moved on, he had another girlfriend, he seemed happy and he had had custody recently of the boys, Sheila didn't like the idea of another wwoman spending time with her children, it ate away at her inner self, it reminded her of herself in many ways, orphaned out to somebody else. She feared that she might endd up losing the boys altogether, such thoughts grew like a cancer in her mind!

I have no doubt whatsoever in my own mind that the situation started to get worse at that week-end party, resulting in her leaving early...

On the journey up to whf in the car, she sat totally silent and never utterred a word throughout the entire journey ( I believe because she was sulking and brooding ). I think she harboured the idea of making sure that Colin would never take her children away from her, like she had been taken away from her own mother, and I think she had these thoughts in her mind even before they arrived at the farmhouse on that last occasion...

There were clues as to what might be forthcoming - her outrageous outburst at the official who turned up at the farmhouse on the 6th August 1985, to take a reading from the electricity meter - how she had gone berserk, ranting and raving, like a woman mad and possessed, swearing and ordering the official off her property, or she would do him some mischief or other (Ewen Smith obtained a witness statement from this official)...

And, there was the letter which Colin had wrote out that he sent to Neville Bamber prior to the time he dropped off Sheila at whf on that last occasion - although it was addressed to Neville Bamber, Colin must have either told Sheila that he had sent Neville the letter, or that Sheila overheard Neville speaking to June Bamber about its contents, or she got hold of it, and had read the contents itself... 

I shall take this opportunity to remind you all of the contents of Colins letter to Neville Bamber -

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'It starts off with Colin saying how pleased he was that Sheila was now out of hospital, stating that this whole episode has been a great worry for him. He sought to inform Neville of some thoughts and fears that he was having, and wanted to sound him out directly! Colin told him that his main concern was for the health, safety, and the stabiltity of his boys, and everything that was a threat, and that he would stand firm to protect them from such. He outlined the boys behaviour regarding their educational progress and poor school attendanance, until the boys had come to stay with him full time, and how this had improved since that time! In particular, Colin told Neville that on most mornings that the boys had to dress themselves and get their own breakfast, and then wake mummy up to take them to school. He was right, this sort of thing should not have been happenning to 5 year olds.  How the boys condition had worsened around about the time of Sheila's latest breakdown. Apparently, according to what the children told Colin and his parents, Sheila didn't spend much quality time with the children, and when she did she did not take much notice of what they had to say!  Colin told Neville that Sheila lives in her own little world and that she seemed oblivious to anything but her own thoughts, and that she had been like that for a long time, and that the boys were now finding the situation very distressful. He went further, and told Nevile Bamber that the boys were also very dilusional about religion and were put off by it, since all of this had been going on. Apparently, the boys had complained to Colin that June Bamber had been forcing them to say prayers at every opportunity she was alone with them! Colin requested that Neville 'told or asked June' to refrain from forcing any religion upon the boys, and that if she does not argree to this, that Colin will be forced to restrict the amount of time that June can spend with the boys - in Colins words he told Neville Bamber 'I WILL NOT ALLOW HER TO FUCK UP THE MINDS OF MY CHILDREN, IN THE WAY I SUSPECT SHE HAS YOUR DAUGHTER'...

Colin went on to say in this letter, that he was sorry for being so blunt, but that what he had said was restrained compared to how he really felt (So Colin was very angry but unprepared to say how angry this had really made him feel)!

Colin invited Neville to help him, to resolve these matters...

Colin told Neville that it would be better if 'the boys stayed with him most of the time' and that Sheila could see them 'whenever she wanted to'! He tried to make it absolutely clear to Neville that it was not his intention 'to take the boys away from her'. More importantly, he told Neville that 'he wished to have full control over the boys' wellfare'!

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Well, that was the gist of Colins letter to Neville Bamber, a letter that was sent to Neville Bamber just prior to the last occasion that he took Sheila and the boys to the farmhouse for a short stay (on the last occasion)...

Now, I know some people have said, that Colin didn't actually post that letter, but 'I believe that he did'...

I choose to believe that not only did Colin post that letter, but I also choose to believe that the original copy of that letter was recovereed from a top the bedside cabinet in Sheila's bedroom together with other 'notes', and 'a crazy handwritten note' written by Sheila herself! In a nutshell therefore I believe that Essex police seized copies of 'all these notes and letters' as part of their original investigation (SC/688/85)  'four murders and a suicide', knowing that 'this is what may have sparked Sheila into shooting the other four victims'...

This of course, all tallies in with the argument that was manifesting at the supper table that last evening, (according to Jeremy) the topic of conversation being that 'Sheila needed help to look after her boys' and that 'they may have to look into getting a foster parent' or 'permanent carer to help her' to manage them!

In order to get a clearer picture I believe that the contents of Colins letter, together with the other handwritten letter (strongly suspected of having been written by Sheila herself prior to the tragedy unfolding), and the note containing a selection of 'letters of the alphabet', which I believe were all found on Sheila's bedside cabinet (DRH/42 refers), need to be looked at 'collectively', because the 'real motivating force' which led to this tragedy 'is' contained 'there', within these documents...


Therefore, I shall start off with a copy of 'Colins (undated) letter', albeit this was penned after Sheila's discharge from Hospital on the last occasion, followed by the almost 'undecipherable letter written in Sheila's own hand' almost certainly written 'on the evening of the tragedy', and 'the note' containing a series of 'letters of the alphabet' which I suspect was either a coded note to herself, or intended for those who were to follow, and who would find and understand 'why she had been driven to do' what 'she had intended to do', and that which 'she had done'...

The that 'the contents of these three documents', therefore, 'lie at the heart' of this tragedy!

This is well written, though riddled with inaccuracy and speculation. Colin had custody of the boys in name only since Sheila had gone into hospital in March 1985, but he wasn't pressing for any legal arrangement mindful of Sheila's mental state. The incident regarding the electricity reading is a total fabrication (I don't know what statement Ewen Smith has in his possession), and whether Nevill read Colin's letter is pure speculation because Colin says he never posted it.

[Steve_uk]

I believe that Sheila overheard Neville talking to June at some point early evening or perhaps earlier in the day, about the contents of Colins letter, and that this caused friction within the family, including the fact that Sheila may have attacked June and thumped her giving her a black eye (according to Jeremy his mum had a black eye at the time he walked in on a so called family argument around the supper table). This may also be the reason why June did not attend her regular tuesday evening bible reading class (because there was trouble brewing and she had got a blackened eye). It seems somewhat obvious to me now that the family were not going to take what Colin had said in his letter to Neville lying down, and that they were going to try to keep the boys with Sheila, even if it meant them getting her help with either a foster parent or social services, or even that Sheila would move back into the farmhouse with the boys so that her parents could help more than they already thought they had been helping!

One things for sure, and that is that June told her sister Pamela Boutflour, later that evening over the telephone, that 'Sheila had been behaving' very oddly!!

Again much of this is speculation and I would have thought if Nevill and June had sided with Sheila in any forthcoming custody battle this would have settled her down rather than agitated her. Far more likely is Julie's account that Jeremy deliberately sowed discord that last evening by telling his sister what an unfit mother and disquieting her by threatening her with an NHS hospital should she become ill at an future point.

[Steve_uk]

These last posts about the hitchhiker don't add up because it was Nevill himself according to the Jeremy supporters who reported his daughter as having gone berserk, so the Defence has to insinuate collusion between Sheila and an unknown assailant or give up on the telephone call claim to Jeremy for good, which leaves his story in tatters.

[Jane]

This is well written, though riddled with inaccuracy and speculation. Colin had custody of the boys in name only since Sheila had gone into hospital in March 1985, but he wasn't pressing for any legal arrangement mindful of Sheila's mental state. The incident regarding the electricity reading is a total fabrication (I don't know what statement Ewen Smith has in his possession), and whether Nevill read Colin's letter is pure speculation because Colin says he never posted it.

Yes. But one can clearly see -and actually concur with- the epithet Jeremy directed to Mike.

[mike tesko]

These last posts about the hitchhiker don't add up because it was Nevill himself according to the Jeremy supporters who reported his daughter as having gone berserk, so the Defence has to insinuate collusion between Sheila and an unknown assailant or give up on the telephone call claim to Jeremy for good, which leaves his story in tatters.

When Neville made his call to Jeremy (3.23am / 3.25am), and then the police (3.26am), he may not have realised that Sheila had an accomplice! We should not dismiss any eventuality or possibility....

[mike tesko]

Again much of this is speculation and I would have thought if Nevill and June had sided with Sheila in any forthcoming custody battle this would have settled her down rather than agitated her. Far more likely is Julie's account that Jeremy deliberately sowed discord that last evening by telling his sister what an unfit mother and disquieting her by threatening her with an NHS hospital should she become ill at an future point.

There is no evidence at all to support this, Jeremy did not sow discord during that last evening by telling her (Sheila) that she was an unfit mother, and no evidence that Jeremy threatened Sheila with the NHS hospital should she become ill in the future - Sheila was already ill, something which according to what Pamela Boutflour said in one of her statements, that June Bamber told her that she was bringing Sheila and the boys for tea on the following afternoon, because she wanted Pamela to have a look at her (Sheila) because sshe was behaving oddly...