the shot gun under the bed

[nugnug]

now Nevile kept a shotgun under i believe but why did he do that was he frightened of being attacked if so be who.

[grahameb]

now Nevile kept a shotgun under i believe but why did he do that was he frightened of being attacked if so be who.

I knew an ld Baptist minister who kept a .38 revolver under his bed. The greater question is if there was a hitman why didn't he use it?

[nugnug]

and why did he go downstairs without it.

[Steve A]

I don't understand where this shotgun under the bed  information comes from. Would anybody be able to enlighten me?

There is this post from Mike which suggests it was for foxes, which seems very weird to me. The link to the photograph doesn't work though.

Loaded 12 bore shotgun, normally kept under Ralph Bambers, bed

Ralph Bamber was known to keep a loaded 12 bore shotgun under his bed, which he would grab in the middle of the night, if Foxes came prowling around the farm - for some reason, this shotgun ended up in the gun cupboard in the downstairs office, by the time armed police entered whf on the morning of 7th August 1985...

There are secrets about this shotgun which Essex police, and the CPS, did not want anyone to find out about, which could have a direct bearing on who was responsible for killing everyone inside whf...

See the shotgun we are talking about at the following link:-

(1) http://www.flickr.com/photos/miketeskowski/5296343373/sizes/o/

[nugnug]

i doubt if he was expecting a fox to come in his bedroom.

[Steve A]

i doubt if he was expecting a fox to come in his bedroom.

I agree.

[grahameb]

i doubt if he was expecting a fox to come in his bedroom.

He'd get a good shot from his bedroom window though? Possibly the reason he didn't use it was because he knew his assailant?

[Steve A]

i doubt if he was expecting a fox to come in his bedroom.

He'd get a good shot from his bedroom window though?

Haha, yes assuming he didn't mind waking the entire house up.

Does anybody work on a farm? Are foxes that much of a problem that you would keep a loaded shotgun under your bed just in case?

[nugnug]

yes and maybe he wasn't expecting his aslant to hurt him.

[nugnug]

i doubt if he was expecting a fox to come in his bedroom.

He'd get a good shot from his bedroom window though?

Haha, yes assuming he didn't mind waking the entire house up.

Does anybody work on a farm? Are foxes that much of a problem that you would keep a loaded shotgun under your bed just in case?

i think foxes could have certanly waited till the morning.

[smiffy]

Say there was a shotgun under the bed ..for self defence purposes. If he had already gone downstairs to deal with Sheila having a mental breakdown he woudl have no need to take it down with him as he would not be anticipating any trouble.

Conversely if he rose out of bed suspicious of someone breaking in he could well have grabbed the shotgun to go deal with a potential  intruder. If he was attacked in bed he could have reached for the shotgun to confront his attacker there and then.

With all the police messing about at the crime scene it may be reasonable to consider that if a shotgun had been under the bed they moved it and failed to report its true location so they could sell the false story of Nevill being attacked in he bedroom with the shotgun not coming into play as it was "elsewhere" in the house.

[Steve A]

Say there was a shotgun under the bed ..for self defence purposes. If he had already gone downstairs to deal with Sheila having a mental breakdown he woudl have no need to take it down with him as he would not be anticipating any trouble.

Conversely if he rose out of bed suspicious of someone breaking in he could well have grabbed the shotgun to go deal with a potential  intruder. If he was attacked in bed he could have reached for the shotgun to confront his attacker there and then.

With all the police messing about at the crime scene it may be reasonable to consider that if a shotgun had been under the bed they moved it and failed to report its true location so they could sell the false story of Nevill being attacked in he bedroom with the shotgun not coming into play as it was "elsewhere" in the house.

Which is partly why I asked where the information that he kept a loaded shotgun under his bed came from. Can the claim be substantiated in any way? Is it the truth?

[nugnug]

Say there was a shotgun under the bed ..for self defence purposes. If he had already gone downstairs to deal with Sheila having a mental breakdown he woudl have no need to take it down with him as he would not be anticipating any trouble.

Conversely if he rose out of bed suspicious of someone breaking in he could well have grabbed the shotgun to go deal with a potential  intruder. If he was attacked in bed he could have reached for the shotgun to confront his attacker there and then.

With all the police messing about at the crime scene it may be reasonable to consider that if a shotgun had been under the bed they moved it and failed to report its true location so they could sell the false story of Nevill being attacked in he bedroom with the shotgun not coming into play as it was "elsewhere" in the house.

there is the faint possibility that he did take it downstairs with him but got knocked out of his hands.

[ngb1066]

i doubt if he was expecting a fox to come in his bedroom.

He'd get a good shot from his bedroom window though?

Haha, yes assuming he didn't mind waking the entire house up.

Does anybody work on a farm? Are foxes that much of a problem that you would keep a loaded shotgun under your bed just in case?

Foxes are a problem and farmers try to control them.  Normally they are shot using a high powered rifle but Nevill's Anschutz rifle was only a .22 rimfire which is not normally used for fox control.  It is therefore likely that he used a 12 bore shotgun which is effective against foxes at relatively close range.  It is a bit unusual to keep a shotgun under the bed for fox control.  It would be possible to shoot a fox from the bedroom window but that would awaken everyone in the house and I find it a bit unlikely.  If a loaded shotgun was kept by Nevill under his bed I suspect it was more likely to have been there for protection.

On the night of the shootings the shotgun was not under Nevill's bed.  It was found in the cupboard downstairs according to the police witnesses. There is a photograph of it posted on this forum showing the gun leaning against a wall which is where the police placed it after finding it.

   

[nugnug]

well i cant see a policeman takeing the shotgun from under his bed and putting it in his cupboard witch would suggest to me that he did take it down stairs with him that night but somehow got separated from it.