Statement of Ann Eaton 8th - 13th September 1985

[Alias]

Yes and I believe JB's interviews were before the rules changed when all interviews were taped!  Plus bear in mind JB was grieving the loss of his entire immediate adoptive family.

Why not just "family"? He had lost all of his immediate family.

[Jane]

It is so easy sitting on the sideline judging the behaviour of people during police interviews, when in fact many of those sessions come close to being regular torture with snidy remarks, yelling, repetitions for hours and hours etc.

Alias Hi. Yes it's easy to imagine a polite civilized discussion laced with regular cups of tea and cigarette breaks but as you say it would come close to torture after a few hours and under those circumstances the mask of civilization, which is only just skin deep at the best of times, would fall away.

[killingeve]

Why not just "family"? He had lost all of his immediate family.

To distinguish between birth and adoptive    An adopted person has at least two families 

[Steve_uk]

Steve,,it was a mass murder,,the worst crime of its time,,,why wasn't the place immediately roped off.?
Why wasn't the area around the farmhouse ground methodically examined.?
Why wasn't the flooring inside the farmhouse methodically examined.?
Was there any odour on entry into the farmhouse.?
Were there any prints on the crockery.?
Were there any spent cigar/cigarettes in any ashtrays.?
Did you know that flooring inside a property is important when it comes to an investigation.?
If the repository where the silencer was fingerprinted,,where are the results.?

Because you say that Jeremy used the bicycle,,it would have been vital to have examined the outside area,,don't you agree.? Particularly outside the window area where you say he entered. ( yellow mud )
This is the nitty gritty of an investigation,and it wasn't carried out. 
Instead,,it was easier to blame an innocent man than to have to carry out the duties of how an investigation should have been conducted.
Oh,,and outsiders should not have been allowed access to the farmhouse until on the say-so of the chief of police. Then again,,if the place had been roped off,,nobody would have been allowed near it while foot-printing was carried out.

I often wondered who the jury were and if any of them knew the outside family at all.

The Zeitgeist of the 1980s was that a small clique knew how to run this country,they often as not spoke with plummy accents and had an air of credibility and efficiency about them,when we know from experience that this often wasn't the case. Both DCI Taff Jones and Julie Mugford were outsiders to the Home Counties culture and faced with a personage such as Jeremy Bamber who played his part so well he remarked to Julie the first chance he could "I should have been an actor",the head of investigation was fooled and White House Farm was not treated as a crime scene. Although this was undoubtedly a serious affair as you say I still think that had Sheila in a state of psychosis killed five people with 25 rounds of ammunition there would be some trace left for investigators to link to her upon entry and not the ambiguity which remains to this day.

[Alias]

To distinguish between birth and adoptive    An adopted person has at least two families 

I notice you never say just family when it comes to Jeremy or Sheila. Jeremy doesn´t really have two families - he never med any of his birth relatives, and Sheila only met her birth mother briefly.
Personally I prefer the term, family without the adopted - it seems to imply some sort of wedge existing at all times.

[vidvic]

I notice you never say just family when it comes to Jeremy or Sheila. Jeremy doesn´t really have two families - he never med any of his birth relatives, and Sheila only met her birth mother briefly.
Personally I prefer the term, family without the adopted - it seems to imply some sort of wedge existing at all times.

Hear hear Alias.

[Jane]

I notice you never say just family when it comes to Jeremy or Sheila. Jeremy doesn´t really have two families - he never med any of his birth relatives, and Sheila only met her birth mother briefly.
Personally I prefer the term, family without the adopted - it seems to imply some sort of wedge existing at all times.

I frequently refer to my mother as "my adoptive mother" because neither of us was what the other wanted. However, I refer to her nieces and nephews as my cousins because although we are only just getting to really know each other, I'm very fond of them, and they, me. My personal feeling is that neither Jeremy nor Sheila was fully accepted by their adoptive family, although of course, they would never admit it, so it seems appropriate to refer to them as an "adopted family".

[vidvic]

I frequently refer to my mother as "my adoptive mother" because neither of us was what the other wanted. However, I refer to her nieces and nephews as my cousins because although we are only just getting to really know each other, I'm very fond of them, and they, me. My personal feeling is that neither Jeremy nor Sheila was fully accepted by their adoptive family, although of course, they would never admit it, so it seems appropriate to refer to them as an "adopted family".

So the two people have never mentioned it but you 'feel' they weren't accepted? Based on what? The cuckoo lie? What?

[Bridget]

I frequently refer to my mother as "my adoptive mother" because neither of us was what the other wanted. However, I refer to her nieces and nephews as my cousins because although we are only just getting to really know each other, I'm very fond of them, and they, me. My personal feeling is that neither Jeremy nor Sheila was fully accepted by their adoptive family, although of course, they would never admit it, so it seems appropriate to refer to them as an "adopted family".

So it's appropriate for you, because that is the way you perceive their relationships. It's telling then that neither JB or Sheila referred to their family that way.

[Alias]

So some agree with me, others don´t. Fair enough, especially since the ones who don´t are both adopted. We have a couple of adopted children in my immediate family - no one refers to or thinks about them as adopted. To us they are family, and very loved kids, I might add.

[vidvic]

So some agree with me, others don´t. Fair enough, especially since the ones who don´t are both adopted. We have a couple of adopted children in my immediate family - no one refers to or thinks about them as adopted. To us they are family, and very loved kids, I might add.

My uncle is adopted and it never even enters my head most of the time, or any of my family. I only think of it when subjects like this come up.

[guest154]

 My personal feeling is that neither Jeremy nor Sheila was fully accepted by their adoptive family, although of course, they would never admit it, so it seems appropriate to refer to them as an "adopted family".

Can I ask, April. What are you basing your personal feeling on? What documents, statements or comments?

[maggie]

So some agree with me, others don´t. Fair enough, especially since the ones who don´t are both adopted. We have a couple of adopted children in my immediate family - no one refers to or thinks about them as adopted. To us they are family, and very loved kids, I might add.

I agree with you Alias but can also understand some children never feel 'at home' in their adoptive families, for various reasons.  Personally I generally forget my children are adopted unless I stop and think about it and I think on many levels it's the same for my children, fortunately for me.   

[lookout]

The Zeitgeist of the 1980s was that a small clique knew how to run this country,they often as not spoke with plummy accents and had an air of credibility and efficiency about them,when we know from experience that this often wasn't the case. Both DCI Taff Jones and Julie Mugford were outsiders to the Home Counties culture and faced with a personage such as Jeremy Bamber who played his part so well he remarked to Julie the first chance he could "I should have been an actor",the head of investigation was fooled and White House Farm was not treated as a crime scene. Although this was undoubtedly a serious affair as you say I still think that had Sheila in a state of psychosis killed five people with 25 rounds of ammunition there would be some trace left for investigators to link to her upon entry and not the ambiguity which remains to this day.

Dear Steve,,,you should have been a politician. Why.? Because you evaded my questions.
The someone speaks is down to their environment and it really shouldn't be an issue in a murder investigation. Yes,,Jeremy spoke differently,,but that's all part and parcel of being well-bred,,and there are a lot of people who don't like that for some unknown reason. Possibly their ignorance.
There is plenty to link Sheila to the crimes,,but nothing to link Jeremy,,except the way he spoke.

[vidvic]

Dear Steve,,,you should have been a politician. Why.? Because you evaded my questions.
The someone speaks is down to their environment and it really shouldn't be an issue in a murder investigation. Yes,,Jeremy spoke differently,,but that's all part and parcel of being well-bred,,and there are a lot of people who don't like that for some unknown reason. Possibly their ignorance.
There is plenty to link Sheila to the crimes,,but nothing to link Jeremy,,except the way he spoke.

So he was convicted because of his accent? Laughable rubbish.
What about all the witnesses? Didnt they have the same accents?