Jeremy Bamber: Proof of Innocence - what was he convicted off and which information could see him cleared?
A Channel 5 documentary uncovers key information that could be crucial to the case
Channel 5 is a brilliant destination for both psychological dramas and a range of interesting and informative documentaries.
The channel's latest documentary, Jeremy Bamber: Proof of Innocence - The Missing Phone Call, is set to be completely unmissable for true crime fans.
Airing on June 8, the 90-minute special takes a fresh look at Jeremy Bamber, the man at the centre of the infamous White House Farm murders case, for which he remains in prison.
However, the new documentary delves into potential new evidence that could see Jeremy cleared of the crimes he always maintained he didn't commit.
What did Jeremy Bamber do?
Jeremy Bamber is currently in prison after being found guilty of shooting dead his adoptive parents, Nevill and June, his adoptive sister, Sheila, and her six-year-old twin sons, Nicholas and Daniel.
The crime took place at Nevill and June's farmhouse, White House Farm in Tolleshunt D'Arcy, Essex. Then aged 25, Jeremy was convicted in 1986 and given a whole-life tariff. He remains incarcerated in HMP Wakefield.
However, Jeremy has always maintained his innocence, claiming it was his sister Sheila, a diagnosed schizophrenic, who shot the family before turning the gun on herself.
He has repeatedly and unsuccessfully appealed against his conviction, suggesting that his father called him on the night of the killings to say his sister had "gone crazy" and had a gun.
Jeremy says he heard a shot, and the line went dead. Alerting the police, armed officers arrived at White House Farm and found 61-year-old Nevill in the kitchen, who had been beaten and shot.
June was found upstairs in the master bedroom with Sheila laying next to her, and Nicholas and Daniel were found dead in their beds.
Police did initially suspect Sheila of the murders - she had stopped taking her schizophrenia medication and was found with her fingers around the gun used to shoot the family.
However, attention turned to Jeremy when his girlfriend, Julie Mugford, told police he had plotted to kill his parents to gain inheritance money. The BBC reported she alleged he'd planned to sedate Nevill and June and set fire to their house, before changing his mind and saying he'd get an assassin to kill them instead.
Along with evidence provided by Julie, a key piece of evidence in the case related to a silencer found in a cupboard at the farm. It was believed to have been used during the killings, and contributed towards the jury returning a guilty verdict.
The silencer had a speck of blood on it thought to belong to Sheila. The argument was with the silencer attached to the rifle, it would've made it too long for Sheila to have shot herself, and that she would've clearly been unable to later place the silencer in the cupboard if she was dead, and somebody else must've been present in the house to do so.
However, along with other discrepancies, it's thought two silencers were examined by forensics, and the jury were only given information about the results of one of them - the one containing Sheila's blood. According to The Guardian this could've potentially missed vital evidence that somebody other than Jeremy could have carried out the crime.
Now, an even bigger piece of evidence has come to light that could clear Jeremy's name, as highlighted in the documentary.
What is the new evidence that could clear Jeremy Bamber?
A fresh claim has been made that a 999 call was made from inside White House Farm, after the call made by Nevill to Jeremy. Volunteers looking into the case found a single reference to it while poring over old files.
The jury at Jeremy's trial had been told that after Nevill phoned his son to tell him his sister had a gun, the receiver had been left off the hook, and the phone company had been instructed to listen to what was going on before monitoring was taken over by the police station.
However, the call handler has since been tracked down, and he says that someone from inside the farmhouse called 999 at 6.09am. He claims he heard background noise or movement, and when asked if this meant someone was alive inside the house, he replied, "Well, obviously."
At the time this call was made, Jeremy was stood outside the farmhouse with police, potentially meaning he has an alibi and somebody else was inside doing the shooting at the time.
Documents apparently written by Sheila have also recently come under scrutiny. They were allegedly found in a drawer in her bedroom at time of the shootings, but dismissed as evidence at the time due to being illegible.
They've since been looked at again and are thought to contain messages hinting at Sheila's fragile state of mind, including one passage that reads, "As soon as this is dug up and the public know, then my darling Mummy, with my babies and me go to our rest."
Along with the discrepancy with the silencer, the evidence of the 999 call from inside the house while Jeremy was confirmed to be outside and the messages from Sheila's letters, means there could potentially have been a miscarriage of justice in the case.
Jeremy Bamber: Proof of Innocence - The Missing Phone Call airs on June 8 on Channel 5.
