White House Farm (2020) s01e06 Episode Script

1 I should just burn White House down with Mum and Dad in it.
Jeremy.
Don't do that.
It would be such a waste, to burn down such a beautiful old house.
Guess I'll have to think of something else.
I thought he was joking.
One of his awful jokes.
Tonight's the night, Jules.
I've just had dinner with them all.
It's the perfect chance.
So you're saying Jeremy killed them? And not Sheila? Sheila was murdered.
Same as the others.
You stay quiet all this time.
And a couple of days after he dumps you, you finally come forward and drop him in it.
One thing about Julie.
She has a very fertile imagination.
First question was point of entry.
I was told Bamber exited via this window.
And according to Julie Mugford, he entered that way too.
But I don't think that's possible.
That lock.
You'd break that if you tried to force it from the outside.
So, I looked at other potential entry sites, including the downstairs shower window.
Which is where we found these.
Scratches.
Around the lock.
That shower room was repainted at the start of the summer.
So the scratches are recent too.
They're serrated.
- Like a - A fine saw blade.
Found on the ground just outside that window under a bit of rubbish.
And the teeth on that match the scratches on the lock exactly.
Finally, we can say that someone forced entry to that farmhouse.
Now, if we can link that saw blade to Jeremy I'll contact the DPP, gentlemen.
Appraise them of this new evidence.
But based on what you just told me I think we might be on.
Evening, gents.
Can you step aside for a second, please? I want to tell you you're still under caution.
And I want you to record that I've got food poisoning, and I've driven 1,800 miles.
And I'm taking medication.
Everything you say is being recorded.
Jeremy, I put it to you that you've made a number of false statements to the police during the course of this investigation.
I'm now giving you the chance to correct those falsehoods.
Isn't this your day off, Mick? I've come in specially.
You need a holiday.
Have you been to Saint-Tropez? You'd love it.
Jeremy, this is an extremely serious matter.
You're being charged with five counts of murder.
Do you understand that? What, do you think I'm stupid? I think you're behaving very oddly for a man who's been accused of killing his own family.
Maybe I've just got deja vu.
Us sitting here like this.
You making these accusations.
Do you remember how it ended last time? You had to let me go, didn't you? Do you have a key to your parents' house? Of course.
I was given one with my cousin about a week after the new doors were fitted.
So you have full access to the house? That's what keys are for.
Do you recognise this? I suppose it's a saw blade.
We can show that you purchased blades exactly like this not long before the murder of your family.
I sometimes use them on my tractors.
This blade was also used to gain entrance to your parents' farmhouse.
By forcing a window in the shower.
So, how do you account for that? Forcing entry.
When you've got the key.
You're right.
I did get in through that window.
Just a few days back.
I needed some documents for my overseas holiday, and I hadn't got my key with me, so I let myself in, using that saw.
So you knew you were under suspicion for murder, but you decided to break into your parents' house anyway? - Into the scene of the crime.
- I was running late for the ferry, and I wouldn't have been able to hire a car without those documents.
It would have ruined my holiday, so What do you think I should have done, walk to Saint-Tropez? You're to be held in custody for further questioning in relation to the aforementioned crimes.
Starting first thing in the morning.
I suggest you use your time this evening to consider your situation.
Good night, Stan! Good night, Mick! See you in the morning.
He's come up with a story.
Bullshit.
Obviously.
Uh I reckon we let him stew overnight and see how he's feeling in the morning.
All right, Guv.
Will do.
Good night.
I guess it's my turn to take some leave.
I expect that's for the best.
You know, I never rated you.
No ambition.
That's what I thought.
Guess I was wrong.
This has got nothing to do with ambition.
So you climbed all over me for the sport of it, did you? Back at the start of this, you asked me if I cared about them two murdered boys.
Well, there's your answer.
I care a whole lot more about getting justice for them than I do about my bloody career.
Young Bamber.
You think he's a selfish, arrogant twat.
But that doesn't make him a murderer.
I hope, for his sake, you can tell the difference.
Jeremy.
It's a simple enough question.
Was Sheila a good shot with the rifle? I've already answered that.
So tell me again.
The answer is I don't know.
But on the night of the murders, you told police that you and her had been target shooting.
Are you saying that's a lie? - No.
- So you're denying saying it? Even though two police officers are willing to testify that you did.
Look, you told me I said it, so maybe I said it, but I I don't remember.
Had you seen Sheila shoot ever? I told you.
I can't remember! No-one else I've spoken to ever saw Sheila Caffell fire a gun.
No-one.
Now you're telling me you can't remember.
It could well be that she's never fired a gun in her life.
Would you agree with that? My sister was mentally ill.
She was violent.
Talk to her doctors.
They'll confirm that.
We've already spoken to them.
So why won't you believe that she's done this? More than 20 bullets were fired into your family.
Every single one of them hit their target.
Your mother.
Shot seven times.
Every shot on target.
Your dad.
Shot eight times.
All on target.
You want me to believe that that was done by a girl who'd scarcely picked up a rifle in her life? He was beaten too.
Your dad.
Mercilessly.
I don't want to know about things like that.
Must have taken a lot of strength to do something like that.
A lot of anger.
Maybe a lot of hate.
I wasn't there.
So I wouldn't know about that, would I? There were a few small contradictions, but nothing substantial.
Basically, he's sticking to his story.
Bamber admits he accessed the house through the shower window, with the saw blade, but insists it was for innocent reasons.
Cookie, where do we stand with forensics? Fingerprints.
Recovered two usable impressions.
One from the rifle butt.
That was Sheila's.
And the other from the barrel.
Which was Jeremy's right forefinger.
In that shape? Some surfaces take better fingerprints than others.
What about the hand swabs? Well, the bullets that were used in the killings have these greasy coatings.
There's no way of loading the rifle without getting it on your hands.
There's no trace of that material on Sheila's swabs.
We know the defence are gonna argue that she washed herself after the shootings.
Ritual cleansing.
Not uncommon in killings of this type.
We can't disprove that anyway.
Particularly since we don't have the body.
There's still the silencer.
The evidence of human blood in it.
Although we can't conclusively prove it was Sheila's blood.
The defence will say it was contaminated.
The trial will turn on witness testimony.
That's what the jury will remember.
That'll be what gets him over the line.
Jeremy can be very convincing.
As you found.
It'll come down to Julie Mugford.
That's what will turn it.
Her word against his.
Well, we're three weeks out from trial.
So I do hope you're right.
The magistrate once again denied bail, citing the grave seriousness of the charges.
Meanwhile, Mr Bamber's supporters continue to protest his innocence.
Jeremy maintains his innocence, and I absolutely believe him.
Which is why I, and many of his friends will be standing by him through this, until the truth finally prevails.
It's understood that shortly after speaking to us, Mr Collins returned to his native New Zealand.
He's here, Jules.
There were so many things he wanted.
He spoke about it all the time.
The car he was going to get.
The clothes.
The holidays.
But he didn't have enough money.
So what, that was reason enough to murder his parents? Mm.
And Sheila? He had different ideas about how he was gonna do it, but this plan was all about Sheila.
Making it look like she'd gone mad, she'd done it all herself.
She would take the blame.
And what about my? What about my boys? Jem said you'd be better off without them.
That with the boys gone, you could go back to work.
Get your life back on track.
You'd be better off.
And he told you this before he'd done it? Parts of it, yeah.
So you knew, and you didn't say anything?! You didn't tell anyone?! I'm sorry.
I But you will now? You'll tell it now? In court.
You'll tell at all? I promise.
I promise.
I promise.
I just got the call.
- They're not proceeding against her.
- What? The DPP have concluded that Julie Mugford was morally and criminally corrupted as a result of her relationship with you.
So they're dropping all the charges.
But the caravan park business.
The robbery.
She confessed to that.
At being a lookout in a burglary involving, what, a few hundred pounds? Yeah.
Do you think that anyone really cares about that, compared with five murders? No, this decision means that Julie Mugford has even less incentive to withdraw or even modify her statement against you.
- Except that she's lying.
- So you say.
But the jury may yet take a different view.
I need to talk to her.
No, no, that's not possible.
If I can just see her, she's gonna change her mind.
Jeremy, you must see that is completely out of the question.
It doesn't matter.
It doesn't matter.
In the end, she'll tell the truth.
Miss Mugford's stuck to her story for a good few months now.
Yes, because she's angry that I broke it off with her, but she But she won't do this to me.
She loves me.
Mr Caffell, I can't imagine how distressing this must be for you, so I will attempt to keep it brief.
You were married to Sheila Caffell for two years? That's right.
How would you describe her? As a mother.
Kind.
Attentive.
She lived for our boys.
But she had been mentally ill? On and off, for some time, yes.
Which was why the boys were staying with me.
To your knowledge, had her illness ever led her to mistreat the boys? Never.
That's the one thing I'm certain of.
And in her general demeanour, would you have considered her to be a violent person? Of course not.
No.
She was She was just so gentle.
She had a hot Latin temper, but only ever towards things.
Inanimate objects.
Never people.
Thank you, Mr Caffell.
Mr Caffell, you say Sheila never harmed people.
What about herself? I'm not sure what you mean.
Well, she had harmed herself, in the past, had she not? We argued.
Once.
After a 21st birthday party.
And she put her hand through a window.
I'd behaved very badly, in a way that provoked her.
I don't think she had the intention to hurt herself.
Mr Caffell When you were first told of the terrible news of the deaths how did you react? I was shocked.
But were you surprised? At the idea that Sheila might have ended her own life.
In fact, you accepted it.
Quite readily.
Did you not? What I was faced with I could hardly even believe it, much less understand it.
I still can't.
So I accepted what I was told by the experts, and by the police.
By everyone.
What would you have done? Ready? I've been having nightmares about seeing him.
And when I wake up, I feel guilty that I've betrayed him.
Forget them.
They're just bloody dreams.
Yeah, but they're gonna come true, though, aren't they? He will be there in court looking at me.
And you'll look right back at him.
Because you're there telling the truth, and he won't be.
Look You made a mistake.
A bloody big one, I'll admit.
So, what are you gonna do now? You can either give in, let that mistake become who you are or you can stand up and show that you're not like him, you're not like Jeremy.
Which is it gonna be? - Do you still love Jeremy? - Have you spoken to Jeremy? Please, step to one side.
Thank you.
Steady, steady.
Can we get through, please? Miss Mugford? Sorry.
I The account of the killings that you initially gave to the police was based on what Mr Bamber told you that first night? After the police and everyone else had gone, we sat in the living room of Jeremy's house, and he told me the information I've given today.
And the claim he initially made, that he'd hired a mercenary? In a way, that made things easier.
Thinking at least he hadn't done it with his own hands.
But now Miss Mugford.
The biggest question people will be asking is, what made you wait a month before coming forward with this? At first, I was in shock.
Then later, Jeremy said that if anything happened to him, if he was arrested, I would be arrested too.
As a murderer.
Because I knew about it.
I know it's cowardly, but I was scared.
Thank you, Miss Mugford.
In your initial account you told the police that Nevill had been shot seven times in the head.
Which was not correct.
That's what Jeremy told me.
Interestingly, you're not the only one who got that wrong.
The Mirror describes him being shot seven times in the head.
The Sun.
"Seven shots to Nevill Bamber.
" I didn't read those papers.
The Star.
"Seven shots to the head.
" The Express.
"Seven shots.
" Isn't it the case that your account of the murders came not from Mr Bamber, but from ordinary newspaper stories? Everything I told the police is what Jeremy told me.
Everything.
Are you an honest person, Miss Mugford? Yes, I am.
Completely honest? What do you mean by completely? Well, there have been some incidents in the past, have there not? A case of cheque fraud, for example.
Yes.
You reported your cheque book stolen, and then went and spent over £600, defrauding the bank.
Honesty is acknowledging your mistakes and doing something about them.
And that's what I've done.
But while perpetrating that cheque fraud, you were telling lies, were you not? That's something you're pretty good at, isn't it? Telling lies.
Just because I did that doesn't mean I'm lying about anything else.
If we're to believe what you told us earlier this afternoon, you also told lies after the murders.
You made false statements to the police.
I said no false things.
I only omitted things.
But you omitted quite a bit, though, didn't you? Your knowledge of who killed the Bambers.
Of who killed those children.
You even dined with Colin Caffell, their father, accepted his hospitality, yet you never said a word! I'm sorry.
Would you care to sit, Miss Mugford? Thank you.
Now, you were asked about your initial statements to the police.
I've already explained.
When it first happened, I was confused.
That's why I volunteered to identify the bodies.
I wanted to ask Sheila and June for their advice about what to do.
Sorry.
You, erm You wanted to ask the deceased Sheila Caffell, and the deceased June Bamber for their advice? I believe in the spiritual world.
So, erm How were you planning to canvas the opinion of these poor dead souls? It's a mental thing.
I prayed a lot, but they didn't say anything back.
And having failed to elicit the opinion from the dead, you remained silent for a month.
I was scared.
Is it OK to be scared? - Scared for yourself? - For me, and for Jeremy.
Until it became clear that he didn't want you any more.
That he was in fact seeing another woman.
I was hurt.
Not jealous.
Hurt.
And then finally, you came forward to the police with this story.
About his involvement in the murders.
- A fabricated story.
- It isn't fa Fabricated out of jealousy and anger, because he was leaving you for another woman.
I did ask him not to.
I did.
I told him I wouldn't be able to cope with being on my own.
He said that I would never be on my own.
He said that he was my best friend.
Yet he also made it clear that it was over between you two.
That you would no longer be his girlfriend.
I told Jeremy he'd ruined my life.
Ruined everything.
By telling me what he'd done.
But he said he was entrusting his life to me.
He said that he was telling me the truth so that I could lie convincingly.
The best way to lie is to tell the truth.
And so yeah, at first, that's what I did.
I told the police what I thought Jeremy would want me to say.
Even though you believed he'd orchestrated mass murder? Because I loved him.
I loved him after the killings as before.
I found it difficult to be physically close to him, but my emotion never changed.
And then in the end, I couldn't cope.
I went to the police nearly a month later.
Because I couldn't cope any more with the knowledge I had.
We've heard from members of your extended family that Sheila could never have hurt her children.
Is that a statement you'd agree with? No, it's not.
Why not? Because I saw her hurt them.
Can you describe the circumstances? We were in the car.
Going visiting.
Myself and my father were in the front seats, and Sheila and the boys in the back.
As we were driving, erm, I think Daniel interrupted Dad.
Just the way kids will.
Sheila turned and she punched him twice with a full fist in the face.
Yet you never mentioned it to anyone? - Your father never mentioned it.
- My family was like that.
Everything had to be kept private.
Particularly about Sheila.
Yet Miss Mugford has told us that you're lying about all this.
I'm not.
She is.
I did not kill anyone.
How did you feel when you first became aware of what she was saying about you? Horrified.
I mean I mean, I knew that she was saying horrible things, and untruths, that were keeping me in the cells in Chelmsford, but I I thought she was only doing it cos I'd split up with her, and I always thought that she'd see sense.
That she'd take it back.
But Well, she never did.
Thank you, Mr Bamber.
Mr Bamber, you say your sister punched one of her boys.
No-one else ever saw her do anything like that.
They did.
But those people are no longer with us.
Which is convenient for you, isn't it? I wouldn't call the death of my whole family convenient.
Yet it leaves you in a position that you're able to say whatever you like about a great many things without fear of contradiction.
Except, perhaps, from Miss Mugford.
The difference being that Julie isn't telling the truth.
I am.
You claim you left a rifle out, in the scullery, fully loaded, on the evening of the murders.
Isn't that an incredibly foolish thing to do? I was upset.
After hearing what my parents were saying to my sister about fostering out the boys.
Miss Mugford tells us the gun was left out intentionally - in preparation for murder.
- She's a liar.
Later that night, you say your father phoned you, at home, told you your sister Sheila had Where are we? Ah, yes.
gone berserk.
I can't be sure of his exact words.
But yes, roughly that.
As we've heard, forensic evidence suggests that he was grievously injured before coming downstairs.
How did he sound to you when he called? I-I-I don't recall his exact inflection, but, er he sounded rushed, I suppose.
Speaking more quickly than normal.
But beyond that, I'd only be surmising if I added to it.
Did he sound, for example, like he'd been shot twice in the mouth? I couldn't I couldn't say specifically whether he'd been wounded or not.
It was I I recognised his voice, but other than that, I just I'm sorry.
I don't know.
You then rang Chelmsford police.
Looked the number up in the phone book.
Yes, that's right.
Didn't think to simply dial 999? Even though your parents were in mortal danger.
At the time, the local police station seemed a better option.
Can I draw your attention to the phonebook that you used to make that call? What do you see there, in bold type, right underneath the number for Chelmsford police? Could you read it out? "In an emergency, dial 999 and ask for the police.
" "In an emergency.
" But you ignored that advice.
I don't really remember seeing this.
When your family's in danger, you don't tend to make calm, rational decisions.
You say you then rang your girlfriend, Julie Mugford.
Why? Because I needed a sympathetic ear.
Even though time was of the essence? Even though your sister had allegedly "gone berserk"? I suppose I was afraid my family would be hurt.
- My parents - Whom you hated.
I did not.
Yet you told many people that you hated them.
- That you wanted them dead.
- I've never said any such thing.
Why would people say it if it wasn't true? I can't comment on Julie's feelings.
I wasn't inside her head.
But I suppose she did love me.
And I'd been unfaithful.
And she was jealous, angry.
I'll offer you another, simpler explanation.
And that's that you're the one who's lying.
Julie's the liar.
A dreadful liar.
I'm not a dreadful liar.
This phone call from your father, your parents.
His business about accidentally leaving a rifle out.
You're not telling the truth about any of it! Are you, Mr Bamber?! Well, that's what you've got to try and establish.
In this case, we can forget fanciful scenarios involving mysterious intruders, or unknown assassins.
This is very much a two-horse race.
Sheila Caffell.
And her brother, the accused, Jeremy Bamber.
He claims he received a phone call on the night of the murders, from his father, who told him his sister, Sheila, was running amok with a gun.
Now, if Nevill Bamber truly made that call If the defendant is telling the truth about that then we must conclude that Sheila committed the murders.
If, on the other hand, Jeremy Bamber never received that call that's a lie.
And we've heard a great deal of evidence suggesting that it must be.
Then he is the killer.
Because there's only one reason why he would lie about something like that.
So, do you believe his account? With all its implausibilities.
Or do you prefer to believe Julie Mugford? A witness who has given us chapter and verse about how and why the defendant committed this horrible crime.
A witness who has never wavered in her astonishing story, from the moment she came to police.
Once you consider both stories, and the evidence that supports, or contradicts them, there's only one option.
An option which forces itself upon you, beyond any reasonable doubt.
And that option is to convict Jeremy Bamber.
Mr Rivlin.
This is a case in which there is little lacking in terms of human drama.
But there is one important thing missing.
And that is proof.
The crime scene was hopelessly mishandled by the police.
The forensic evidence against Mr Bamber is either ambiguous, or unreliable.
The blood in the silencer found by the family has not been conclusively proven to be Sheila Caffell's blood.
And instead of proof, the prosecution has relied on the word of Julie Mugford.
Mr Bamber's jilted ex-lover.
She has been free to manipulate us with her weeping, while Mr Bamber would be accused of crocodile tears if he cried, or of being cold-blooded if he did not.
With her carefully timed droplets of poison she has done her best to damage him.
But in the end there was nothing in her account that hadn't already been published in the press.
No-one will ever really know what happened on that terrible night at White House Farm.
There is much that simply doesn't add up.
And when the facts don't add up there must be room for doubt.
Given that doubt, that very reasonable doubt, it's your duty to acquit.
Hello? Detective Sergeant.
Apologies for the intrusion.
They say criminals return to the scene.
Sometimes us coppers do too.
You're welcome here any time.
I thought you'd be at home right now, sitting by the phone.
I always clean the place up on a Thursday afternoon.
I saw no reason to do any different.
So? The jury couldn't decide.
Judge sent them back out.
Said they'd accept a majority decision.
That can't be a good sign.
I expect not.
However this turns out, I want you to know I appreciate what you did.
It's nothing.
It's just my job.
What do you think? I think juries can be unpredictable.
Some of the Fleet Street boys are making book.
What are they offering? Four to one against a conviction.
Should have told me that sooner.
I'd have had a bit of that.
Mr Foreman, please stand.
Will the defendant please stand? To the question I'm about to ask, please answer yes or no.
Have the jury reached a verdict in respect of each count on which at least ten of you are agreed? Yes.
Do you find the defendant guilty or not guilty of the murder of Nevill Bamber? Guilty.
On the second count, do you find the defendant guilty or not guilty of the murder of June Bamber? Guilty.
No, no, no.
On the third count, do you find the defendant guilty or not guilty of the murder of Sheila Caffell? Guilty.
On the fourth count, do you find the defendant guilty or not guilty of the murder of Nicholas Caffell? Guilty.
On the fifth count, do you find the defendant guilty or not guilty of the murder of Daniel Caffell? Guilty.
Thank you, Mr Foreman.
Stand still.
Turn to your right.
Take off your tie.
Shoes.
Turn and face the cell.
Walk in.
Did you hear the news? I did, yeah.
Oh.
You've got guests? No.
Erm They're reporters.
News Of The World.
How much are you getting? Enough to get me started again.
How much? £25,000.
Isn't that fair enough, after what I've been through? Good luck with it, then.
There have been times over the past months when I thought I'd been condemned myself.
To a life of hatred.
And I knew that hating like that, in the end, it'd kill me.
But now, with this result, I do feel, maybe, I'm at a new beginning.
Not because Jeremy has been found guilty.
I can't take any pleasure in that.
But because the truth's been spoken.
And Sheila's name's been cleared.
Now, I'm still trying to understand this.
To understand why this happened.
But at least I know Sheila will now be remembered as the wonderful woman she was.
And the mother of my wonderful boys.