August 7, 1985
Tolleshunt D’Arcy, Essex, England
Five people, including a set of 6-year-old twins, are shot and killed

The murders were carried out by Jeremy Bamber, who killed his adoptive parents, adoptive sister, and her twin boys. He then staged the scene to appear as though his sister, a former model with schizophrenia, had killed her parents and children before herself. Sensationalized newspaper headlines immediately jumped on this belief and ran articles such as “Suicide girl kills twins and parents.”

Neville, Jeremy’s father, was shot 8 times and struck with a blunt object, likely the gun itself. His jaw was fractured and teeth, larynx, and neck damaged. June, Jeremy’s mother, was shot 7 times ranging from between her eyes to her knee. The twins, Daniel and Nicholas, were shot in bed a combined number of 8 times.

Jeremy’s sister Sheila had 2 gunshot wounds, one under her chin and another to her throat. The chin wound was a contact wound and would have been immediately fatal while the shot to the throat was fired from approximately 3 inches away. It was determined this shot may not have killed a person immediately and could in theory have allowed for Sheila to fire the second fatal shot.

A month after the murders, Bamber’s ex-girlfriend came forward to police stating Bamber had implicated himself in the murders. Further investigation revealed he had in fact killed his family in hopes of inheriting a large sum of money from his wealthy parents. He was convicted of murder October 28, 1986 and given a whole-life order.

The house in which the murders took place