The New Yorker Radio Hour
Special Episode: From In the Dark — “Blood Relatives”
Date: November 4, 2025
Host: Ira Glass (on behalf of David Remnick and The New Yorker)
Reported by: Heidi Blake
Notable Guests:
- Barbara Wilson (village resident, family insider)
- Sergeant Chris Buese (responding officer)
- David Woods (local journalist)
Episode Overview
This special collaborative episode presents the first chapter of Blood Relatives, an award-winning investigative series by Heidi Blake. The story centers on the White House Farm murders—one of Britain’s most shocking family massacres. Through deep reporting and personal accounts, Heidi Blake unsettles the settled narrative, revealing new questions about the killings, the Bamber family, and the UK’s criminal justice system.
1. Setting the Scene: A Crime that Haunted Britain
[00:05–04:29]
- Heidi Blake describes the bleak salt marshes of Essex and the isolation of White House Farm, the elegant but infamous manor at the center of this tragedy.
- The Bamber family—Neville, June, and their two adopted children Sheila and Jeremy—outwardly epitomized wealth and privilege but harbored deep turmoil.
- The story opens with a massacre—five family members, including young twins, murdered. The crime rapidly enters English folklore, as retold by Sergeant Chris Buese and family acquaintance Barbara Wilson.
“This is a story... so sensational that it didn’t need to be questioned—because it seemed like there was nothing more to know.”
—Heidi Blake [03:49]
2. The Bamber Family Origins: Privilege and Private Pain
[05:13–23:31]
Key Points:
- Neville and June Bamber: From distinguished, even legendary, lineages. Neville is a genial ex-RAF pilot and respected local magistrate; June is more reserved and deeply religious.
- Barbara Wilson, local resident, is invited into the Bamber home and offers first-hand observations of their private life.
- The manor is described as warm and lively, but “underneath... there’s turmoil.” [10:18]
- Infertility and Adoption: After failed attempts to have children, the Bambers adopt Sheila (later known as “Bambi”) and Jeremy.
- June’s struggles with infertility never truly resolve; she maintains emotional distance from Sheila, leading to a pattern of coldness and eventual depressive illness.
- June repeatedly “disappears”—committed to psychiatric hospitals and subjected to electroshock therapy. [11:29]
- Sheila’s Life: Grows into a striking teenager and successful model, but her mental health deteriorates after a string of personal losses and strained family relationships.
- Diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia; periods of hospitalization and self-harm follow.
- Jeremy’s Path: Charming but rebellious, Jeremy causes tension with his free-wheeling lifestyle—including substance use, affairs, and provocative behavior (e.g., wearing makeup to unsettle his father).
- Family and staff see Jeremy as both likeable and menacing, relaying stories such as putting a bag of rats in Barbara’s car. [20:15]
- By August 1985, Sheila’s condition dramatically worsens; family and staff witness alarming hallucinations and threats.
Notable Quotes:
“They wanted to give the impression, I think, that everything’s fine, but underneath... there’s turmoil.”
—Barbara Wilson [10:18]
“The devil and everything is black and all men are evil.”
—Sheila Bamber (as remembered by Barbara Wilson, [22:27])
3. The Night of the Murders
[25:03–34:22]
The Events of August 7, 1985:
- Sergeant Chris Buese recounts a call from Jeremy Bamber, who claims his father phoned in panic—“It’s Sheila, she’s gone mad.”
- Police respond urgently but, fearing an armed threat, wait for backup rather than entering.
- Jeremy appears at the scene, urging them to intervene—“They’re all the family I’ve got.” [29:22]
- Eventually, armed police enter and discover five bodies: Neville, June, Sheila, and Sheila’s young twins. Sheila’s body is found with the rifle, a bloodstained Bible, and an open page that reads: “Save me from blood guiltiness.”
- The crime scene seems to support the immediate narrative—a murder-suicide by Sheila, in the grip of madness.
Quotes/Moments:
“Up to that time, I’d never seen anything as horrific as that.”
—Sergeant Chris Buese [03:36]
“We have a scene of a crime which has been very cunningly arranged.”
—Sergeant Chris Buese [03:45]
“If I’d had a kid calling for help, I’d have definitely gone in. But… that's not what happened.”
—Sergeant Chris Buese [31:22]
4. The Official Narrative and Public Reaction
[34:23–41:51]
- The killings become major news, depicted as an open-and-shut case of familial madness and tragedy.
- Press and public focus on Sheila as the archetype of a “tragic model-turned-killer,” nicknamed “Bambi” in tabloids.
- David Woods, a local reporter, encapsulates the story’s appeal—a high-society family, sensational violence, “pillars of the society they live in.” [38:51]
Quotes:
“Beautiful, tragic. She fitted a lovely narrative, didn’t she, for the press.”
—David Woods [39:06]
- Within a month, the story implodes: evidence and new witnesses lead police to consider a very different scenario.
5. The Twist: Jeremy Bamber under Suspicion
[41:52–44:27]
- Police rethink the crime: perhaps Sheila was not the killer, but herself murdered along with the others.
- Jeremy Bamber, the surviving (and now wealthy) heir, becomes the prime suspect—accused of orchestrating the scene to implicate his sister and claim the family fortune.
- Jeremy is arrested and rapidly cast as the ultimate tabloid villain—cold, manipulative, narcissistic, “evil beyond belief.”
- He is convicted of all five murders in 1986.
Quotes:
“A womaniser, a bit of a cad, really... Cocky, narcissist, psychopath and also cold blooded. He didn’t exactly get a good press, did he?”
—David Woods [41:31]
“What had happened to transform Jeremy Bamber, in the eyes of the police and the public, from a grieving son... into a cunning mass murderer?” —Heidi Blake [43:51]
6. Unravelling the Truth – Launching the Investigation
[44:28–end]
- Heidi Blake reveals she received a tip that the long-accepted story might be deeply flawed—sparking her multi-year investigation.
- She uncovered evidence and accounts that challenge the conviction, raising troubling questions about the police and the larger British legal system.
Notable Quotes:
“The more I found out, the clearer it became that nothing about this story was as it seemed... What I began to uncover would challenge what I thought I knew—not only about the murders at White House Farm, but also about the police, the judiciary, the whole British legal establishment.”
—Heidi Blake [44:12]
“Every level of the criminal justice system, there’s been a cover up in this case.”
—Heidi Blake [45:14]
7. Memorable Moments & Timestamps
- 00:47–04:29 – Atmospheric opening, setting the scene at White House Farm.
- 06:15–10:18 – Barbara Wilson’s arrival into the Bamber home, revealing family dynamics.
- 10:57–11:29 – June Bamber’s experience with psychiatric commitment and electroshock therapy.
- 18:03–20:28 – Jeremy Bamber’s rebellious acts and strained family relations.
- 22:27–23:31 – Sheila’s haunting final words at the family table.
- 26:11–31:36 – Sergeant Chris Buese’s step-by-step account of responding to the crime scene.
- 33:21–34:22 – The police discovery of the massacre inside the locked farmhouse.
- 35:03–38:20 – Media coverage and public reaction to the killings.
- 39:18–41:51 – Key reversal: Jeremy becomes the prime suspect; changing the story’s course.
- 43:51–44:27 – Heidi Blake introduces her investigation challenging the foundation of the entire case.
8. Tone and Style
Heidi Blake uses evocative, cinematic narration, blending meticulous reporting with atmospheric storytelling. The tone throughout is simultaneously empathetic, suspenseful, and unflinching—balancing tender personal recollections with the grim details of the crime.
Barbara Wilson offers gentle, matter-of-fact memories, heavily tinged with hindsight and trauma, while Sgt. Buese’s recounting is practical, haunted by the enormity of the event. David Woods provides the meta-perspective of a journalist who has watched the story’s narrative shift, reflecting the wider public view.
9. Conclusion & Next Steps
Blood Relatives sets out to re-investigate a case thought to be resolved and promises new revelations about both the crime and the functioning of justice in the UK.
“I know there’s going to be a twist one day—a massive twist.”
—David Woods [45:10]
Episodes continue in the “In the Dark” podcast feed.
This summary covers the substance, style, and atmosphere of the first episode, offering a guide for listeners and non-listeners alike to the tragic, twisting saga at the heart of ‘Blood Relatives.’