Jeremy Bamber has been in prison since October 1986, but without the help of his former girlfriend Julie Mugford, that may never have happened.
Julie was the prosecution’s key witness in the trial after Jeremy murdered his family at White House Farm back in August 1985.
Her bombshell evidence pointed the finger firmly at Jeremy as the gunman responsible for killing his parents, Nevill and June, sister, Sheila, and young nephews, Nicholas and Daniel.
Despite being pictured comforting Jeremy at the funeral of his entire family, Julie decided to drastically change her statement – which then led to the arrest of her boyfriend.
Julie Mugford comforting her boyfriend Jeremy Bamber at his family’s funeral.White House Farm killer Jeremy Bamber loses bid to be freed from maximum security prison
Single photo and tiny gesture that exposed Jeremy Bamber’s guilt at his family’s funeral
Julie told officers that he had been planning to kill his parents, Nevill and June, for some time and revealed the full details of the chilling phone call he made to her on the night of the murders at White House Farm in Essex.
In her revised statement, she told police Jeremy had said he had repeatedly told her he wished he could “get rid of them all”.
Jeremy murdered his parents, Nevill and June, as well as his sister, Sheila, and young nephews, Nicholas and Daniel.White House Farm killer Jeremy Bamber has ‘bombshell evidence’ for new freedom bid
In October 1986, Jeremy was jailed for life and will spend the rest of his days in prison – despite trying to appeal the conviction.
Weeks after he was jailed, Julie was paid £25,000 to tell her story to the News of the World and admitted she had been under the murderer’s “spell”
But then Julie completely disappeared from the public eye with the first pictures of her emerging at Jeremy’s appeal hearing in 2002.
Julie is now 57 and goes by the name Julie Smerchanski and lives in Winnipeg, Canada.
Julie is now 57 and goes by the name Julie Smerchanski and lives a life of suburban normality with her husband and grown up children in Winnipeg, Canada.
She met her husband, Canadian Glen, in 1990, and worked as a special needs teacher before being promoted to the deputy head of a primary school. Julie is now an education officer in Winnipeg.
Jeremy is currently serving his prison sentence in HM Prison Wakefield in Yorkshire.DON’T MISS
One of her neighbours told the Mail On Sunday: “She’s rebuilt her life. She’s not the same person now and then. She and Glen are a lovely couple.”
Sadly, Julie is still haunted by the murders almost 35 years ago and suffers from nightmares.
Her husband Glen said: “Julie just wishes it would all go away and we could get on with our lives.
The story of the murders was told in a six-part drama entitled White House Farm.
“How would you feel if you did the right thing and your life continued to be ruined by it.”
But one thing that has never waivered for Julie is her conviction that Bamber is guilty of the five murders, as she once said: “As far as I’m concerned nothing has changed. I sincerely believe he is guilty.”
The story of the murders was told in a six-part drama entitled ‘White House Farm’ which was shown on ITV at the beginning of 2020, and is now streaming on Netflix.
