New exhibition focuses on alleged crimes of Dr John Bodkin Adams
Exhibits from one of the most disturbing criminal cases from the 1950s are now on display for the first time at The True CRIME Museum in Hastings – as the infamous case of Dr John Bodkin Adams re-enters into the public’s consciousness.
Adam’s Old Bailey trial shocked post war Britain. He was accused of altering the wills of elderly patients to favour him before their subsequent deaths. It’s believed as many as 163 of his patients died in comas – with many of them leaving money to their doctor.
The museum’s exhibition asks visitors to look at the purported motives behind the accusations of murder so they can decide for themselves if Bodkin Adams was guilty – or not.
He was born in County Antrim but set up his medical practice in Eastbourne, East Sussex. Rumours quickly swirled that he was targeting the wealthy.
His arrest and subsequent Central London trial results in an assortment of lurid headlines as the nation struggled to come to terms with the idea that a harmless appearing bespectacled doctor could be capable of killing.
One newspaper even ran with a headline saying it was the ‘trial of the century’ as Bodkin Adams stood in the dock accused of the murder of 81 year old, Edith Alice Morrell.
Rumours of a lavish lifestyle didn’t help his defence – and nor did his near silence throughout the 17 day hearing.
The drawn out case eventually saw a ‘not guilty’ verdict from the jury. And yet suspicions remained…
The exhibition at The True CRIME Museum at White Rock in Hastings is showing parts of his medical belongings for the first time since the infamous 1957 proceedings at the Central Criminal Courts in London. Bodkin Adams died in 1983.
Dr John Bodkin Adams’ stood in the dock at the Old Bailey in 1957. One newspaper described his case as the ‘trial of the century.’ Image: Tupungato / Shutterstock.
‘Take the facts of the case and decide’
‘The exhibit questions the motive behind the deaths, we want people to take the facts of the case and decide for themselves,’ says Museum Curator, Joel Griggs.
‘This is the first local case that we introduced to the Museum. Bodkin Adams’ syringes add a depth of chilling reality to the other seemingly benign items on display.’
Breaktime News has previously reported on The True CRIME Museum’s examination of a possible East Sussex connection to Jack The Ripper.
