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John Bodkin Adams: The Doctor Who Was Always There at the End

Eastbourne was meant to be a place to grow old quietly.
Neat streets. Polite society. Doctors you trusted with your life.

John Bodkin Adams was one of those doctors.

Over decades, elderly patients under his care died suddenly — often after injections, often without witnesses, and frequently after rewriting their wills. He attended funerals. He comforted grieving families. And, time and again, he benefited.

In this episode of The Eclectic, we examine the life and crimes of Dr John Bodkin Adams, a GP suspected of murdering dozens of patients while hiding behind professional respectability and social privilege. We explore the pattern of deaths, the police investigation that was quietly resisted at the highest levels, and the extraordinary trial that left more questions than answers.

Was Adams a compassionate doctor easing suffering — or one of Britain’s most prolific serial killers, protected by status and silence?

Because sometimes, the most dangerous figures aren’t monsters in the dark — they’re trusted men in plain sight.

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John Bodkin Adams - Wikipedia

Randalstown Heritage Tales - Randalstown Arches Association

Adams, John Bodkin | Dictionary of Irish Biography

THE TRIAL OF DR. ADAMS: DRAMA IN THE COURTROOM; OLD BAILEY - The New York Times

Shipman and Bodkin Adams in the dock - The Lancet Psychiatry

John Bodkin Adams | Murderpedia, the encyclopedia of murderers

Scandalous Eastbourne – Travel log lewes

John Bodkin Adams, A Curious And Dubious Doctor - HeadStuff

RECOMMENDED FURTHER READING FOR LISTENERS

• The Trial of John Bodkin Adams — Percy Hoskins
• Bodkin Adams: A Doctor’s Deceit — John Surtees
• BBC Timewatch episode on Adams
• National Archives: DPP files on Operation Standstill