Death of Edith Alice Morrell

Edith Alice Morrell (20 June 1869 – 13 November 1950), was a resident of Eastbourne and patient of the suspected serial killer John Bodkin Adams. He was tried for her murder in 1957 but acquitted. The trial featured in headlines around the world[1] and was described at the time as "one of the greatest murder trials of all time"[2] and "murder trial of the century".[3] It was also described at the time as "unique" because, in the words of the judge, "the act of murder" had "to be proved by expert evidence."[1] There were indications of interference with the trial.[4]

Medical History

Edith Alice Morrell was a wealthy widow who suffered a brain thrombosis (a stroke) on 24 June 1948 while visiting her son in Cheshire. She was partially paralysed and was admitted to a hospital there the following day and Adams, her usual doctor, arrived on the 26th.[5] The following day she was first prescribed morphine (given ¼ grains SOS (i.e. when necessary)) for pain. She stayed for nine days[6] before Adams took her back to Eastbourne.[7] On 9 July Adams increased the morphine dose to ½ grain and added 1/6 grain of heroin to ease symptoms of "cerebral irritation" and to help her sleep. These doses gradually increased. Adams suddenly withdrew the morphia completely on 1 November 1950 only to reintroduce it on the 6th, giving 2 grains.[8]

On the 7th she was given 1½ grains of morphia and 2½ of heroin.[9] On the 8th, 2 grains of each. On the 9th Adams gave 2 grains of morphia and 1½ of heroin. Then on the 10th she was given 1 grain of morphia and 4 grains of heroin, 5 on the 11th, and 3½ on the 12th. That day she was also given paraldehyde to mask involuntary jerks, but which also acted as a mild sedative and depressant of the lungs. The latter was particularly dangerous since heroin also decreases lung functionality.

During the ten and a half months leading up to her death, Adams gave a total of 1,629½ grains of barbiturates; 1,928 grains of Sedormid; 16411⁄12 grains of morphia and 139½ grains of heroin.[10] Between 7 and 12 November 1949 alone, she was given 40½ grains of morphia (2624 mg) and 39 grains of heroin (2527 mg), according to prescriptions.[10] This, according to the prosecution in the trial, would more than likely have been enough to kill her in itself despite any tolerance developed (the respective LD-50s are (in one dose) between 375–3750 mg for morphine and 75–375 mg for heroin based on a person of 75 kg [11]).

After a year and three months of treatment, Morrell died on 13 November 1950 aged 81.[12] Adams certified the cause of death as a "stroke" following a coma that lasted two hours.[12] On inspecting the body, Adams slit her wrist to ensure she was dead.[13]

The day of her death, Adams arranged for Morrell to be cremated.[12] On the cremation form he stated that "as far as I am aware" he had no pecuniary interest in the death of the deceased, thereby avoiding the necessity of a post-mortem.[12] That same evening, Morrell's ashes were scattered over the English Channel.[12]

Wills

Morrell made several wills. In some of them, Adams received large sums of money, Morrell's Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost (valued at £1,500[12]) and furniture, while in others he was not mentioned.[14] Finally, on 13 September 1950 a codicil was written cutting Adams out of her will completely.[15] Despite the last codicil, on the wishes of Morrell's son, Adams was given the Rolls-Royce, a Jacobean court cupboard and an antique chest containing silver cutlery worth £276, which Adams had often told her he admired.[12] This was from a total estate worth £78,000. After Morrell's death, he also took away an infrared lamp she had bought herself, worth £60, which was later found at his surgery.[16] Adams billed her estate for 1,100 visits,[17] costing ₤1,674 in total. The police however estimated that Adams had visited Morrell a total of 321 times during her treatment.[18]

Arrest and trial

Adams was investigated in 1956 after the unusual death of another patient, Gertrude Hullett, following a tip-off from her friend, actor Leslie Henson. The police investigated various other patients' deaths and came across that of Morrell, which they considered highly suspicious. Adams was tried for Morrell's murder in 1957 but was found not guilty. The prosecution lost important evidence, which was then produced by the defence and two medical experts differed in their interpretation of Morrell's treatment by Adams.[19] The Attorney General then entered a plea of nolle prosequi regarding Mrs Hullett.

Adams was never found guilty of any deaths, but the Home Office Pathologist Francis Camps suspected him of killing 163 patients.[4]

Cause of death

Dr Jane Mercer, pathologist at Eastbourne District General Hospital, reviewed Morrell's case from a modern perspective after the opening of the police archives in 2003. She concluded that while there was no conclusive evidence that would prove in court Adams' guilt, she was "convinced by the evidence that Dr Adams made at least one attempt to kill Mrs Morrell" before her eventual death.[20] This took place on the night of 8/9 October when the nurses noticed what they thought might have been a stroke.[21] Mercer contends (based on the semicomatose sleep that followed and the lack of paralysis or slurred speech) that it could have been an unsuccessful murder attempt due to Adams underestimating the dose which Morrell would tolerate at that stage of her addiction to the drugs he was prescribing.[22]

Notes and references

  1. 1 2 Not Guilty, Time, 22 April 1957.
  2. ↑ Law and Literature, ed. Brook Thomas, p. 149 – quoting Rupert Furneaux
  3. ↑ Times, 11 June 1985, p. 10
  4. 1 2 Cullen, Pamela V., A Stranger in Blood: The Case Files on Dr. John Bodkin Adams, London, Elliott & Thompson, 2006, ISBN 1-904027-19-9
  5. ↑ Cullen, p. 560
  6. ↑ Cullen, p. 395
  7. ↑ Adams arranged for a special carriage to be attached to a train to London, and then had Morrell transferred to an ambulance for the journey to Eastbourne. (Cullen, p. 561)
  8. ↑ This was the date Dr Douthwaite, an expert medical witness at Adams' trial, selected as the day an intent to kill could be first deduced (though he later equivocated, mentioning 1 November and also the 8th).
  9. ↑ The recommended dose of morphine in 1949 was ¼ grain and 1/6 grain of heroin per day (though in France it was up to a ⅓ for the latter). The fact that Morrell was 81 at the time meant that there was also the added risk of 'accumulation', since her weakened body couldn't excrete the drugs as efficiently as a younger patient might.
  10. 1 2 Cullen, p. 285
  11. ↑ Toxic Substances in water
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Cullen, p. 94
  13. ↑ Cullen, p.564
  14. ↑ Cullen, pp. 88-93
  15. ↑ Cullen, p. 93
  16. ↑ Cullen, p. 96
  17. ↑ Cullen, p. 563
  18. ↑ Cullen, p. 565
  19. ↑ Bedford, Sybille, The Best We Can Do, Penguin, 1989 ISBN 0-14-011557-9
  20. ↑ Cullen, p.636
  21. ↑ "?stroke?" was written in the nurses' log book.
  22. ↑ Cullen, p.603

See also

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