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Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} The Magnificent Spilsbury and the Case of the Brides In the Bath by Jane Robins The Magnificent Spilsbury And The Brides In The Bath: Jane Robins. Or so it seemed until a newspaper report linking two of the deaths aroused suspicion and a police investigation revealed that all three men were one and the same, a self-important fellow named George Joseph Smith who admitted bigamy and deception but denied murder. Thereafter, at Smith’s trial for the murder of one of the women, the young forensic scientist Bernard Spilsbury was called as an expert witness and jousted with Edward Marshall Hall, the pre-eminent jury advocate in capital cases. The author and publishers are plainly hoping to emulate the success of Kate Summerscale’s 2008 bestseller The Suspicions Of Mr Whicher: Or The Murder At Road Hill House. While that book linked a sensational murder case from the 1860s with the genesis of detective fiction, Robins links these three murders with the genesis of forensic science in Britain and the man who was to become its legendary exemplar for over 30 years, Bernard (later Sir Bernard) Spilsbury. She also locates these crimes against women in the context of the social and sexual mores of the 1910s. The story is not just a compelling read but is also an intriguing slice of social history. Smith had been preying on women since 1898, usually plain respectable girls of meek dispositions, who were approaching the age when permanent spinsterhood beckoned. Posing as a small businessman he insured the lives of his three victims and ensured they made their wills. He laid false trails by having them complain of headaches, then discovered them drowned in a bathtub, always when a witness was conveniently close by. To a modern mind versed in psychology Smith displayed many of the characteristics of the self-aggrandising psychopath. Yet much of his behaviour seemed in keeping with male attitudes of the time. Smith’s ability to get his wives to hand over their life savings spoke volumes for a time when many women so feared being unmarriageable that blind obedience to their husbands was a norm. There was speculation that Smith possessed the hypnotic powers of Svengali, the villain of a popular novel of the day. Women flocked to his trial for a glimpse of this presumed spellbinder. Although Smith protested his innocence, his own counsel Marshall Hall considered him a murderer. It was just that Hall refused to accept the forensic evidence about how the brides had come to be drowned, preferring to think that Smith hypnotised them before submerging them. Indeed, Robins shows that Spilsbury erred in his conclusion that gooseflesh on one of the disinterred bodies meant that the brides had died of shock following sudden submersion. The Magnificent Spilsbury and the Case of the Brides In the Bath by Jane Robins. Affiliate Disclosure: This site contains affiliate links, if you click on one of these links and make a purchase, we may receive a commission. Click here to learn more. Bernard Spilsbury (1877-1947) was a British pathologist who was one of the first well-known expert witnesses both in and out of the courtroom - his area of expertise: forensic pathology. He entered the media spotlight in 1910 when he testified at the murder trial of Dr. Crippen. However, it was the 1915 murder trial of George Joseph Smith (1872-1915), a thief, bigamist, and murderer that established his fame as a medical detective. Smith became known as the Brides in the Bath murderer because of his habit of having his new wives take out life insurance policies that named him as the beneficiary and then drowning them in a bathtub a day or two later. It was this trial that truly brought the field of forensic pathology to the publics attention. Almost overnight, Spilsbury and the science he practiced, became regarded as infallible. In hindsight, Spilsbury was fallible, but that is another story. The Magnificent Spilsbury and the Case of the Brides in the Bath , by Jane Robins is a cross between a popular history and a biography, Robins begins by alternating chapters between looking at Spilsbury's life and work (including a chapter devoted to the Crippin murder trial), and the actions of Smith. With alacrity, Robins recounts how Smith wooed (using various names), married, and then murdered three women, Bessie Mundy, Alice Burnham, and Margaret Elizabeth Lofty. She then introduces Detective Inspector Arthur Neil, the man who was destined to put all the pieces together and determined that the three women did not die accidently, as was previously thought. Using good old-fashioned police work, Neil determined that all three women were married to the same man - despite the fact that he used a different name in each case, and that he murdered them after having them write out wills naming himself as heir, and taking life insurance policies in which he was the beneficiary. As Neil was to discover, these were not Smith's only wives. He did not always murder his wives, and merely robbed and deserted several of his wives. He also had one wife, his first, that he hung onto, and would return Edith Pegler whenever he did not have another woman in his life. Once caught, Robins provides a candid look at Smith's trial, the evidence presented, and the public reaction to the trial. In writing this book, Robins not only recounts the case of the Brides in the Bath murders and the resulting trial, but also provides fascinating biographies of both Spilsbury and Smith. Most important, she provides a telling overview on how the science of forensic pathology developed, how Spilsbury became viewed in the courtroom and by the public as a real life medical detective along the lines of a Sherlock Holmes. She also looks at how evidence garnered by forensic pathology came to be accepted in the courtroom and how the public viewed forensic evidence. Robins also examines Spilsbury's later career and how his eminence faded over the years as people began to question how he obtained his evidence, and the conclusions that he derived upon viewing the collected evidence. From first page till last, I found this to be a riveting book, not just because I'm interested in forensic science, but because The Magnificent Spilsbury and the Case of the Brides in the Bath is also a work of social history that opens a window into a pivotal period of British history. It sheds light upon a time when many women were willing to marry basically anyone who asked simply because the alternative of remaining unwed was deemed so repugnant. It is also an interesting case to examine because Smith's murder trial took place against the backdrop of World War I, and despite the war and the Zeppelins filling the sky's over London, people still waited for hours for a chance of getting into the courtroom to get a glimpse of Smith. As well, his story filled the newspapers on both sides of the Atlantic. It was the O. J. Simpson trial of the period with all the accompanying fan fare and virtual stardom for the key players at the trial, notably the accused as well as Neil and Spilsbury. The Magnificent Spilsbury and the Case of the Brides in the Bath is a well written book and a must-read book for fans of true-crime stories, mystery afficionados (how Smith drowned his wives so that all the deaths appeared to be accidental has still not been satisfactorily solved), as well as those interested in the history of forensic science and criminal justice. Related Reviews: The Bewitching of Anne Gunter: A Horrible and True Story of Deception, Witchcraft, Murder, and the King of England , By James Sharpe. A case study of Anne Gunter claim of demonic possession and the resulting witch trials - including her own. Beating the Devil's Game: A History of Forensic Science and Criminal Investigation , by Katherine Ramsland. Rather than focusing on modern crimes and current forensic technologies, this book looks at the history and evolution of forensic science and the development of crime scene and criminal investigation techniques. The Magnificent Spilsbury and the Case of the Brides in the Bath by Jane Robins: review. Between July 1912 and December 1914, Bessie Mundy, Alice Burnham and Margaret Lofty were all found dead in the baths of rented houses or boarding rooms in English seaside towns. All three had married precipitately and had made recent wills in favour of their new husband. Each had handed over their life savings and signed new life insurance policies. They were the victims of the notorious “Brides in the Bath Murderer”, George Joseph Smith. The dearth of available men in the years preceding the First World War may, in part, account for why these women allowed themselves to be fatally duped by a man older, poorer and less well-educated than themselves. Adopting different names and styling himself variously as a picture restorer, a framer and a second-hand dealer, Smith had crooked knees and out-turned feet, but his hawkish eyes were as hypnotic as his self- confidence. Promising to set up shop with the women or whisk them off to Canada, he rapidly subjugated their wills to his own, alienating them from their immediate families. Within days or even hours of their weddings, he took each one to a doctor to complain of debilitating headaches or recent, unwitnessed, “fits”. Had Alice Burnham’s father not noticed the similarity between his daughter’s death and newspaper reports of Margaret Lofty's, they might never have come to the attention of Detective Inspector Arthur Neil.

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