Dr. John Baksh

Background

Dr. Madhu Baksh was a 42-year-old woman who was attacked at Keston Ponds, near Bromley in Kent. Dr. John Baksh was a 52-year-old general practitioner with surgeries in Mottingham and Chislehurst. Both of his practices were doing very well. Dr. Madhu Baksh was the second wife of Dr. John Baksh. Dr. John Baksh’s current wife, Dr. Madhu Baksh, and his ex-wife, Ruby, had both been partners with him in the practice.

Dr. John Baksh had reported his wife, Dr. Madhu Baksh, as missing during the evening of the 4th after she failed to turn up for an evening out with him. As Dr. Madhu Baksh started to slowly recover, she tried to mumble a few words to waiting detectives.

Madhu obtained a divorce on the grounds of his “unreasonable behaviour”.

The offence

At 1am on the freezing morning of 5 January 1985, an attractive, dark-complexioned woman was found lying in undergrowth at Keston Ponds, near Bromley in Kent. She was fully dressed, wearing a blouse and skirt, and did not have an overcoat/topcoat. She had an open gash across her throat, and her attacker had cut her throat and then left her to die. The wound had bled profusely/considerably, and she was still alive but deeply unconscious.

Before it was identified as murder, the sub-zero temperatures were believed to have slowed down her heartbeat and thus slowed the bleeding. She was taken to a nearby house and an ambulance was called. She was then taken to Bromley Hospital and put straight into intensive care.

Detectives later formed a picture of what had happened. Dr. John Baksh drove Dr. Madhu Baksh’s car and abandoned it in Bromley. He then administered a narcotic drug to her, probably in a drink, to make her drowsy. He injected her with morphine in the back of the thigh. He then took her body to Keston, placed it in the undergrowth, and slashed her throat.

Dr. John Baksh’s first wife, Ruby, had previously been found dead in her bed while they were on holiday in Spain in 1983. The cause of death had been certified as a heart attack, and no post-mortem had been conducted. After Ruby’s body was exhumed, organs were removed back to England for testing. Tests proved that Ruby had received a large dose of morphine.

Investigation

As Dr. Madhu Baksh slowly recovered, she tried to mumble a few words to waiting detectives. One of the words she was able to recognise was “morphine”.

Tests were immediately carried out on pre-transfusion blood samples from Dr. Madhu Baksh, and massive amounts of morphine were detected.

Detectives discovered that Dr. John Baksh held insurance policies worth £215,000 on his wife’s life. Further checking revealed that Dr. Madhu Baksh had been insured for £90,000.

Arrest / Proceedings

Dr. John Baksh was charged with murder and attempted murder. He appeared at the Old Bailey in December 1986.

Trial

The jury were unanimous in finding Dr. John Baksh guilty.

Sentencing

Dr. John Baksh received life imprisonment for murder and 14 years’ imprisonment for attempted murder.

Outcome