At 1am on the freezing morning of 5th January 1985 a pretty, dark-complexioned woman was found lying in undergrowth at Keston Ponds, near Bromley in Kent. She was wearing a blouse and dress but no overcoat. She had an open gash across her throat which had bled profusely. She was taken to a nearby house and help was called for. She was deeply unconscious but still alive, the sub-zero conditions slowing the haemorrhage. She was taken to Bromley Hospital and put straight into intensive care.

The woman was identified as 42-year-old Dr. Madhu Baksh. She was the second wife of 52-year-old Dr. John Baksh, a general practitioner with surgeries in Mottingham and Chislehurst. Both the practices were doing very well and his wife, like Mrs Baksh 'number one', was a partner with her husband. John Baksh had reported his wife as missing during the evening of the 4th after she failed to turn up for an evening out with her husband.

As Madhu started to slowly recover she tried to mumble a few words to waiting detectives. One of these words was 'morphine'. Tests were immediately carried out on pre-transfusion blood samples from the woman and a massive dose of morphine was detected. Detectives doing background investigation discovered that John Baksh held insurance policies worth £215,000 on his wife's life. Further checking revealed what had happened. Baksh had driven his wife's car and abandoned it in Bromley. He then administered a narcotic drug to to his wife, probably in a drink, to make her drowsy and had then 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.

Dectectives also discovered that Baksh's first wife, Ruby, had 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, though no post-mortem had been conducted. The body was exhumed and organs removed back to England for testing. Tests proved that the woman had received a large dose of morphine. She had been insured for £90,000.

Baksh was charged with murder and attempted murder and appeared at the Old Bailey in December 1986. The jury were unanimous in finding him guilty and he received life and 14 years' imprisonment, respectively. Madhu obtained a divorce on the grounds of his 'unreasonable behaviour'.

Murder-UK.com

Baksh, John

At 1 am on the freezing cold 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 but did not have on a topcoat. Her attacker had cut her throat and then left her to die. The wound had bled considerably and although very serious she was still alive.

One reason for this was believed to be due to the weather. The sub zero temperatures had slowed down the heartbeat thus slowing down the bleeding. She was taken to a nearby house and an ambulance was called. She was deeply unconscious but still alive. She was taken to Bromley Hospital and put straight into intensive care.

The woman was identified as 42-year-old Dr. Madhu Baksh. She was the current wife of 52-year-old Dr. John Baksh, a general practitioner with surgeries in both Mottingham and Chislehurst. Both the practices were doing very well. His current wife and his ex-wife had been partners in the practice with John Baksh.

He had reported his wife as missing during the evening of the night before after she failed to turn up for an evening out with him. A policeman was constantly by her bedside and as Madhu started to slowly recover she tried to mumble a few words to the waiting detectives. Although she made little sense one word they were able to recognise was 'morphine'. Tests were immediately carried out on pre-transfusion blood samples from the woman and massive amounts of morphine were detected.

Before this discovey it had been thought possible that her injuries were the result of an attack but they now started suspecting murder and the detectives started doing some background investigation and soon discovered that John Baksh held insurance policies worth £215,000 on his wife's life. Further checking revealed what had happened and the police started to build up a picture of events.

It looked as if Baksh had driven his wife's car and abandoned it in Bromley. He then administered a narcotic drug to to his wife, probably in a drink, to make her drowsy and had then injected her with morphine in the back of the thigh. He then took her body to Keston, placed it in the undergrowth and in cold blood slashed her throat.

Dectectives also discovered that Baksh's first wife, Ruby, had 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, though no post-mortem had been conducted. The body was exhumed and organs removed back to England for testing. Tests proved that the woman had received a large dose of morphine. She had been insured for £90,000.

Baksh was charged with the murder of his first wife and the attempted murder of his second and appeared at the Old Bailey in December 1986. The jury were unanimous in finding him guilty and he received life and 14 years' imprisonment, respectively. Madhu obtained a divorce on the grounds of his 'unreasonable behaviour' which under the circumstances seemed reasonable.

Real-crime.co.uk