Gertrude Hullett

Gertrude "Bobby" Hullett (1906 – 23 July 1956), a resident of Eastbourne, East Sussex, England, was a patient of the suspected serial killer Dr John Bodkin Adams, who was charged with her murder but never tried for it. Adams was tried in 1957 for the murder of Edith Alice Morrell and the Hullett charge was meant to follow the Morrell case.

The Morrell trial featured in headlines around the world and was described at the time as "one of the greatest murder trials of all time" and "murder trial of the century". However, the Hullett charge was dropped by the Attorney General after Adams was acquitted of murdering Morrell – a move that was later described by the presiding judge as "an abuse of process".

On 14 March 1956, her husband Alfred John (Jack) Hullett died at age 71. He had been treated by John Bodkin Adams, and shortly after his death, Adams went to a chemist's shop to get a 10-cc hypodermic morphine solution in the name of Mr Hullett (containing 5 grains of morphine), and asked for the prescription to be back-dated to the previous day. When the police investigated the case, they presumed the purpose of the ruse was to cover up morphine that Adams had given Hullett from his own private supplies. Mr Hullett left Adams £500 in his will.

Gertrude Hullett, 50, became depressed after Jack's death. Adams prescribed for her large amounts of sodium barbitone and sodium phenobarbitone. She had told Adams on frequent occasions of her wish to commit suicide.

On 17 July 1956, Hullett wrote out a cheque for Adams in the amount of £1,000; to pay for an MG car which her husband had promised to buy him. Adams paid the cheque into his account the next day, and on being told that it would clear by the 21st, asked for it to be specially cleared, so that it would arrive in his account the next day.

On 19 July, Hullett is thought to have taken an overdose, and was found the next morning in a coma. Adams was unavailable and a colleague, Dr Harris, attended her until Adams arrived later in the day. Not once during their discussion did Adams mention to Dr Harris that Mrs Hullett had had depression or her barbiturate medication. The two doctors decided a cerebral hemorrhage was most likely, due partly to contracted pupils. This, however, is also a symptom of morphine or barbiturate poisoning. Moreover, her breathing was shallow; typical of an overdose-induced coma.

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