John Bodkin Adams’ Stethoscope

Origin
John Bodkin Adams (1899 - 1983) was an Irish general practitioner, convicted fraudster and suspected serial killer. This was because between 1946 - 1956 more than 160 of his patients died in suspicious circumstances and of these, 132 left money or items to Adams in their wills. Though an investigation started up in 1956 Adams was not concerned, in fact until the day he was let go from his hospital Adams wouldn't stop helping his patients. According to the nurses Adams gave 'special injections' which was only known to him as he wouldn't share the substances with them. Another habit of his was to ask the nurses to leave the room before injections were given. Also Adams would isolate patients from their relatives, hindering contact between them. Of course the families of the patients who changed their wills to include him however all paperwork held up in court.

Another thing that was done to slow the investigation, considered an 'extraordinary move' on his part, was that the British Medical Association (BMA) sent a letter to all doctors in Adams' hospital to remind them that due to patient confidentiality they couldn't talk to the police. This tied up the investigation for four months until, thanks to pressure by the police, the BMA removed the ban for the case against Adams. Finally the police could get a search warrant for Adams' house however they couldn't find anything except two bottles of morphine which he said was for a very sick patient of his.

In the end he was arrested and went to trial for murder but all evidence that might point to him as a murderer went missing so he was acquitted. Later when he was on trial for fraud, writing prescriptions without a patient needing them, the BMA discovered him to be guilty stripping him of his right to practice. However he still continued to see his most loyal patients only prescribing over-the-counter medicine to them. Just like most of his patients Adams passed away under suspicious circumstances.

Effects
Can stop victim’s heart, user has to listen to the heart stop beating.