The Brides in Bath Case - 1915

Edgar Lustgarten used to open his hugely popular True Crime BBC programme in the 1950s with the words "Have you ever murdered anyone? Perhaps you'd rather not say". Up to six million listeners tuned in every week to hear Lustgarten drily recount the details of major trials. It is probably fair to say that he invented the True Crime audio genre.

The Chiron True Crime series was recorded by Lustgarten in a London studio in Dolby quality in 1976. Lustgarten's voice is austere but not without wit, gripping yet somehow addictive. The voice of a top Barrister presenting the facts of the case with the hangman's noose waiting silently in the shadows.

"The Brides-in-the-Bath case, with its bizarre details of the macabre was a sensation in 1915, says Edgar Lustgarten. Smith's trial contains several items of interest to specialists. To lawyers, a nice point concerning the admissibility of evidence. To students of human nature, the callousness and hypocrisy of the accused. But most of all-and this is of general interest-what stands out is the magnificent conduct of Marshall Hall of a defence that was absolutely hopeless. The question is often asked: What should defending counsel do when he believes his client is guilty? By example, the answer is demonstrated here."