Infamous Murderer & Serial Killer Profiles - #3 Dr Harold Shipman

Market Street in Hyde, location of Dr Harold "Fred" Shipman's surgery

Welcome to part-three of Murder Mile Blog's investigation into the profile of some of the world's most infamous serial killers, previously we've had Dennis Nilsen and John Wayne Gacy Jnr, and now "Doctor Death" himself - Dr Harold Shipman. As before, the purpose of these profiles is not to glorify or demonise their crimes, but to try and understand who these serial killers were as human beings; what were their likes, dislikes, loves and hates, in the hope of understanding why they did what they did. The following is based on a series of set-questions, with the answers taken from reputable sources such as court transcripts, biographies and witness testimony. 

Profile #3: Dr Harold Shipman. During his 24 year career as a family doctor in Hyde (Cheshire) and Todmorden (West Yorkshire), Dr Harold Shipman "euthanized" by lethal injection 218 elderly patients (possibly as many as 358+), making him one of the most prolific serial killers in history. 

PERSONAL DETAILS

• Birth Name: Dr Harold Frederick Shipman
• Date of Birth: 14th January 1946
• Place of Birth: Bestwood council estate, Nottingham (England)
• Weight: 15 stone (95 kilos)
• Height: 5 foot 9 inches (1.75m)
• Hair Colour: Originally dark brown, but later grey/white
• Eye Colour: Blue/Green
• Nickname: Dubbed by the media as “The Angel of Death” (the same nickname as Beverly Allitt) and “Dr Death”, but was affectionately known by his beloved mother Vera as either “Fred” or “Freddy”, Frederick being his middle name.
• Star Sign: Capricorn
• Disabilities: None.
• Health Issues: During his medical training, Shipman became addicted to Pethidine (a synthetic pain relieving opioid, also known as Demerol), even though he didn’t have any pain issues, the euphoria was his way of coping with the death of his mother. Regrettably this often caused unexpected blackouts and heart palpitations. Shipman illegally prescribed the Pethidine to his patients but took it himself. In 1975, Shipman was sent to The Retreat (a drug rehab centre in York) for his addiction, but the treatment was not a success.
• Sexual Orientation: Heterosexual.
• Personality: At school, Shipman was frequently bullied for being a “loner”, anti-social, aloof, unemotional and a “control freak”. Raised by his doting mother, Shipman believed that he was superior to others and that he could do no wrong (all of which was instilled in him by his mother). Although Shipman raised funds in the community for his doctor’s surgery, Shipman rarely went out, and spent most of his time at home, which was always messy and dirty. That said, many of his loyal patients refused to believe that “Doctor Fred” was a murderer at all, as he was “such a lovely man”. 

FAMILY HISTORY

• Parents: Harold Frederick Shipman, hence why Shipman was known as “Freddy” (12th May 1914 – 5th January 1985) and Vera Brittan (23rd December 1919 – 21st June 1963).
• Siblings: Three; 1st Pauline, 2nd Harold and 3rd Clive
• Sibling Order: Second of three children
• Traumatic Event as a Child: On 24th June 1963, when Shipman was 17 years old, his beloved mother Vera died of lung cancer, having been diagnosed just 18 months earlier. Shipman became her carer and oversaw daily needs, but during the latter stages of the disease, a local GP administered morphine (a strong painkiller) and Shipman witnessed her insufferable pain subside. This need to “alleviate the pain” and “put elderly women out of their misery” would mirror the way that Shipman killed.
• Divorced or Deceased Parent: As above, following the death of his beloved mother Vera, Shipman spiralled out of control and became addicted to Pethidine. That said, when his father Harold died in January 1985, Shipman was unaffected by his death, and didn’t take any timer off work to attend the funeral.
• Head Injury or Accident as Child: None known.
• Bed-Wetter (as child): Not beyond the usual stage of childhood bedwetting
  
• Fire-Starter (as child): No
  
• Animal Abuser (as child): No
  
• Pets: None as children. When Shipman was married to Primrose and had kids, they had a black poodle and a few rabbits. Unlike many serial killers, Shipman was not an animal abuser or torturer, in fact when he was a medical student at Leeds School of Medicine, he resented that on the roof of the facility were the caged dogs who were used for vivisection.
• Abandoned / Fostered: No.
• Marital Status: Married once to Primrose May Oxtoby on 5th November 1966, she was 17 years old and already 5 months pregnant with their first-born, Sarah. They remained married until Harold Shipman’s death on 14th January 2004, one day before his 57th birthday.
• Children: Four children; Sam, David, Sarah and Christopher. 

WORK

• Jobs: Following his graduation from Leeds School of Medicine, over the course of his 24 years as a doctor, Shipman undertook the following roles; Junior Doctor at Pontefract General Hospital (Yorkshire), General Practitioner at Todmorden Group Practice, Clinical Medical Officer in South West Durham, General Practitioner at Donneybrook House Group Practice in Hyde (Cheshire), and finally owing his own practice as a GP at The Surgery in Hyde (Cheshire). His medical career took a hiatus of 1 year and 264 days after he was fined for counterfeiting prescriptions to feed his drug-habit and undertake rehabilitation.
• Training: As a GP, Harold Shipman had regular access to Pethidine, Morphine and other painkillers; he was a trusted family GP for two tight-knit communities, kept the computerised records of his patients (which he would falsify to cover his crimes) and he was regularly required to sign the death certificates for recently deceased patients, many of which he’d attribute the cause of death as simply “old age”, rather than an overdose of morphine, which would have required an autopsy.
• Military Service: None.
• IQ / Education: IQ - supposedly 140, but I am unable to find evidence for this. Although his A-level grades weren’t exception (he received a B in Physics, C in Biology and a D in Chemistry) they were of a high enough standard for Shipman to be accepted into Leeds School of Medicine where he graduated in 1970 with a Bachelor of Medicine degree (MBchB) and later a diploma in Child Health in 1972. 

SOCIAL

• Favourite Food: Although not a particularly fussy eater, Shipman ate a very normal diet consisting of Weetabix for breakfast, sandwiches and fruit for lunch, and with his evening meal, he often had four slices of brown bread (as he strongly believed that “food should be very carbohydrate oriented”) and as Primrose was a good cook, he enjoyed her Beef Wellington and was a fan of curries, all of which would be consumed with the vegetables he grew in his backgarden.
• Favourite Music: Even from an early age, Shipman had no interest in music.
• Favourite Film: Again, from an early age, Shipman had no interest in movies.
• Favourite Book: Unknown, but upon Shipman’s death an inventory was taken of his cell, and on his bedside table was a half-read copy of Henry IV by William Shakespeare, the story of a scheming king who was riddled with guilt having killed his cousin.
• Favourite Drink: Shipman considered himself a wine connoisseur, his favourite being a Saumur, a sparkling white wine from the Loire Valley in the South of France.
• Smoker: Non-smoker
• Hobbies: As a youth, he was an accomplished rugby and cricket player and was vice-captain of the athletics team at college, but in later life as much as he’d try out new hobbies he’d rarely kept them, so his main source of relaxation was gardening, especially growing vegetables in his back garden.
• Religion: Methodist (both Harold and Primrose were Methodists)
• Drugs/Alcohol Abuse: Although never confirmed, it is believed that Shipman became addicted to Pethidine in 1974 at the Abraham Ormerod Medical Centre in Todmorden (West Yorkshire). Having already risked the lives of two patients who he’d experimented with doses of Pethidine on, he started using himself as a “guinea-pig”. At the height of his addiction, Dr Harold Shipman was injecting himself with 600-700mg of Pethidine a day (which is roughly 14 injections of 50mg every day). Withdrawal symptoms of Pethidine are similar to most opiates such as heroine and are difficult to kick. 
• Political Leanings: Shipman was heavily involved in local politics; he was a member of the Family Practitioner Committee and secretary of the Local Medical Committee. 

MURDER CAREER

• Reason for Murder: Shipman never gave a reason for his killings, even to his own wife who pleaded with him to "tell me everything". Some psychiatrists believe that being a doctor gave him a God-complex, that he had an intolerable hatred of the elderly (which seems unlikely), but most believe that he was deeply affected by the painful death of his beloved mother Vera during his teenage years. Was Shipman’s killing spree a mission to save so many elderly ladies from a painful death… even if many of them weren’t even ill? We shall never.
• Method of Killing: Convincing his victim that they needed an injection to alleviate their symptoms (whether for headaches, angina, arthritis or heart palpations), Shipman would inject them with a lethal dose of Diamorphine, and as they slowly drifted off into a peaceful death, he would leave the scene (all of his victims were killed in their own homes, except Ivy Lomas who died in Shipman’s own surgery) and he would return later, once informed of the death to sign their death certificate.
• Number of Victims: Although on 31st January 2000, Dr Harold Shipman was charged with the murder of fifteen victims, a subsequent investigation led by Dame Janet Smith identified 218 known victims, with possibly as many as 358+ victims, although the true tally will never be known. Across his 23 working years as a GP, Dr Harold Shipman was killing at least one patient every month. An early confirm list of his victims can be seen here.
• Length of Career: 23 years and 3 months. His first murder was of 70 year old Eva Lyons on the 17th March 1975 and ended with 81 year old Kathleen Grundy on 24th June 1998.
• Criminal Record: In February 1976, Shipman pleaded guilty to eight charges; three for obtaining a controlled drug (Pethidine) by deception, three for the unlawful possession of a controlled drug and two for forging declarations of prescription drugs. He was fined £600 at Halifax Magistrates Court for all eight charges, and stopped practicing for 1 year and 264 days whilst he entered rehabilitation for his drug addiction.
• Preferred Victims: Usually elderly patients (75 years old+), mostly white and mostly women, although a handful were in their 50’s with two being aged 43 and 41 years old.
• Preferred Murder Location: As a family GP, "Dr Fred" would often make a “home visit” to his patient, given how “kind and thoughtful” he was. His victims were often single or widowers, hence there usually wouldn’t be any witnesses in the building at the time of their death.
• Perversions: None, known. 
• Disposal: Not applicable. As each victim died by “natural causes” or “old age”, and none of them had died in a manner which aroused suspicion to their GP (Dr Harold Shipman), each victim was either buried or cremated according to their wishes. As many were cremated, all of the DNA evidence was destroyed with the victims, hence the true number of patients killed by Shipman will never be known. 

​ARREST/SENTENCE

• Detection: In March 1998, prompted by Deborah Massey of Frank Massey & Son's funeral parlour, Dr Linda Reynolds of the Brooke Surgery (Hyde) flagged up to the South Manchester coroner about the high death-rate amongst Shipman’s patients – it was higher than all five GPs in his surgery combined – but unable to find any evidence against him the charges were dropped, during which time Shipman murdered another three victims. On 24th June 1998, Shipman murdered Kathleen Grundy during a home-visit, even though she wasn’t unwell. After her death, Grundy’s daughter became suspicious when Kathleen’s will was read, leaving her entire estate (£386,000) to Shipman. Unlike many of the other victims who had been cremated, Kathleen Grundy’s body was exhumed, traces of diamorphine was detected and Shipman’s own typewriter was found to have been used for forge the will.
• Arrested: Shipman was arrested by Stan Egerton at Ashton-under-Lyne police station on 7th September 1998 at 9:18am, as Shipman arrived at the police station with his solicitor Ann Ball. He was calm, composed and knew what was about to happen.
• Trial: On 5th October 1999 at Preston Crown Court, the trial of Dr Harold Shipman began and lasted for almost four months. He was charged with the murders of Marie West, Irene Turner, Lizzie Adams, Jean Lilley, Ivy Lomas, Muriel Grimshaw, Marie Quinn, Kathleen Wagstaff, Bianka Pomfret, Norah Nuttall, Pamela Hillier, Maureen Ward, Winifred Mellor, Joan Melia and Kathleen Grundy, by lethal injections of diamorphine. After six days of deliberation, on 31st January 2000, the jury found Shipman guilty of 15 counts of murder and one count of forgery. Mr Justice Forbes sentenced him to 15 life sentences to be served concurrently with a recommendation that he never be released.
• Prison: Shipman served the first three years at HMP Frankland (Durham), but was later transferred to HMP Wakefield, a much tougher prison.
• Sentence Length: Of the 15 concurrent life sentences that Shipman was charged with, he only 5 years and 4 months in prison. On the 13th January 2004 at 6:20am, in his cell at Wakefield prison, prisoner CJ8199 Harold Shipman (no longer a doctor as he’d been struck off the medical register on 10th February 2000) hung himself on the eve of his 58th birthday. Wearing just a t-shirt, boxer short and a pair of socks, Shipman made a makeshift ligature using the green & orange curtains, and – because prison cells are specifically designed so there’s nothing high you can hang yourself off – he tied the ligature around his neck/legs and suffocated himself in a kneeling position. The timing of his suicide was deliberate as it guaranteed his wife Primrose a lump-sum of £100,000 and an annual pension of £10,000.
• Type of Prisoner: Oddly, even though he was a convicted murder, during his time at HMP Frankland, Shipman dispensed invaluable medical advice to fellow prisoners, but eventually was placed into solitary confinement as a few of the more dangerous lifers were pressuring him to diagnose them with severe ailments so they could get lighter duties. For the bulk of his time, Shipman spent his time using the prison library to watch videos and read books, and enjoyed watching the TV, especially cricket, rugby and Who Wants To Be A Millionaire.
• Parole: Not applicable. 

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​If you "enjoyed" this blog post try; Odds of a US Presidential Assassination, Killer Couples Part 1 & Part 2, Famous British Serial Killers - Where Are They Now? Serial Killers & Murderers Who Were Never Caught, London's Deadliest & Often Forgotten Disasters, Killers Born During a Full Moon, Killer's Star Signs, Serial Killers Who Were On TV, Celebrities Who Have Killed, London's Railway of Death, Serial Killers as Kids and the World's Weirdest Death Rituals

If you're looking for a quirky, curious and unusual thing to do in London this weekend? Book onto Murder Mile Walks today. 

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Michael J Buchanan-Dunne is a writer, podcaster, crime historian and tour-guide who runs Murder Mile Walks, a guided tour of Soho’s most notorious murder cases, hailed as “one of the top ten quirky & unusual things to do in London” and featuring 12 murderers, including 3 serial killers, across 15 locations, totalling 75 deaths, over just a one mile walk.