Harold Shipman

Dr Harold Frederick Shipman, known as Fred Shipman to his family (January 14, 1946 – January 13, 2004) was a British general practitioner who was the most prolific known serial killer in British history (and possibly the world).

Detection

In March 1998 Dr Linda Reynolds of the Brooke Surgery in Hyde, opposite Shipman's, went to John Pollard, the coroner for the South Manchester district, with concerns about Shipman's high death rate (in particular the large number of cremation forms for elderly women that he had needing countersigning, compared to his patient base). She said that he was "killing" his patients, although she was not sure whether it was malpractice or malice. The matter was brought to the attention of the police, who were unable to find sufficient evidence to bring charges. The Shipman Inquiry apportioned blame on the police for assigning inexperienced officers to the case. Between the time the investigation was abandoned on April 17, and Shipman's eventual arrest, he had killed a further three people. http://www.the-shipman-inquiry.org.uk/secondreport.asp http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/3064231.stm

Related Topics:
1998 - John Pollard - Coroner - April 17

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The last of these was Kathleen Grundy, a former Mayor of Hyde. On June 24, 1998, she was found dead at her home. The last person to see her alive had been Shipman, who later signed her death certificate. Grundy's daughter, lawyer Angela Woodruff, became concerned when she discovered that a will had been made by her mother cutting her entirely out, and leaving £386,000 to Shipman. Woodruff went to the police, who began an investigation. Grundy's body was exhumed and examined, and was determined to contain traces of diamorphine (medical-grade heroin, legal for pain control in the UK). Shipman was arrested on September 7, 1998, and found to have a typewriter of the type used to make the forged will.

Related Topics:
June 24 - Death certificate - Will - Exhumed - Diamorphine - Heroin - September 7 - 1998

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After this, police looked at other deaths that Shipman had certified, and drew up a list of 15 specimen counts to investigate. A pattern emerged, of him overdosing patients with morphine, signing their death certificates, and then forging medical records to indicate they were in poor health.

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