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Dr. Harold Frederick
Shipman
“Fred” or “Freddy”
Information researched and summarized by
Regina Pugh, Nikki Reed, Callie Scudder, & Cindy Riehn
Department of Psychology Radford University Radford, VA 24142-
Date Age Life Event
06/14/1946 0 Born in Nottingham, England 10/1961 15 Won the most improved student award for rugby, was a talented rugby player 1/1962 15 Mother Vera, diagnosed with lung Cancer 06/24/1963 17 Mother, Vera dies of lung cancer
1963 17 Team mates on his cross country team suspected he was addicted to sniffing Sloan’s Liniment 1965 19 Accepted to Leeds University Medical School, England 1966 20 Marries Primrose May Oxtoby at 17 years old and she’s 5 months pregnant 02/14/1967 20 Has first born child, Sarah Rosemary Shipman 10/1970 24 Takes finals at Leeds and graduates, gaining MBchB 4/21/1971 24 Second child is born, Christopher Fredrick Shipman 9/1972 26 Received diploma in Child Health 1974 28 Joins Medical Practice in Yorkshire, England
1974 28 Had unexpected blackouts, wrongfully diagnosed as an epileptic, was actually addicted to Pethidine, which he was suspected of illegally prescribing for patients and taking himself. 3/1975 28 Killed first victim, Eva Lyons, on the day before her 71 st (^) birthday
Forced out of his practice by partners and enters rehab at the Retreat, a psychiatric center in York. 11/1975 29 Arrested for forgery of Pethidine prescriptions while in rehab at The Retreat
Plead guilty to three offenses of obtaining a controlled drug by deception, three of unlawful possession of a controlled drug, and two charges of forging declarations of exemption from prescription charges. Was fined for all charges, if he offended again then part of a subsequent hearing 12/1976 30 Stopped practicing for 1 year and 264 days 1977 31 He became a clinical Medical Officer; his responsibilities were only to exam infants and give advice about development. 1979 33 Back in general practice in Donnybrook Medical Center in Hyde, England 3/20/1979 33 Son, David born
3/5/1982 35 Son, Sam born 1/1985 38 Father dies, seemed unaffected, didn’t take off work for the funeral.
1998 52 Complaint made that Shipman had described the wrong dose of Epilem at a patient with epilepsy, civil case for negligence was pursed and settled for 250,00£. 3/24/1998 51 Concerns about the excess number of deaths among Shipman’s Patients reported by local general
6/24/1998 52 Killed Kathleen Grundy by giving her a fatal overdose of morphine, forged her will, leaving himself 386,000£. Later, he explains this away with false backlogged records supporting that she was a morphine addict. 9/7/1998 52 Arrested by Greater Manchester Police for the Murder of Kathleen Grundy
1998 52 Several of Shipman’s victims bodies are exhumed for post mortem examination. Several suspected victims were cremated and could not be exhumed.
Investigation uncovers that Shipman backlogged fabricated medical notes to be congruent with his diagnosis of cause of death. It is also brought to light that many of the “ill” patients were found fully clothed in chairs or lying on couches, not lying ill in bed.
Brought to trial for 15 murders of patients who had died unexpectedly from suspected morphine overdoses. During his trial a web of lies including unmade phone calls for ambulances, backlogged notes, and the forged will contribute to his conviction. Additionally, his arrogance comes out through witnesses’ accounts of his callous attitude toward victims and their families. Hair samples confirm that his victims were not long-term morphine addicts, but usually died of single morphine overdoses.
1/31/2000 53 Given fifteen life sentences in Prison after being founded guilty of murdering fifteen elderly patients, as well as forging Kathleen Grundy’s will.
2/1/2000 53 Health Secretary Alan Milburn announces an inquiry of “circumstances surrounding the murders and the investigation” 2/2000 53 Police make it known they are investigating Shipman’s role in 175 deaths 7/2002 56 A report comes in that he killed at least 215 patients between 1975 and 1998 1/13/2004 57 On the eve of his 58 th^ birthday, he hung himself while in prison
General Information Sex Male Race White Number of victims Between 200 and 357 Country where killing occurred Great Britain States where killing occurred Towns of: Hyde, Tameside, Great Manchester, West Yorkshire, etc. Type of killer Angel of Death Height
Childhood Information Date of birth January 14, 1946 Location Nottingham, England Birth order 2 nd^ of 3 Number of siblings Two siblings; he was born the 2 nd^ of three XYY? No Raised by His mother-had many restrictions on him about being social Birth category He was born in the middle of two other siblings Parent’s marital status Family event His Mother, Vera, dies – He had taken care of her a great deal Age of family event 17 (6/24/1963) Problems in school? Other children and people thought of him as a “loner”; he was not a social person Teased while in school? They called him a “control freak”
Spend time in jail? No Spend time in prison? No Killed prior to series? Age? No
Serial Killing
Number of victims Between 200 and 357? Victim type Elderly people, mostly women- his patients Killer age at start of series 28- lasted for almost two decades Gender of victims Mostly women Race of victims Mostly white Age of victims His elderly patients, often over 75 Method of killing Giving his patients, who were otherwise healthy, an overdose of morphine; he was able to face the families of his victims without even the slightest bit of guilt. Type of serial killer Angel of Death How close did killer live? All victims were patients at his practice, and all but one were killed in their homes if he had made a house call Killing occurred in home of victim? Yes, he would visit patients in their home and sometimes say when he got there they were close to death. Killing occurred in home of killer? No Weapon Poison, overdose of morphine Behavior During Crimes- His attitude towards victims and families was rude, arrogant and uncompassionate Rape? No Tortured victims? No Stalked victims? No Overkill? No Quick & efficient? Yes, in fact patients submitted willingly, with no idea they were in danger Used blindfold? No Bound the victims? No After Death Behavior Sex with the body? No Mutilated body? No Ate part of the body? No Drank victim’s blood? No Posed the body? No Took totem – body part No Took totem – personal item Uncertain, speculation that he took jewelry from some of his patients. Robbed victim or location No Disposal of Body Left at scene, no attempt to hide Yes Left at scene, hidden No Left at scene, buried No Moved, no attempt to hide No Moved, buried No Cut-op and disposed of No Moved, too home No Sentencing Convicted of killing 15 patients with lethal injections of Diamorphine Date killer arrested September 7, 1998 Date convicted January 31, 2000 Sentence 15 life sentences Killer executed? No, put in prison for life
Did killer plead NGRI? No Was the NGRI plea successful? N/A Name and state of prison HMP Wakefield Prison, West Yorkshire, England Killer committed suicide? Yes, hung himself in prison from the cell bars with his bed sheets. They said he definitely should have been on suicide watch at the prison Killer killed in prison? No Date of death January 13, 2004
References
1.) http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3391871.stm 2.) www.crimelibrary.com 3.) http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/2136444.stm 4.) http://www.the-shipman-inquiry.org.uk/home.asp 5.) http://www.guardian.co.uk/shipman/Story/0,2763,1400553,00.html 6.) http://www.murderuk.com/serialkillers/drharold.htm 7.) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Shipman 8.) http://www.portfolio.mvm.ed.ac.uk/studentwebs/session2/group12/harold.htm 9.) http://opioids.com/heroin/dr-shipman.html 10.) http://www.bbc.co.uk/crime/caseclosed/shipman.shtml 11.) http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/uk/2000/the_shipman_murders/the_shipman_files/609972.stm 12.) http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/471479.stm 13.) http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/231361.stm 14.) http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/178449.stm 15.) Clarkson, Wensley .(2002). The Good Doctor_._ St. Martines Press, New York, NY 16.) Whittle, Brian & Ritchie, Jean. (2000). Prescription for Murder: The True Story of Mass Murderer Dr. Harold Frederick Shipman. Great Britain: Warner Books.
