The Crime Book

291

See also: Burke and Hare 22–23 ■ John Edward Robinson 298–99 ■ The Poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko 326–31

SERIAL KILLERS

By that time, Shipman had already

slipped up. On 24 June 1998,

81-year-old Kathleen Grundy, the

wealthy former mayor of Hyde, was

discovered dead in her home. When

Grundy’s daughter, solicitor Angela

Woodruff, read the will – which

declared that all Grundy’s wealth

was to be given to her doctor, Harold

Shipman, instead of to her family –

she alerted the authorities to the

forgery. Grundy’s body was

exhumed and traces of diamorphine,

an opioid used for pain relief, were

found in her system. Shipman,

who had listed her cause of death

as “old age”, was arrested on

7 September. A typewriter of the

same make used to forge Grundy’s

will was recovered from Shipman’s

surgery, and his fingerprints were

found all over the document.

Arrogance and denial

Following these revelations, police

brought charges against Shipman

for the murder of 15 other female

patients. On 31 January 2000, he

was convicted on all counts. Rather

than obtaining £386,000 from

Kathleen Grundy’s will, Shipman

received 15 concurrent life

sentences. In a subsequent

enquiry, he was found responsible

for a minimum of 218 deaths. The

real number may exceed 250.

Despite overwhelming evidence

of his guilt, Shipman refused to

confess. He turned his back on

police interviewers throughout

hours of extensive interrogation.

However, one day before his

58th birthday, Shipman hanged

himself from his cell window.

Provides fake causes of

death and advocates

cremations

Murders at least

218 patients before

he is caught by

the authorities

Injects patients with a

lethal dose of heroin

Shipman visits his

patients at their home

A fellow prisoner explained that

Shipman had recently received a

letter from his entirely supportive

wife Primrose, asking him to tell

her “everything, no matter what.”

The notion that Shipman was

addicted to holding power over life

and death has largely been

accepted as his motive, because

his clumsy attempt at financial

benefit actually precipitated his

downfall. However, of the 100 items

of her jewellery seized by police,

Primrose could only prove that 66

items belonged to her. ■

Victimization of the elderly

In 2006, British criminologist

David Wilson pointed out that

the elderly represent a large

part of the victim demographic

in the UK. The figure, however,

was vastly inflated by Harold

Shipman’s many killings.

Wilson noted that the old –

particularly those estranged

from their family or without one

• often endure invisible lives in
  which weeks or months might
  pass without anybody checking
  on them. Due to inadequate
  social services, impoverished

pensioners often occupy

dwellings that are easy to break

into in places where there is

often little sense of community.

Deaths of the aged are also more

likely to be attributed to natural

causes than those of other

citizens and they are therefore

less likely to be investigated.

It is notable that the vast

majority of Shipman’s victims

were working or lower-middle

class men and women. Only the

death of a wealthy, high-profile

citizen finally aroused suspicion.

He simply... enjoyed

the feeling of control over

life and death.

Coroner John Pollard

290-291_Harold_Shipman.indd 291 02/12/2016 15:04