UK police approach their duties pretty “traditionally”. In this country, citizens with a good reputation are rarely listed among the main suspects. There is even a proverb on this subject: "In England, gentlemen take the word." Thanks to such traditions, Harold Shipman - a respected and seemingly positive person - has been killing his innocent patients for a long time, successfully avoiding justice. Today, this criminal is not called otherwise than Doctor Death, and the actual number of his victims is still unknown.
Curriculum Vitae
January 14, 1946 is the date of birth of Harold Frederick Shipman. The boy was born into a family of ordinary workers, he was a fairly intelligent and versatile child, demonstrating excellent performance indicators in school. At 17, Harold lost his mother, whose cause of death was a serious cancer. According to many sources, it was after this incident that the young man decided to become a doctor. In 1965, the future offender becomes a student at the Medical Institute in Leeds, a year later marries a girl she met in this city. Harold Shipman was an ideal husband and father, already in 1970 he began medical practice as a district doctor, and his wife worked in the same medical institution in the registry. Four children were born in the marriage. In 1974, the Chimpanzee was convicted of stealing drugs with a narcotic effect. In court, the offender was stripped of his rank and ability to work in the medical field, and a fine was imposed as a punishment. But already three years later, having completed a rehabilitation course for drug addicts, Harold regained the title of doctor, moved with his family to another city - Hyde, and again began to receive patients.
First kill
According to the official investigation, Harold Shipman killed his first victim in 1984. A good doctor was called to the house by one of his patients - a woman of respectable age. The main complaint concerned joint pain. After listening to her and carefully recording all the symptoms, Shipman suggested an injection of an anesthetic. After receiving the consent of the patient, he gave her an injection of diamorphine (pure heroin). A caring doctor was in no hurry to leave her ward, even when she said she was feeling much better. With terrifying composure, he sat and watched as the patient slowly died, rejoicing in the absence of pain. When it was all over, Shipman took a souvenir from the table and left. And the next day, she allegedly accidentally came to visit a woman and diagnosed a "lethal outcome for natural reasons."
He thought through everything
The death of a woman of a respectable age, suffering from a whole bunch of chronic diseases, did not surprise anyone. But still, Harold Shipman was safe and insisted on cremation of the body. At that time, the conclusion of two doctors was required for this procedure. However, in fact, only one specialist took the initiative, and the second agreed in the name of "guild" solidarity and, without looking, signed the papers. Accordingly, difficulties with sweeping evidence did not arise. After the cremation of the body of the first victim, Shipman himself felt like a conspiracy genius and practically a god. Indeed, he had committed a “brilliant” murder - without any extra blood or any traces. It is not surprising that the criminal did not stop there and soon repeated his experience.
The first scandal involving Dr. Death
Shipman began to take souvenirs from the homes of his victims from the very first murder. Very soon, he realized that his crimes allow not only collecting small trinkets. Then Doctor Death began to forge wills, and at first these frauds also did not arouse suspicion. And really, what’s the matter if one of the elderly patients decided to leave a small amount of money to his beloved doctor after his death? The feeling of complete impunity gave rise to a craving for new crimes, and soon Harold Shipman (Doctor Death) turned a too arrogant scam. In 1998, after the death of Hyde Kathleen Grandi, her will was announced, according to which the personal doctor of the deceased received 350 thousand pounds. The deceased was previously the mayor of the city, and there were no questions regarding her material condition. But the will itself caused many suspicions among the daughter of Hyde, who worked in the field of jurisprudence. Shipman in this document tried to portray the handwriting of an aging, exhausted woman, purposefully increasing the font and making a lot of spelling mistakes. While the daughter of the deceased knew the neat handwriting of her mother and did not doubt her literacy. The will was disputed, but even the relatives of the deceased did not calm down and achieved exhumation and
re-examination of the remains. The results shocked the public: the woman died from an overdose of diamorphine. Harold Shipman was interrogated by the police, but denied everything, after which he was released, since it is unethical to beat evidence from a respected doctor with many years of practice, according to British ideas ...
Suspicions and Rumors
In fact, Harold Shipman is a doctor who seemed strange to many of his patients. Relatives of the people he killed sometimes noticed the disappearance of small decorative objects. The obsessive advice to cremate the dead seemed to be unusual, or the refusals to conduct an examination establishing the cause of death. But against the background of the grief experienced, such things seem insignificant, moreover, people were just ashamed to go to the police with their own speculations about such a positive person and a true professional in their field. Relatives of the dead began to testify only after almost complete evidence of the doctor’s guilt.
Official investigation
Interrogations of Shipman himself did not give any result. And then the detectives obtained permission to conduct forensic medical examinations, exhuming the bodies and ashes of 15 patients who died unexpectedly during treatment. The results of the study were shocking: all of these people died from a drug overdose. Later they searched the office of the main suspect and noticed that the medical history always changed on the day of the patient's death, containing notes about a sharp deterioration in the condition. However, despite all the facts, Harold Shipman, nicknamed Doctor Death, was in no hurry to confess. On the contrary, until the announcement of the court’s decision, he insisted that the results of all examinations were incorrect, and he didn’t kill anyone.
Sentence for a killer doctor
For his crimes (15 proven murders), Harold Shipman was sentenced to 15 life sentences. Under UK law, the death penalty can only be imposed for the murder of the ruling monk or heir to the throne. However, numerous decrees and amendments emphasized that this person should never be released. According to some sources, after the verdict was announced, Harold Shipman, whose photo was already in all the newspapers with the signature “Doctor Death”, cried, kneeling, and begged to reconsider the case. But, of course, these requests were not granted, and very soon the killer went to serve his sentence in Wakefield Prison.
The end of Harold Shipman's story
In 2014, Dr. Death was found hanged in his cell. Journalists immediately christened this event as the last chord of the game of God, with which the "almighty", in his own opinion, Shipman took his own life. But there is also a more prosaic version - probably, the convict simply realized that his situation was hopeless, and suicide is not the worst way to resolve the situation.
After his death, Harold Shipman left many questions. How many victims are there perpetrators? Dr. Death received his sentence for 15 proven murders, but as many as 136 people died suddenly and suspiciously among his patients. Rumor has it that already in prison Shipman said that there were much more victims - as many as 508 people. However, no one will ever know the truth.
The news of the death of this man, for obvious reasons, was received by the public, if not with joy, then with relief for sure.