Harold Shipman Found Dead in His Wakefield Prison Cell the Day Before His 58th Birthday
The family doctor convicted of murdering 15 patients, and found by a public inquiry to have killed at least 215, died without ever explaining why.
Published
For years, the families of Harold Shipman's patients had hoped he would one day explain why he killed them. On January 13, 2004, the former family doctor was found dead in his cell at Wakefield Prison, the day before his 58th birthday.
Officers found Shipman in his cell at 6:10 a.m. during the morning roll count. Efforts to revive him failed, and a doctor pronounced him dead at 8:10 a.m. He left no note. He had been held at Wakefield since June 2003, after more than three years at Frankland prison, and although he had been considered a long-term suicide risk at earlier prisons, he was not under any special watch there.
Shipman had been convicted at Preston Crown Court on January 31, 2000, of murdering 15 of his patients and of forging the will of one of them, Kathleen Grundy. The judge recommended that he serve at least 40 years. In July 2002 the Shipman Inquiry, led by Dame Janet Smith, found that he had killed at least 215 patients between 1975 and 1998, with a real suspicion over 45 more. He always maintained his innocence. "He has controlled us all the way through, and he has controlled the last step," said the daughter of one woman he was thought to have killed.
The Prisons and Probation Ombudsman, Stephen Shaw, was asked to investigate. His report, published in May 2005, concluded that Shipman's death could not have been predicted or prevented.
The Prisons and Probation Ombudsman's report says Shipman was found at 6:10 a.m., while the Prison Service told The Associated Press it was 6:20 a.m.
Sources
- The death of a man at Wakefield prison on 13 January 2004, Prisons and Probation Ombudsman for England and Wales
- Top British murderer commits suicide, Indiana Daily Student (Associated Press, Beth Gardiner)
- The Shipman Inquiry Second Report, The Stationery Office (Cm 5853)
Related News
- July 19, 2002: Shipman Inquiry Finds Family Doctor Harold Shipman Killed 215 of His Patients
- July 14, 2003: Shipman Inquiry Finds a Better 1998 Police Investigation Would Probably Have Saved His Last Three Victims
- January 27, 2005: Final Shipman Inquiry Report Finds He Killed Patients as a Junior Doctor, Raising His Toll to About 250