SERIAL KILLER DOCTOR: HAROLD SHIPMAN

Doctors cure, heal and save the dieing. You trust them with your life. If you are sick or in pain, they are who you turn too. It is their job to make you better. Of course patients do die, it is inevitable in the medical field. So what better place is there for a serial killer to hide? In plain site a doctor can kill his victims without anyone being the wiser. Which is exactly what Dr. Harold Shipman did…to hundreds of victims.

Morphine… the miracle drug that was created to take away pain. Whether it is a broken bone, sickness or after a surgery, morphine can be your best friend. Yet at the same time, too much of it can kill you. In the wrong hands, it can be a sneaky murder weapon. Dr. Shipman knew this and used it over and over again. Victim after victim he would give lethal doses of morphine too. He would then simply alter their charts to make it look like they had a sickness and then put down a cause of death on the death certificate that would correspond with it. Of course he would pick his victims with care. The first criteria were to make sure they were old. Secondly they were almost always women. This was not for safety; this was for his own fantasy.

When Shipman was in his teens his mother got gravely ill. Being extremely close to his mother he would race home everyday after school to take care of her. They had a strong bond and she was over powering, controlling his social life. Day after day he took care of his mother, having a glass of tea with her every afternoon, until she died, fully dressed, sitting in a chair, with a cup of tea next to her. Just like so many of his victims. Most elderly, sick people die in their beds, dressed in pajamas or comfortable clothing. An extremely high amount of Dr. Shipman’s patients were found dead, fully dressed, sitting in chairs. Yet this did not raise suspicion. Dr. Shipman was well liked and respected. Who would suspect a goodhearted doctor who made house calls of murdering the patients he was so kind to?

The old days of doctors making house calls is now long gone, though a few select doctors still make them. Shipman was one of them. Making house calls made Shipman seem kinder and more caring than other doctors who were to busy to visit their patients at home. These home visits earned trust in his victims. He was such a kind gentleman that most of the elderly woman would dress nice and offer him tea during his visits. It was exactly what Shipman craved. Sitting with during those visits is when Shipman would tell his victims they needed a shot, maybe an immune booster or flue shot. They would gladly give him their arms, only to die minutes later.

In 1998 Dr. Shipman’s rein of terror was finally detected. The daughter of Shipman’s last victim, Kathleen Grundy, got suspicious when she found a forged will that left everything to the murderous doctor. Especially since she wrote her mother’s initial will. Shipman was caught in a web of lies and quickly arrested. After exhuming Kathleen’s body they found the evidence they needed to convict him. The death was caused by an overdose of morphine, not old age as Shipman put on the death certificate.

It was a stupid, amateur mistake on Shipman’s behalf. Some said he wanted to get caught, yet he never admitted to any of the murders. After his arrested the investigation into the suspicious deaths of his patients lead to Shipman being convicted for fifteen murders. Though he was only convicted of fifteen he positively connected to 215 murders and assumed to have done twice that many, making him the most prolific serial killer in history.

Dr. Shipman never once took credit for his kills and even maintained his innocence all the way up to his death in 2004 when he hung himself in his jail cell while serving fifteen life sentences. Being the doctor gave him the perfect cover to fulfill his sick fantasies. So the next time your doctor approaches your arm with a needle, think about Dr. Shipman and ask yourself if you really trust your doctor or not.