Harold Shipman, a doctor from Great Britain, killed up to 200 of his patients, most of whom were elderly, after being included into their wills.

Harold Frederick "Fred" Shipman (14 January 1946 - 13 January 2004) was an English convicted serial killer and former doctor. He is one of the most prolific known serial killers in history with 218 murders being positively ascribed to him, although the real number may be twice that.

Yes, his wife stood behind him till his death.

He started his killings in 1975 through 1998.

Harold Shipman died by suicide - he hung himself in his cell at Wakefield Prison at 6:20 AM on 13 Jan., 2004.

Yes, Dr. Shipman hung himself in prison on 14 Jan., 2004.

He injected his mostly elderly patients with diamorphine (heroin).

She had 2 children and had a good doctor's face. How could this prolific serial killer go undetected for so long? The answers lie in a story that began in earnest over fifty years ago - in a government-owned red brick terrace house in the north of England. Fifty is a long time to live this kind of life. The following case reveals the difficulty in detecting murder by poison, as well as the addictive nature of the crime. It should also be noted that 6 months before Shipman was finally brought to trial he was exonerated by an investigation undertaken by two police detectives. This enquiry was conducted following the official voicing of suspicions raised by the high mortality rate among Dr. Harold Shipman's patients. But the English police officers chose to accept the word of the doctor under investigation rather than the undeniable evidence of the death rate among those he treated.

The following case reveals the difficulty in detecting murder by poison, as well as the addictive nature of the crime. It should also be noted that 6 months before Shipman was finally brought to trial he was exonerated by an investigation undertaken by two police detectives. This enquiry was conducted following the official voicing of suspicions raised by the high mortality rate among Dr. Harold Shipman's patients. But the English police officers chose to accept the word of the doctor under investigation rather than the undeniable evidence of the death rate among those he treated.

I met Dr Harold Shipman. This was on two or three occasions, all in a social context rather than professional. Known to his friends, acquaintances and neighbours as Fred, someone I was friendly with lived next door to him in Mottram, Manchester. She was very proud to boast that she lived next door to a Doctor and used to do some paid administration for him. Her daughter used to go to school with Shipman's children and the family had a strong bond with their professional neighbours. - shazwellyn-

Shipman children identities has been protected and their names are not found in the records. This is the only mention of his children.

By 1974 he was a father of two.

Close, but no. The nazi doctors that experimented on children were the most evil people to ever exist (a little research will do more than just disturb you). Shipman was evil, to be sure, but just not THE most evil.

Officially, Dr. Harold Shipman murdered at least 215 of his patients - 171 women and 44 men ranging in age from 41 to 93. After a year-long public inquiry, the 2,000-page report into his 23-year murder spree was released by High Court Judge Dame Janet Smith. The records of nearly 500 patients of Shipman's who died while in his care between 1978 and 1998 were scrutinized in the investigation. Is it hard to determine a serial killer who has a job dealing with old people and that many persons believe they died of natural causes.

He is believed to have killed up to, but possibly more, than 250 people. Which one of them is my great aunt it is belived to have killed twice as much.

Officially, Dr. Harold Shipman murdered at least 215 of his patients - 171 women and 44 men ranging in age from 41 to 93. After a year-long public inquiry, the 2,000-page report into his 23-year murder spree was released by High Court Judge Dame Janet Smith. The records of nearly 500 patients of Shipman's who died while in his care between 1978 and 1998 were scrutinized in the investigation.

Another investigation, conducted by University of Leicester professor Richard Baker determined that the real minimum number of Shipman victims was 236. Associated Press reported that Judge Janet Smith said "the full toll may be higher, citing a 'real suspicion' that Shipman had killed 45 more people for whom there was insufficient evidence to be certain. In another 38 cases, there was too little information to form any opinion on the cause of death."

Despite overwhelming evidence of his guilt, the 56-year-old former physician maintains his innocence, continuing to shroud the motives for his extraordinary crimes. The official report speculated that the doctor was "addicted to killing" much like he was addicted to painkillers around the time the murders started. Like other death angels such as Dr. Michael Swango, the American doctor who killed patients in both Africa and the U.S., there was no hint of a sexual interest in his victims. Rather, as South Manchester coroner John Pollard speculated, Shipman "simply enjoyed viewing the process of dying and enjoyed feeling the control over life and death."

A fatal fascination with death, dying and drugs is consistent with the behavior of the 17-year-old Shipman who spent hours comforting Vera, his cancer-stricken dying mother. In the young man's mind, there was a powerful emotional connection between the visit of the family doctor and the relief that his injections of morphine brought to her suffering. Is it just a coincidence that he began abusing painkillers himself and shortly after he began practicing medicine, he used a lethal injection of pain medication to murder his first victim?

Judge Smith found Shipman's "non-violent" killing almost incredible. "The way in which Shipman could kill, face the relatives and walk away unsuspected would be dismissed as fanciful if described in a work of fiction." Even more incredible was that his murders of so many people did not arouse suspicion for decades, even though there were supposedly safeguards in place at that time.

Clearly new safeguards are needed and a number of them are now in the works in Britain. For example, after he murdered a victim, Dr. Shipman would often arrange for the body to be cremated if the family did not object, thereby destroying evidence of his crime. Judge Smith points out that new pre-cremation procedures are needed to prevent future abuse. Also, the system failed tragically when Shipman, after being convicted of drug abuse in 1975, was allowed to obtain enormous quantities of painkilling drugs. For example, in the name of a dying patient, Dr. Shipman obtained enough of the painkiller diamorphine to kill 360 people.

-Ted Ottley-

Robert Hooke

He killed himslef in hm prison after he was sentenced to life imprisonment

To all appearances it seems that yes, his motivation was greed. But according to several books by different authors, he seemed to like the power that he had over his victims and liked playing God instead of Dr. Shipman.

Serial Killer Michael Ross.

Shipman a TV film in 2002

bill gates

I believe most of the murders were committed at the homes of the victims. Many of them were elderly and Dr. Shipman made house calls. An overdose of a painkiller was the usual method to his madness.

Dr. Harold Shipman broke the life code by intentionally causing the deaths of his patients through the administration of lethal doses of medication, often in the form of diamorphine injections. He exploited his position as a trusted doctor to commit his crimes over a number of years, resulting in the deaths of at least 215 people.

Dr. Shipman is a very interesting case. I believe the primary reason for the murders of so many of his patients was one of gain. He profitted from their death, whether it was cash, cars, real estate or other types of wealth. But I don't think it was the sole reason. I believe that as time went on Shipman began to enjoy the deaths just for themselves. As American Dr. H.H. Holmes did in 19th century Chicago, so too did Shipman. Holmes killed primarily for profit but it is also known that he waited outside his personally constructed 'gas chamber' listening to his victims gasping for breath, enjoying the entire process. Shipman and Mudgett (Holmes real name) were 'cut from the same cloth'.