Picture that you’re in England in the town of Hyde located outside of Manchester. Maybe you or a family member is ill. Thankfully, there’s a doctor who still makes house calls. He comes off as a genial guy, and a well-respected doctor. When you think of a serial killer you think of someone incredibly violent, menacing and ruthless with no regard for human life.
You likely don’t think of a calm and mild-mannered man. That’s the thing about people. Can you ever really know anyone?
The real name of the man that people now call the British Doctor Death is Harold Shipman. He was convicted of murdering fifteen of his patients. However, the number is reported to be significantly higher with some estimates as high as 250 victims. All of whom were his patients, and most of them were elderly women.
Photo Credits: Reuters, A&E, NBC News, ABC News
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Armitage, Rebecca. “Harold Shipman, Britain's Most Prolific Serial Killer, Went Undetected for Years until He Met His Match.” ABC News, 5 Jan. 2025, https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-01-05/harold-shipman-britains-most-prolific-serial-killer/104771572.
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Jackson, Trevor, and Richard Smith. “Harold Shipman.” BMJ, vol. 328, no. 7433, 24 Jan. 2004, p. 231. PubMed Central, https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC318504/.
Kettler, Sara. “How Was Harold Shipman Able to Get Away with Killing So Many of His Patients?” A&E, 10 Apr. 2025, https://www.aetv.com/articles/harold-shipman-prolific-serial-killer.
“Serial Murder.” Encyclopaedia Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/topic/serial-murder.
Sharma, Manoj. “Harold Shipman.” EBSCO Research Starters, 2024, https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/biography/harold-shipman/.
Smith, Janet. Death Certification and the Investigation of Deaths by Coroners. The Shipman Inquiry, Third Report, July 2003, Cm. 5854, UK Government, https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a7b99ae40f0b645ba3c55db/5854.pdf
Ward, David. “Shipman Killed 250 over Three Decades.” The Guardian, 28 Jan.2005,https://www.theguardian.com/society/2005/jan/28/NHS.shipman

