Serial killers are an intrinsically interesting breed; they live under a veil of secrecy but operate in broad daylight, they act in intricate and methodical manners and perhaps most disturbing of all, they look just like you and me. They could be the cute barista at your local coffee shop or the handsome guy you met at the bar, you could’ve been lab partners with one in college or paid one to fix your car. Men and women like Dr. Harold Fredrick Shipman are what makes these killers so horribly terrifying, but the very terror we fear is what makes them such interesting specimen for study.
What is Serial Murder?
Serial murder is currently defined by the Federal Bureau of Investigation as “The unlawful killing of two or more victims by the same offender(s), in separate events.” This definition however is not without controversy, while the FBI has its own official definition it is often being altered and republished leading to confusion among criminologists, psychologists, and other professionals about what exactly qualifies an individual as a serial murderer as opposed to a mass murderer. The current definition provides on major distinction, in order to be considered a “mass murder” all of this killings must occur rapidly or in one event. The disagreement on a common definition and usage of the the terms “mass murderer” and “serial murderer” interchangeably, often leads to inaccurate reporting of statistics. There is however, no question that Dr. Harold Shipman, Dr. Death as he is often referred to, meets the criteria to qualify him serial murderer.
Dr. Harold Shipman M.D.
Dr. Shipman, the second of four children, was born into a working class family on January 14, 1946. Harold, often referred to as a particularly intelligent child, grew particularly close to his mother who was diagnosed with lung cancer when he was young. He would often witness his mother being administered morphine to dull her pain until she passed in June of 1963. This is often cited as Shipman’s trigger, the event that warped him to become a killer, as well as a contributor to his eventual method of operation.
Following his mother’s passing Shipman became fascinated with medicine. This passion was only halted temporarily when he wed his wife Primrose Oxtoby in 1966. Eventually however, Shipman attended Leeds School of Medicine in Leeds, England. He graduated in 1970, and began to work at medical establishments across the England. After a brief stint of in a drug rehabilitation facility for Demerol addiction, he opened his own surgical clinic.
This clinic provided the perfect place for him to commit his atrocities while being viewed as an upstanding citizen. Shipman was initially investigated as a result of tremendously high death rates among elderly women and a large number of cremation requests, however he was cleared of suspicion in April 1998, when the police concluded there was insufficient evidence to formally charge him with the crimes.
The fear of getting caught did not stop Shipman, who continued to use his perverted medical knowledge to murder after the suspicion of his deeds was dismissed. He killed three more times, including his final kill, Kathleen Grundy, before his arrest in September of 1998. Shipman had forged a will that would bequeath nearly £400,000 to the physician while leaving her children unmentioned.
Kathleen Grundy was described by her daughter as an active woman, someone who did not appear to be on her death bed (BIOGRAPHY.COM). Unfortunately for Shipman, Ms. Woodruff was a well respected attorney and had handled all of her legal affairs; this meant that the new will that Shipman had created would be questioned and investigated as a forgery. After a police investigation the evidence seemed to implicate Dr. Shipman in the murder of Ms. Grundy.
After a raid of Shipman’s home, the scope of his crime became apparent to investigators and a full fledged investigation was launched into the deaths of so many of his patients. Shipman was aware that autopsies could lead to his downfall, hence he would often recommend cremation and discourage any further investigations into the deaths. While it was recommended, many families declined cremation and this, proved to be Shipman’s downfall; the exhumation and autopsies of several of Shipman’s previous patients’ proved conclusively that Shipman was indeed responsible.
While Shipman denied all guilt to the day he died, he was tried in October of 1999 and eventually convicted of 15 murders and the forging of Kathleen Grundy’s will. He was sentenced to a total of 15 life sentences to be serve concurrently as well as an additional four years for the forgery of the will. It is estimated that the doctor was responsible for approximately 250 deaths, but he was never charged with these due to the impossibility of a fair trial.
Shipman eventually committed suicide on January 13, 2004 by hanging after serving almost a year for each of his convicted kills. It is reported that few were happy of this however, leaving many longing for closure and a confession. This suicide prompted prison and legal reform, further cementing Dr. Harold Shipman into British history. (BIOGRAPHY.COM)
This is a riveting story but leaves a lot to imagination, such as exactly what caused this successful and respected man to pervert knowledge that could save lives and instead use it to murder the very people he was supposed to care for. This is where we must apply criminological theories in an attempt to understand and explain his unique motivations modus operandi.
Criminological Theories
Because of the nature of their crimes, serial murderers often refuse to admit to their actions, even after being found guilty in court and evidence proves, conclusively, that they committed the offenses, we are left to speculate the reasoning behind their behavior. We often do this through the usage of criminological theories. These theories broadly define potential explanations for criminally deviant behavior and apply to all types of crime, not exclusively murder. Pertaining to Dr. Shipman several theories are directly applicable, most notably the rational choice theory, the situational choice theory, the social disorganization theory, and the life course perspective. Each of these theories can function alone to explain Shipman’s behavior or they can be applied together to give a multi-dimensional look at the factors that played a role in leading him to commit these gruesome acts.
Rational Choice Theory.
Rational Choice theory is commonly defined as “A perspective that holds that criminality is the result of conscious choice and that predicts that individuals choose to commit crime when the benefits outweigh the costs of violating the law (CITE TEXTBOOK).” This, in essence, means that a potential offender is aware of the consequences of committing an act and goes through an evaluation to determine the risk vs gain; if after weighing the outcomes the individual determines the risk is too great, they will walk away from the act but it they decide that the risk is worth the potential gain they will commit the crime. The key to this theory that the offender must consciously decide to commit a crime, fully aware of the consequences.
In the case of Dr. Shipman, it is obvious that he was aware of the risks. This man was often revered as very intelligent and attended medical school at one of the most prestigious universities in the United Kingdom. He would carefully and meticulously vet his targets to minimize risks, choosing to focus on wealthy, elderly patients who lived alone or did not have consistent care from a family member. After selecting his victim Shipman would get close to his patients, requesting multiple appointments and eventually home visits to evaluate and plan his kill. When he finally decided that it was safe enough to follow through with his plan he would perform a final house call and administer a serum through injection, that the patient assumed was part of routine care but in reality was fatal. After administering the toxins, he would forge a will making himself the sole heir of the soon to be deceased’s estate. After their death he would falsify medical reports, stating that the patient was in poor health and that they passed due to natural causes and ordered a cremation of the body for good measure.
Because of his unique situation of both power over patients and having the trust of his patients that he was acting in their best interest, Dr. Shipman actually acted within the constraints of the “Situational Choice Theory.” This new perspective is defined as “A brand of rational choice theory that views criminal behavior ‘as a function of choices and decisions made within a context of situational constraints and opportunities (CITE TEXTBOOK).’” He would not have been able to commit the acts that he was convicted of without being a medical practitioner.
The nature of Shipman’s precise planning shows that the doctor knew exactly what he was doing. He was using his power as a medical practitioner to access drugs, edit medical records, murder, and cover his tracks. He consciously chose to act this way in spite of the consequences after determining that his position as a physician would allow him to minimize his risk of being caught.
Social Development Perspective.
While this theory is not usually referred to as a theory of crime, it does a fantastic job at illustrating the motivators behind the acts of Harold Shipman. The social development perspective is defined as “An integrated view of human development that examines multiple levels of maturation simultaneously, including the psychological, biological, familial, interpersonal, cultural, societal, and ecological levels (CITE TEXTBOOK).” When we apply this perspective to the life of Dr. Shipman we are forced to examine all the stages of his maturation and from there contemplate how certain traumatic events that occurred in his life apply to his actions later in life. The obvious event that sticks out in this case is the death of Shipman’s mother. It is often stated that young Shipman was “fascinated by the positive effect that the administration of morphine had on her suffering (BIOGRAPHY.COM).” After her death he became determined to practice medicine, eventually settling on Leeds University Medical School.
Later in life he was admitted for care for a Pethidine addiction. This reasoning for this addiction is tied back to his mother and the effects that the drug had on her. He was fired from his job and was forced to pay a fine for his actions. He eventually recovered and obtained employment at Donneybrook Medical Centre as a well respected general practitioner. From this position he enjoyed a comfortable lifestyle, his flew under the radar under the ruse that he was merely a caring physician. He would make it his goal to earn the trust of his patients and they would never question his recommendations and allow him to perform house calls with no one else present.
According to the social development perspective all of these events in his life contribute to Shipman’s final form. His modus operandi, or method of operation, overdosing morphine and prescribing it to people who did not need is obviously tied to the childhood loss of his mother. His addiction taught him the effects of certain drugs and how to operate undetected.