1. Harold Shipman (aka Dr.Death)
“No one saw me do anything. As for stealing morphine off the terminally ill, again no one saw me do it.” – Shipman
By maddie schultz pd 6

2. Background
Born January 14, 1946 to a working-class family of three children His mother determined who he could be friends with; he grew up distanced .
Viewed himself as superior in all ways.
Spent time caring for his sick mother.
Met his wife Primrose Oxtoby at a bus stop while he was at Leeds University, they had four children.
By 1974 he was a father of two and had joined a medical practice in Todmorden, Yorkshire, becoming addicted to the painkiller Pethidine.
Hardworking doctor who enjoyed the trust of patients and colleagues.
Addicted to having control over others peoples lives.
His sport of choice was rugby.
Was very close with his mother so her death triggered him wanting control over anything he could.(died of lung cancer)
Kept having blackouts which his co workers thought was epilepsy.
In 1975, Shipman was caught forging prescriptions of pethidine for his own benefit and was charged $400.

3. Crimes accused of committing
Date
Victim(s)
Punishment
murder
Between 1970 and his arrest in 1998, he killed at least 215 and possibly as many as 260 of his patients.
Never to be released from jail again.

4. Most recent crime (1998)
Kathleen Grundy, an active, wealthy 81-year-old widow, was found dead in her home on June 24, 1998, following an earlier visit by Shipman.
Her daughter was a lawyer, and had always handled her mother's affairs, so it was with some surprise that she discovered that another will existed, leaving the bulk of her mother's estate to Dr. Shipman
Kathleen Grundy's body was exhumed, and a post-mortem revealed that she had died of a morphine overdose, within the timeframe of Shipman's visit to her.

5. Evidence
After Kathleen Grundy’s body was exhumed, Shipman's home was raided, yielding medical records, and an odd collection of jewelry.
Police also found an old typewriter which proved to be the instrument upon which Kathleen Grundy's second will had been produced and forged.
It was immediately apparent to the police, from the medical records seized, that the case would extend further than Kathleen Grundy’s death.
Shipman had urged families to cremate their relatives in a large number of cases, so the police started with these case files, assuming that they were all murdered too.
Shipman kept all death/killings records on his home computer. Polic were able to piece together what medical notes he altered to make each one appear to be a natural death.

6. Sentence
January 31, 2000, he was found guilty of 15 murders. Sentenced to life imprisonment and the judge recommended that he never be released. He committed suicide by hanging himself in his cell at Wakefield Prison in West Yorkshire on January 13, 2004.

7. Doctor Death
Shipman is a 2002 ITV television drama film, about the life and crimes of serial killer Harold Shipman. The film was directed by Roger Bamford and written by Michael Eaton.

8. Social Control Theory
This behavior can be linked back to The Social Control Theory. Social Learning Theory suggests that learning is a cognitive process that takes place in a social context and can occur purely through observation or direct instruction even in the absence of motor reproduction or direct reinforcement. Harold basically learned everything he needed to learn about how to kill someone from simply observing the behavior of his own doctor. He was not trying to gain power over his victims, he genuinely believed that he was taking away his patients pain and that he was actually helping them, not killing them. He was delusional from the traumatic events in his childhood related to his mother, and from his addiction to opiates. He truly believed that he wasn't doing anything wrong.