his patients between 1946 and 1956, and it is projected he may have killed over 450 people, but as he was found not guilty, there was no movement to scrutinize the flaws in the system until the Shipman case. Had these matters been addressed earlier, it might have been more difficult for Shipman to commit his crimes.
Death
In the early morning of January 13, 2004, on the eve of his fifty-eighth birthday, a Prison Service statement from Wakefield Prison indicated that former doctor Shipman had hanged himself from the window bars of his cell using bed sheets. Some British tabloids articulated delight at his suicide and encouraged other serial killers to follow his example.
Some of the victims' families said they felt cheated as his suicide meant they would never have the satisfaction of Shipman's declaration of guilt, or answers as to why he committed his crimes. The Home Secretary, Mr. David Blunkett, noted that celebration was tempting, and said, 'You wake up and you receive a call telling you Shipman has topped himself and you think, is it too early to open a bottle? And then you discover that everybody's very upset that he's done it.'
Despite the Sun's celebration of Shipman's suicide, his death divided national newspapers, with the Daily Mirror branding him a 'cold coward,' and condemning the Prison Service for allowing his suicide to happen. The Independent, on the other hand, called for the inquiry into Shipman's suicide to look more widely at the state of Britain's prisons as well as the welfare of inmates. In The Guardian, an article by Sir David Ramsbotham (former Chief Inspector of Prisons) recommended that whole life sentences be replaced by imprecise sentences as these would give prisoners the hope of ultimate release, lessen the risk of their committing suicide, and potentially make the management of prisoners easier for prison officials.
Shipman's motive for suicide was never well known, but he had reportedly told his probation officer that he was considering suicide so his widow could receive a National Health Service (NHS) pension and lump sum, even though he had been stripped of his own pension. His wife received a full NHS pension, to which she would not have been entitled if he had died after the age of sixty.
Shipman had been encouraged to enroll in courses which would have coaxed him to confess his guilt. After refusing, he became emotional and close to tears when privileges, including the opportunity to telephone his wife, were revoked. These privileges had been returned the week before the suicide. Additionally, Primrose, who had consistently believed that Shipman was innocent, might have begun to suspect his guilt. According to Shipman's ex-cellmate, Tony Fleming, Primrose wrote her husband a letter exhorting him to 'tell me everything, no matter what.”
After Effects
In January of 2001, Chris Gregg, a senior West Yorkshire detective, was chosen to direct an investigation into twenty-two of the West Yorkshire deaths. His report into Shipman's activities, submitted in July of 2002, concluded that Shipman had killed at least 215 of his patients between 1975 and 1998, during which time he practiced in Todmorden, West Yorkshire (1974–1975), and Hyde, Greater Manchester (1977–1998). Dame Janet Smith, the judge who tendered the report, admitted that several deaths that were more suspicious could not be definitively attributed to him. Most of his victims were elderly women in good health.
In her final report, issued January 24, 2005, Judge Smith concluded the probable number of Shipman's victims between 1971 and 1998 to be approximately 250. However, in total, 459 people died while under his care, and it is unclear how many of those were Shipman's victims, as he was often the only doctor to certify a death.
The Shipman Inquiry also recommended changes to the structure of the General Medical Council. They charged six doctors who signed cremation forms for Shipman's victims with misconduct, claiming they should have noticed the connection between Shipman's home visits and his patients' deaths. Not all these doctors were found guilty, however. Shipman's widow, Primrose Shipman, was called to give verification about two of the deaths during the inquiry. She continued to maintain her husband's innocence both before and after the prosecution.
Dr. H.H. Holmes
Born: May 16, 1861
Place: New Hampshire, USA
Killing Span: 1888–1894
Number of Killings: 27-200
Captured: November 17, 1894
Background
Born Herman Webster Mudgett, but better known under the alias of Dr. Henry Howard Holmes, or Dr. H.H. Holmes. Holmes was a former doctor, and American Serial Killer.
Both Holmes’ parents, Theodate Page Price and Levi Horton Mudgett, came from the first non-native settlers in the area of New Hampshire. His father was a sadistic alcoholic and his mother a spiritual Methodist who read the Bible to Herman. When he was a youth, he claimed his schoolmates made him view and touch a human skeleton after they discovered he had a fear of the local doctor. Originally, the bullies brought him to the skeleton to frighten him, but Holmes was instead completely captivated by it, and soon became fanatically interested by death.
Holmes married Clara Lovering of Alton, New Hampshire on July 4, 1878, and had a son with her named Robert on February 3, 1880. Holmes graduated from the University of Michigan Medical School in June of 1884 after passing all his tests and requirements. While he was enrolled in University, he would steal bodies from the laboratory, disfigure them, and claim that the people were killed accidentally, in order to collect insurance money from policies he took out on each of the deceased.
After university, Holmes relocated to Chicago to pursue a career in Pharmaceuticals. While there, he also engaged in many unethical business, real estate, and promotional deals, under the name of H.H. Holmes.
Holmes lived in Chicago, but his wife and son still lived back in New Hampshire. While he was still married, Holmes met and married Myrta Belknap in Chicago on January 28, 1887, and had a daughter, Lucy, in July of 1889. He lived with Myrta and Lucy in Wilmette, Illinois, and spent most of his time in Chicago tending to business. He filed for divorce from Clara after marrying Myrta, but the divorce was never finalized.
In January of 1894, Holmes also married Georgiana Yoke in Denver, Colorado, while still married to Myrta and Clara. Moreover, while married to the three of them, he also had an affair with Julia Smythe, the wife of one of his previous employees. She would later become one of Holmes' victims. To make a count, Holmes, at that point, had three wives and one girlfriend.
Murders
In the summer of 1886, Holmes came across Dr. E. S. Holton's Drugstore at the corner of S. Wallace and W. 63rd Street, in the neighborhood of Englewood. Dr. Holton’s wife took care of the store while he was ailing from
