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CNN Live At Daybreak

Report Released on Investigation of 'Dr. Death'

Aired July 19, 2002 - 06:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: We're going to turn our attention now to England, and a serial killer that is known as Dr. Death. Details of the year-long investigation released today determined that Dr. Harold Shipman may have killed 215 of his patients over a 23-year period.

CNN's Diana Muriel has more on those findings in England.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DIANA MURIEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Dame Janet Smith has released the first volume in a six-volume report as part of her public inquiry into Dr. Harold Shipman. The report runs to 2,000 pages, 38 of which list the names of the dead.

Janet Smith looked at 887 cases. She dismissed 394 of those initially as death by natural causes, and a further 210 were subsequently found to also be death by natural causes. But she did find that Dr. Harold Shipman was responsible for the death of 215 of his patients; 15 of those he had already been convicted of their murder in a court of law in January, 2000. The report makes chilling reading.

Dr. Shipman had convictions for drug offenses in 1976. He was addicted to the drug, Pethidine. He undertook at that time not to be in charge of controlled drugs ever again, and yet, as a family practitioner here at Hyde in Manchester, he was able to get hold of large quantities of controlled drugs, including diamorphone and morphine, commonly known as heroin.

At one stage, he was able to get hold of 12,000 milligrams of diamorphine for one terminally ill patient of his. That's enough to kill 360 people. He would inject lethal doses of the drug into his victims.

He began in 1975 by killing elderly patients who were suffering from chronic diseases or who were terminally ill, but he moved on in subsequent years. He was willing to kill the bereaved. He was willing to kill patients with a chronic condition, such as cirrhosis or ulceration of the legs, also if they had lung disease, people that might use up a great deal of his time and his resources. He was reported in one case to have said, "That's one more off my drug list."

He also killed people he regarded as a nuisance, people who annoyed him, and he was particularly vindictive against people who would refuse to put either themselves or their partners into residential care homes. One elderly lady, who was looking after her husband who was suffering from Alzheimer's disease, refused to put her husband into a care home. Dr. Shipman killed her.

Psychiatric reports suggests that he was rigid and obsessive, that he was isolated and difficult, and that he had great difficulty in expressing his emotions. He was extremely arrogant. He would also make a great deal of fuss at the time of death, by becoming master of ceremonies and giving instructions to relatives as to what to do with the body.

Dr. Shipman was convicted of killing 15 of his patients in January, 2000, and the unlawful killing of 25 more.

He has never expressed regret. He has never apologized, but it's hoped that today's report will go some way to meeting the needs of the relatives of the victims left behind.

Diana Muriel, CNN, Manchester.

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