Posted: April 27th, 2022

Serial Killers

Research a serial killer of your choice. Your 5 page paper will be typed (12 font). You may include pictures, graphs, etc. Make sure that your written information is at least 3 pages. You will include a cover page and bibliography.

Choose a serial killer to research and present your findings. Learn about the individual covering the following points of interest:

Name and Location of Residence
Describe the Subject/Married/Children/Employment
Year of Killings
Number of Victims, Gender, Ages
What type of Killer; Sociopath/Psychopath
Define their Behavior/Type of Killings/Burial, Rituals, Trophies, etc.
Organized or Disorganized Serial Killer
Crime Scene Ritual/Set-up/Victim Display (M.O.)
Weapons Used/Statements Made
Did He or She leave any Witnesses
How were they Caught/Agency Involved?
FBI Involvement and Findings (Statistics)
View last page of syllabus for rubric that explains how your paper will be graded
Follow these steps in writing your paper:
1. Establish a Topic (Serial Killer)
2. Look for resources of information (Research)
3. Read your sources, take notes
4. Organize your ideas
5. Write a first draft
6. Use footnotes when you are using material written by another
7. Write a bibliography (keep track of your resources)
8. Revise, proofread, and finalize

Serial Killers
Student’s Name:
Institution:

Serial Killers
Serial killing is a phenomenon that has been experienced worldwide where one person is involved in killing of people for different or no reasons. Serial killers are involved in killing at least two people in separate events and at different times. The serial killers are inclined to kill by abnormal psychological gratification, with their murder operations taking from time to time or at different time intervals. In this regard, Harold Frederick Shipman is an example of a serial killer in modern history. Harold was involved in a series of murders, thus qualifying him as a serial killer.
Name and Location of Residence
Harold was the second born in a family of three children. Harold was married to Primrose Shipman. Harold worked as a general practitioner.
Describe the Subject/Married/Children/Employment
Harold Frederick Shipman or Fred Shipman was a British doctor that was involved in killing his patients. Harold was born on 14th January 1946 on Bestwood council estate in Nottingham, England (Gunn, 2010). Harold practiced as a general practitioner in Tomorders, Hyde in Manchester before establishing his surgery in Market Street.
Year of Killings
Harold’s several years, killing operations while he was practicing as a general practitioner in different medical facilities. Harold killing operations were conducted between 1995 and 1998. The investigation on Harold began in March 1998 after a feral Doctor expressed concerns about high death rates in Dr. Harold’s hands (Gunn, 2010). The deaths were mostly affecting elderly women.
Number of Victims, Gender, Ages
The victims killed in the hands of Dr. Harold are estimated to be between 215 to 250 people. Most of the victims killed by Harold were elderly women, where it is estimated that 80% of the victims were elderly women. John Shaw, a taxi driver, reported to the police he suspected that Harold had murdered 21 patients (Soothill and Wilson, 2005). Shaw argued that most of the elderly customers he took to Harold’s medical facility were in good health but later died under Harold’s care. The youngest victim to die in Harold’s hands was a 41-year-old man, and the last victim of Harold was Kathleen Grundy, who was found dead at her home in 1998.
What type of Killer; Sociopath/Psychopath
Harold can be classified as a psychopath type of killer. In this case, Harold was cold-hearted and did not have a feeling for others, did not care about the future, and had an antisocial personality disorder. Harold was calculative and planned his killing operation to ensure that he achieved in causing death and was not caught (Soothill and Wilson, 2005). This approach shows that Harold knew his behaviors and conduct; thus, he can be effectively classified as a psychopath killer.
Define their Behavior/Type of Killings/Burial, Rituals, Trophies, etc.
Harold killed his victims through a lethal injection. The patients were injected with diamorphine (heroin). Police revels from 15 specimens of Harold victims that they were killed by administering lethal doses of diamorphine (Leth, 2011). Harold went ahead to sign the death certificates for the patients and falsified medical records indicating that they were in poor health condition before their death.
Organized or Disorganized Serial Killer
Harold killing operations were organized such that they were coordinated and planned to prevent the police or any other party from knowing. In this regard, Harold injected his patient with a lethal amount of diamorphine that killed them later when they had already gone home and spent days. This aspect eliminated any suspicion of him having been involved in the murder of his patients (Leth, 2011). In the patient met their death when still in the medical facility, Harold signed their death certificates and falsified reasons for their death, indicating they were in poor health. Therefore, Harold’s approach was to killing was organized, thus making it possible to consistently kill a high number without being noticed. The organization in serial killing is thus evident from the concealing level and approach in the adopted.
Crime Scene Ritual/Set-up/Victim Display (M.O.)
The crime scene is a medical facility. The serial killing operations were staged in Harold’s medical facility. In this regard, the patients/victims would appear in the medical facility with different medical issues (Ranscombe, 2015). Harold would take the opportunity to inject the victims with lethal doses to kill them.
Weapons Used/Statements Made
Harold did not use weapons to implement his killing operations. However, the use of lethal doses of heroin to inject the patient in the name of treating them (Ranscombe, 2015). The high doses resulted in the death of most of the patients, especially elderly people.
Did He or She leave any Witnesses?
Harold left a few witnesses who were not part of his patient, but they had noticed the high rates of death. In this case, John Shaw, a taxi driver, noticed that most of the patients he had taken to the medical facility, especially the elderly, have died (Ward, 2018). John Shaw notices that the patients were in fairly good health, but they eventually died.
How were they Caught/Agency Involved?
Harold was apprehended and arrested after a Doctor (Dr. Linda Reynolds) in his area noticed that there was a high death rate in Harold’s medical facility and a large number of cremation, especially for elder women (Ward, 2018). The investigation was conducted and revealed that the patients’ death resulted from the intention and actions of Dr. Harold.
FBI Involvement and Findings (Statistics)
The FBI report indicated that more deaths could have been prevented through the General Medical Council’s signing of cremation forms for the shipman’s victims.

References
Gunn, J. (2010). Dr Harold Frederick Shipman: An enigma. Criminal Behaviour and Mental Health, 20(3), 190-198.
Leth, P. M. (2011). The case of Dr. Harold Frederick Shipman. Scandinavian Journal of Forensic Science, 17(1), 26-30.
Ranscombe, P. (2015). Shipman and Bodkin Adams in the dock. The Lancet Psychiatry, 2(11), e32.
Soothill, K., & Wilson, D. (2005). Theorising the puzzle that is Harold Shipman. Journal of Forensic Psychiatry & Psychology, 16(4), 685-698.
Ward, D. (2018). Harold Shipman (1946–2004). In 100 Notable Names from General Practice (pp. 297-299). CRC Press.

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