25 years today since Harold Shipman was convicted: the murder of Kathleen Grundy and the forged will that brought his downfall
Today, 31 January 2025, marks 25 years since British GP Harold Shipman, known as Fred to his family and friends, was sentenced to 15 whole life tariffs by Mr Justice Forbes following his conviction for the murder of 15 of his patients. A subsequent Public Inquiry concluded Shipman had killed at least 284 patients over the course of his career as a doctor from 1975 to 1998 whilst working at Pontefract General Infirmary, and as a GP in the rural Yorkshire town of Todmorden, then later in Hyde in Greater Manchester, where his most prolific crimes occurred. Shipman remains the only doctor in British history convicted of killing his patients, though a number of nurses have also been convicted of murder. Most, though by no means all, of his victims were elderly women. His youngest victim is believed to have been a four-year old girl murdered in Pontefract.
The murder of Kathleen Grundy and the forged will
In March 1998 concerns were raised by GP Dr Linda Reynolds with the coroner and local police about the high death rate at Shipman's solo GP practice, and in particular the number of cremation forms she was being asked to countersign for elderly women. However, the police investigation found no evidence and was closed on 17 April 1998. Meanwhile, local taxi driver John Shaw was also becoming concerned about the number of his elderly customers who were dying in Shipman's care, and also began to suspect the doctor. However, it was not until the death of former Hyde Mayoress Kathleen Grundy on 24 June 1998 that Shipman was finally about to be exposed.
Kathleen Grundy, 81, fit as a fiddle and a tireless worker on behalf of the elderly, opened the door of her £150,000 cottage between 8.30am and 9am on the morning of June 24 1998 to greet her long-standing, highly-respected GP, Dr Harold Shipman. He had arrived, by arrangement, to take a routine blood test. He unpacked his equipment from his medical bag, selected a needle and wiped Mrs Grundy's arm in preparation. But instead of drawing blood, Shipman pumped the former mayoress of Hyde with a lethal dose of morphine. Within three hours, she was dead.
Despite her advanced years, Mrs Grundy was, according to her daughter Angela Woodruff, "a very vibrant, energetic, lively, happy, talkative, smiley person. She was brilliant. She was more like a 60-year-old". She had also admired and trusted her GP. "If a doctor says you need something doing, you say 'fine'. If a doctor says you need an injection, you say 'fine'," Mrs Woodruff said last night, adding that her mother had sought out Shipman because "she respected and trusted him hugely".
Mrs Grundy's fully-clothed body was discovered at 11.55am on the sofa in the sitting room of her unlocked home by two colleagues who had become anxious when she had failed to turn up at her pensioners' luncheon club. They called Shipman, who gave Mrs Grundy's body a cursory once-over and pronounced her dead, later to certifying that her cause of death was old age. Two weeks earlier, Mrs Grundy had consulted Shipman at his surgery in a line of shops close to Hyde's market place. She chatted to the doctor about whether she needed to have her ears syringed before Shipman excused himself. He went into the waiting room to ask two patients, Claire Hutchinson and Paul Spencer, if they could witness Mrs Grundy's signature. He presented a sheet of folded paper; they obliged.
After her unexpected death, Shipman advised her grieving friends to contact local solicitors Hamilton Ward, who he said handled Mrs Grundy's affairs. Shipman knew that the firm had a will because he had typed it himself on the battered old Brother manual typewriter that police found in his surgery. He had dated it June 9 and signed it, forging Mrs Grundy's signature; he also forged the signatures of the witnesses, Ms Hutchinson and Mr Spencer, who had unknowingly given him examples to copy. "I give all my estate, money and house to my doctor," Shipman typed on a standard will form he could have bought at the newsagent's next to his surgery. "My family are not in need and I want to reward him for all the care he has given to me and the people of Hyde." He left behind a fingerprint which was later found by forensic scientists. It was not a neat job: it was written entirely in upper case, with missing letters where the typewriter had failed to keep up with his greedy fingers. "It was a cack-handed attempt at forgery," said Detective Superintendent Bernard Postles, who led the murder inquiry.
The will purported to leave Shipman an estate worth £386,402, including Mrs Grundy's home and a house she owned in Stockport. Hamilton Ward received it on June 24, the day Mrs Grundy died. It was accompanied by a letter which Shipman wrote on the same typewriter he had used for the will. He dated it June 9 and signed it "K Grundy". It said: "Dear Sir, I enclose a copy of my will. I think it is clear in intent. I wish Dr shipman [sic] to benefit by having my estate but if he dies or cannot accept it, then the estate goes to my daughter. "I would like you to be the executor of the will. I intend to make an appointment to discuss this and my will in the near future." Staff at the Hamilton Ward office in Hyde were puzzled: they had never acted for Mrs Grundy. They filed the will and awaited developments.
On June 30, they received a letter, without an address, dated June 28 and typed on the now familiar Brother typewriter. "Dear Sir, I regret to inform you that Mrs K Grundy of 79 Joel Lane, Hyde, died last week. I understand that she lodged a will with you, as I as a friend typed it out for her. Her daughter is at the address and you can contact her there." It was signed S or F Smith. Shipman had ticked the "cremation" box on the will form. But Mrs Grundy was not cremated: she was buried at Hyde Chapel on July 1 after a funeral service attended by hundreds of friends. Shipman was not among them
A couple of weeks later, staff at Hamilton Ward managed to contact Mrs Grundy's daughter Angela Woodruff, herself a solicitor living in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire. She was surprised to hear about the will because she had a will signed by her mother leaving the estate to her. When she saw it, she at once suspected it was a forgery. "The whole thing was just unbelievable," Mrs Woodruff said, giving evidence at Shipman's trial. "The thought of mum "signing a document so badly typed leaving everything to her doctor just didn't make any sense. It was inconceivable."
Mrs Woodruff began her own inquiries: contacting the will's supposed witnesses and comparing the signatures. Last night, she spoke of the "credibility gap" she had to traverse in order to accept her own conclusions. "For us to believe that the doctor had possibly forged a will, had possibly killed my mother, was a huge gap to cross," she said in a BBC interview. When she told police of her concerns on July 24, she sparked what eventually became one of the world's biggest investigations into the activities of a serial killer.
Shipman had never before attempted to profit from his killings; the first time he tried, it led to his downfall. No one knows why he changed tack and he has given no explanation.
Mrs Grundy's body was exhumed on August 1 1998 and morphine was found in her muscle tissue. Shipman had not just taken Mrs Grundy's life; he tried to destroy her good name to cover his tracks. He altered her medical records to suggest that she was abusing codeine, which can break down into morphine after death. He made up an entry suggesting she had come to see him on December 10 1996 and that her pupils were small, a sign of a persistent drug user. He added in near illegible handwriting: "Constipated. Drug abuse at her age? Codeine - wait and see?" Kathleen Grundy's death was the last in a long line of murders carried out by Shipman. His method was consistent: a swift, injection of morphine.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2000/feb/01/shipman.health14
Shipman committed suicide in Wakefield Prison, Yorkshire on 13 January 2004, having served just 4 years of his life sentence and without ever confessing or explaining his crimes. He was interviewed by West Yorkshire Police following his conviction about possible murders in Pontefract and Todmorden but refused to cooperate. No further charges were ever brought. However, it is apparent that without tenacity of both Angela Woodruff and Dr Reynolds this prolific serial killer may have continued killing for much longer, if indeed he was ever caught. The case, and the subsequent Public Inquiry, has changed policing, the NHS and the coronial system in the UK forever with the aim of preventing such crimes by a doctor in a trusted position from ever happening again and, should the worst occur, of identifying the crimes sooner.
Kathleen Grundy was Shipman's last victim. For information about his first confirmed victim, Eva Lyons, visit this excellent post
Sources:
An article published by the BBC today about people in Hyde with direct experience of Shipman and their suspicions and concerns about him: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx2qnvjj39jo