Chilling signs that exposed Harold Shipman’s guilt and revealed him to be Britain’s worst serial killer
THIS is the chilling moment Dr Harold Shipman revealed himself as Britain’s worst serial killer by forgetting to take a breath.
The GP gained the grisly nickname Dr Death after murdering 15 patients under his care.
He was jailed for life for the killings but the true number of victims is feared to be as high as 459.
Shipman – the only doctor in the history of British medicine to be found guilty of murdering his patients – hanged himself in prison on January 13, 2004.
Now on the 19th anniversary of the monster’s death, a body language expert has revealed the tell-tale signs that exposed his guilt.
Shipman can be seen in a chilling police interview with his back to the camera, eyes closed and breathing every four seconds.
However, this changes when the killer is shown a picture of Elizabeth Pearce, who died within four hours of two other patients in 1975.
Dr Cliff Lansley, from the Emotional Intelligence Academy, told The Sun Online how Shipman stops breathing for nine seconds.
He added: “This name is clearly a problem for him as one of two things is going on at this moment.
“Either, he is experiencing fear from being associated with Elizabeth’s death and he is suffering a freeze response, or he is consciously holding his breath so that he doesn’t give anything away.
“Sadly for him, both of these point towards his involvement with her death.”
Shipman went on trial in October 1999 at Preston Crown Court charged with the murders of 15 patients who died from lethal injections of diamorphine between 1995 and 1998.
He was found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment on 15 counts of murder and one count of forgery – with a recommendation that he never be released.
The Shipman inquiry carried out in 2004 concluded that he had killed at least 218 patients – but the real figure could be as high as 459.
Estimates claim that he killed around 260 mostly elderly women.
His youngest known victim was four-year-old Susie Garfitt, who was killed in the ten minutes while her mum was away making a cup of tea.
Chillingly, Shipman would stay with his victims until they had taken their final breath.
In a documentary before his reign of terror was revealed, the doctor argued it was better for medics to visit patients in the comfort of their own homes.
He claimed people recovered quicker following home visits but Dr Lansley says the interview is another indicator of his guilt.
By this point, it is believed Shipman had killed 32 of his alleged victims.
Dr Lansley says: “When Shipman is arguing that patients recover quicker following home visits, he closes his eyes for half a second – not a 1/20th second blink, but an eye closure.
“This suggests that he is subconsciously distancing himself from what he is saying.
“We now can see how this was a key component of his covert plans to kill his patients at home.”
Suspicions were raised after officials noticed the amount of patients who had died in Shipman’s care.
A probe was launched but dropped by police after they failed to find sufficient evidence – allowing him to kill three more.
His crimes were finally uncovered after he forged the will of one of his victims, Kathleen Grundy, giving himself £386,000.
Her body was exhumed and officers discovered traces of diamorphine, which is used to treat pain in terminal cancer patients.
The monster tried claiming Kathleen was an addict and showed cops his diagnosis on his electronic medical journal.
But police found the notes had been added after her death and Shipman’s killing spree finally came to an end.
On January 13, 2004, he was found dead in his cell at HM Prison Wakefield – the night before his 58th birthday.