A grieving husband who lost his mother-in-law to murderous doctor Harold Shipman says the “trauma” of losing her was triggered by his wife’s Alzheimer’s and subsequent death.
Phill Woodruff, 79, an experimental surface physicist at the Royal Society, is the son-in-law of Kathleen Grundy, who was the last of Shipman’s victims.
In a new Channel 5 documentary, The Trial of Harold Shipman, airing tonight, Phil explains how he blames the serial killer, known as Dr Death, for the death of his wife Angela as well.
Following her mother’s death in 1998, Angela was shocked and horrified to learn that her will had been amended to leave her entire £380,000 estate to her GP.
Pictured: Harold Shipman is often nicknamed Harold ‘Dr Death’ Shipman – he was Britain’s most prolific serial killer by far.
Angela Woodruff, left, daughter of Kathleen, murdered by Shipman in 1998. Pictured here with her husband, Phill Woodruff, right.
Kathleen’s death was not initially ruled a murder. She was found upright in her chair, as if she had died in her sleep.
Speaking about the documentary, Phil explained: “I’m inclined to believe that the trauma of Shipman’s business contributed to that situation,” he says.
Angela’s mother, Kathleen, was described as a “well-respected and well-loved” woman in the town of Hyde, Greater Manchester, before her murder on 24 June 1998.
She said: “She was very professional by God, you could feel that she was not going to let this go and that she was going to get him (Shipman).”
Both Angela and her husband, Phill, were watching from the gallery as the case unfolded.
Before being convicted of multiple counts of murder, Harold Shipman was considered by his neighbors to be a loner in his area.
Pictured: Angela’s mother Kathleen, who was described as a “well-respected and well-loved” woman in the town of Hyde, before her murder on June 24, 1998.
Angela Woodruff is pictured on her way to trial. Her husband, Phill, blames his mother for the shock caused by her mother’s Alzheimer’s death.
Angela and Phill Woodruff are pictured speaking to reporters after the trial. In the new Channel 5 programme, Phill details his memories of the horrific murder of his mother-in-law, Kathleen Grundy, who was his wife’s mother.
Often nicknamed Harold “Doctor Death” Shipman, he was Britain’s most prolific serial killer by far.
He murdered his victims by injecting them with lethal doses of diamorphine (pharmaceutical heroin) before attempting to cover his tracks by falsifying medical records, and was entitled to criminal injuries compensation.
Shipman is considered one of the most prolific serial killers in modern history, having murdered around 250 people during his tenure as a GP in Greater Manchester.
To the relief of the victims and family, at the end of the long and emotionally challenging trial, the jury took six days to reach its conclusion.
On day 56 of the trial, 27 January 2000, Harold Shipman was convicted of murder and falsifying Kathleen Grundy’s will and was sentenced to life imprisonment.
Following the sentencing, the judge addressed a few words to the victim’s relatives in court, who had given testimony and endured the two-month trial.
The judge said he admired “the courage and quiet dignity with which each of you testified in this case.”
Harold Shipman’s trial dramatised in new Channel 5 TV show
Dramatization of the program pictured above. Since his arrest more than two decades ago, Shipman has refused to cooperate with prison programs and has only granted a 90-minute interview about his crimes.
The judge continued: “In my opinion, your testimony, your service to the court of justice and the outcome of this trial will stand as a lasting tribute and memorial to each of your loved ones.”
During the documentary, as Phil read through the court transcripts, he became emotional and had a hard time finishing them.
“It’s quite difficult for me to read that,” he confessed in the documentary.
Shipman refused to cooperate with prison programs and only gave a 90-minute interview about his crimes.
He died by suicide on January 13, 2004.
Dramatisation of the show in the picture. In a new Channel 5 documentary, The Trial of Harold Shipman, the husband of Angela Woodruff, whose mother was murdered by the infamous doctor, said he blames the tortuous murder trial for his Alzheimer’s and his wife’s death.
BRITAIN’S WORST SERIAL KILLER: WHO IS HAROLD SHIPMAN?
Harold Shipman was convicted of 15 murders, before a subsequent investigation discovered that he had murdered around 250 of his patients.
Murderous GP Harold Shipman is estimated to have killed a total of 250 patients over a 27-year period dating back to 1971, using the drug diamorphine.
About 80 percent of his victims were older women and his youngest victim was a 41-year-old man.
Shipman was convicted of drugs offences in 1976 after becoming addicted to pethidine as a young doctor, but was allowed to continue practising by the General Medical Council (GMC).
He began his killing spree at Pontefract General in the early 1970s and was eventually arrested in September 1998, aged 52, and was jailed for life in January 2000.
He was convicted at Preston Crown Court of the murders of 15 elderly women: Marie West, Irene Turner, Lizzie Adams, Jean Lilley, Ivy Lomas, Muriel Grimshaw, Marie Quinn, Kathleen Wagstaff, Bianka Pomfret, Norah Nuttall, Pamela Hillier, Maureen Ward, Winifred Mellor, Joan Melia and Kathleen Grundy.
Ten days after his sentencing to life imprisonment plus a four-year sentence for forgery, the GMC struck Shipman off the register.
A year after his sentencing, an investigation was launched which concluded that the family doctor had murdered at least 215 of his patients between 1975 and 1998, during which period he had also practised in Todmorden, West Yorkshire (1974-1975), and Hyde, Greater Manchester (1977-1998).
A sixth and final report in 2005 found further suspicions about other deaths early in his career and Dame Janet Smith, the judge who presented the report, estimated the total number of victims during that 27-year period at 250.
On the eve of his 58th birthday, Shipman was found hanged in his cell at Wakefield Prison in January 2004.
His wife, Primrose Shipman, who maintained her husband’s innocence following his conviction, received his full NHS pension, which she would not have been entitled to if Shipman had lived past 60.
Speaking in the new documentary, Phill said: ‘When Angela heard about the suicide, she was very distraught.
‘I think she must have expected him to explain why he had done it, but I had no hope of that happening.
-Honestly, I think if he had told us, I wouldn’t have believed him anyway.
Tragically, Angela died of Alzheimer’s at age 73 in 2018, two decades after her mother’s killer committed suicide in prison.
Phill explained that he believed the trauma of his mother’s death was part of the reason for her eventual death.
He said: “She died six years ago from Alzheimer’s disease. I am inclined to believe that the trauma of Shipman’s business contributed to that situation.”
However, he expressed his gratitude for the justice that was initially achieved.
‘Justice was done. Not only was justice done, but it was shown that justice could be done.
The Harold Shipman trial will be broadcast on Channel 5 on Thursday 22 August at 9pm.