KILLER DOCTORS: Harold Shipman and Charles Edmund Cullen - 2 Books in 1!
Featuring*Harold Shipman*Charles Edmund Cullen
Harold Shipman
As a society, we are conditioned to believe that doctors will do their utmost to nurture our well-being, and protect our lives. We implicitly trust that people only go into such professions to care for their patients in a loving and attentive manner. Very few of us would suspect that someone claiming to promote our health would not do everything in their power to ensure our survival; and even fewer of us would suspect that someone whose job it is to keep us safe, would actively want to harm us.
That blind trust is exactly the mentality that led to over 200 people being murdered at the hands of Britain's most prolific serial killer, Doctor Harold Fredrick Shipman. Shipman used the trust of his patients as a weapon against them.
He managed to avoid detection as a murderer for almost 30 years by putting on a convincing performance as a conscientious care giver. He would persuade a victim's family that he had his patient's best interests at heart, even after he had injected their loved one with a lethal opiate overdose, and had watched them die.
Charles Edmund Cullen
Charles Edmund Cullen is a former nurse who is considered to be the most prolific serial killer in New Jersey history and possibly also in American history. He was born the youngest of eight children into a large New Jersey family. His childhood was largely an unhappy one, his father died when he was a few months old and Cullen was bullied throughout his schooling. Charles Edmund Cullen was still a young child when he made his first suicide attempt. It was far from being his last.
After being discharged from the Navy Cullen trained as a nurse. While studying Cullen met Adrienne Taub, the couple would later marry. Shortly after the birth of his first daughter and the death of his brother Cullen killed his first known victim by means of lethal injection. This occurred whilst he was working at Saint Barnabas Hospital.
Despite numerous concerns over his behavior and while Cullen's mental health continued to deteriorate, including further suicide attempts, he was allowed to continue working in a series of hospitals. This led to as many as40 people losing their lives.
This book looks at how circumstances in Cullen's personal life, such as the breakdown of his marriage following his abusive behavior, sparked his killing sprees. We shall also discuss how, despite arousing some suspicions, Cullen's murderous behavior was allowed to continue for so long.