THE family of Harold Shipman's first victim fear there are hundreds more yet to be identified, 20 years after the sadistic doctor's suicide.
The medic made a late-night house call in 1975 to give cancer patient Eva Lyons, 71, a fatal dose of diamorphine, before asking for a cup of coffee.
Moments later, he brazenly told her unsuspecting husband, Richard: "I'm sorry to say she's dead." The pensioner's family only learned she was a victim of one of Britain's worst serial killers more than 25 years later.
In 2002, a £20million inquiry laid bare the true scale of Shipman's depravity naming 215 victims, including Eva.
But now, exactly two decades after "Dr Death" killed himself in HMP Wakefield, Eva's granddaughter, Debbie Bartlett, 62, says she believes the actual death toll could be much higher.
In an exclusive interview with the Mirror, interior designer Debbie said: "I'm 100% sure there are other victims who have never been identified. "Shipman was a sadistic, evil killer." Debbie has told how her grandfather, known as Dick, went to his grave never knowing his wife had been the victim of
Shipman's bloodthirsty killing spree. But she always had concerns about the night Eva was killed, saying it was strange he gave the pensioner an injection in the back of her hand.
Deborah, who found out two days before her 14th birthday that her gran was dead, recalled: "My grandmother had cancer of the oesophagus, and had been horribly ill from treatment.
"But she was making plans for the future and we had no cause to think her death was imminent. There was total trust [in Shipman].
This story is from the January 13, 2024 edition of Daily Mirror UK.
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This story is from the January 13, 2024 edition of Daily Mirror UK.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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