The prison life of twisted serial killer the 'Man in Black': How Peter Moore, 78, befriended Dr Death Harold Shipman, is 'extremely fit' and blames his murder of four men 30 years ago on fictional gay lover 'Jason'

Daily Mail​

31-05-2025

For the monstrous 'Man in Black', life at one of Britain's most notorious prisons is a doddle compared to what he put his victims through.
Horror film-obsessed Peter Moore, who was convicted in 1996 of the savage, sexually-motivated murders of four men, is currently an inmate at HMP Wakefield.
According to a former prison mate who receives 'regular' letters from Moore, the killer is 'extremely fit' and leaves his cell 'daily' for exercise.
A little over 20 years ago, it was during those trips out of his cell that the former cinema chain owner got to know fellow serial killer Harold Shipman - 'Dr Death' himself.
Shipman - who in his role as a GP murdered an estimated 250 people, took his own life in 2004 - a day before his 58th birthday.
Moore admitted in a letter that he was 'going to miss' Shipman, who he described as an 'educating and interesting person to talk to'.
Shipman, who Moore said had been 'normal' when he saw him the day before his death, had allegedly been writing a book about famed French leader Napoleon Bonaparte.
Police later interviewed Moore over the death of the monstrous doctor, who hanged himself in his cell just four years into his whole-life sentence.
Moore had been at HMP Wakefield for more than two decades, having previously served time at Walton Prison.
HMP Wakefield, in West Yorkshire, houses up to 750 of the most dangerous prisoners in the country.
Each inmate has their own cell and most get a TV set in the rooms. Prisoners also get access to the gym and can do distance learning courses with the Open University.
Wakefield also houses a braille shop, where prisoners work to convert books so they can be read by blind people. Moore is among the inmates who have helped out there.
As well as Shipman, HMP Wakefield has also held double child murderer Ian Huntley and notoriously violent inmate Charles Bronson.
And it was, until this year, home to 'Hannibal the Cannibal' Robert Maudsley, who was moved just weeks ago to HMP Whitemoor in Cambridgeshire after going on hunger strike over the removal of his PlayStation.
Maudsley, 71, has killed a total of four people.
He got his nickname after murdering a fellow prisoner and leaving the body with a spoon sticking out of the skull and part of their brain missing.
It gave rise to the false belief that he ate the organ, prompting the moniker.
Other killers currently held alongside Moore include Jeremy Bamber - who was jailed for the killing of his adoptive parents, sister and nephews in 1985 - and paedophile former Lost Prophets frontman Ian Watkins.
Between September and December 1995, Moore stabbed to death and then mutilated Henry Roberts, 56, Edward Carthy, 28, Keith Randles, 49 and Anthony Davies, 40.
Moore, who owned a chain of cinemas and picked up his nickname because his choice of black shirt and matching trousers, carried out all the murders in north Wales, where he lived.
Although he initially admitted to the killings to his lawyer and the police, Moore later retracted his confession.
Instead, he blamed the murders on a fictional lover called 'Jason', who he is said to have named after the terrifying antagonist in the Friday the 13th horror franchise.
Unsurprisingly, police and jurors did not buy Moore's claims. He was convicted on all counts and told he would never leave prison.
Prosecutor Alex Carlile described him as having had 'black thoughts' and having carried out the 'blackest of deeds'.
Moore admitted to his lawyer Dylan Rhys Jones that he had carried out one of his murders - the stabbing of Keith Randles - 'for fun'.
Mr Rhys Jones recounted in his book, The Man in Black: Wales' Worst Serial Killer, that Moore told him of the killing: 'I just thought it was a job well done, and left and returned to my van.'
In 2019, more than 20 years after acting for Moore, Mr Rhys Jones wrote to his former client in the hope of getting more material for his book.
To his surprise, Moore sent him a 'jovial, friendly' reply and even agreed to see him in person.
He later sent the lawyer turned author a 'resumé' containing details about his early life and background.
The four-page letter began with Moore insisting that Mr Rhys Jones include an acknowledgement in the preface of his book stating that he 'apologises to the people of north Wales for his actions, but that "I don't admit being responsible for the four murders".
The demand for an inclusion of a bizarre apology for crimes he claimed to not be responsible for left Mr Rhys Jones stunned.
He wrote: 'Clearly I couldn't make any such promises – and didn't do so – but the main question I was left asking myself was, what was Moore apologising for?
'It seemed he was apologising for his conduct and saying sorry for the murders but also absolving himself of any responsibility at the same time.
'Was this an attempt, weak and ridiculous though it seemed, to relieve himself of the feeling of guilt?'
Mr Rhys Jones went on to receive a Christmas card from his former client in December 2019.
He had been due to meet Moore at Wakefield on February 10, 2020.
But just a few days before the meeting, the serial killer told him in a typed letter that his legal advisors had told him 'not to attend visits from you and not to provide case material to you, as they don't want any further publicity prior to my case going to appeal.'
Mr Rhys Jones, who admitted he was 'disappointed' to receive the letter, added in his book: 'I have no knowledge as to whether Moore really intends to lodge an appeal against either his conviction or his sentence.'
In 2024 book Inside Wakefield Prison: Life Behind Bars in the Monster Mansion, authors Jonathan Levi and Emma French shed more light on Moore's life behind bars.
A former fellow prisoner told them: 'Peter Moore I knew very well. He actually writes to me now on a regular basis. He has some minor health issues but is in good shape for his age.
'A very tall man with a full head of grey hair with a huge 1980s grey tash. Although he is from Wales, he speaks very well [posh] in a London accent. He is very articulate, clever man.'
'As sick as it sounds, but you want the truth, he actually jokes about his crimes. He claims they were committed by his alter ego Jason.
'His favourite sick joke about his crimes are he once dressed in a policeman's uniform, stopped a car and tied up a couple, male and his female partner.
'He said the man pleaded with him not to sexually assault the woman, he then said, "Sir, how dare you, I'm not here for her, it's you I want."
'Peter actually thinks this was funny. I have spent hours with him revealing all the details of his crimes.
'His voice is so polite and professional, very well spoken, and it is so odd to listen to a well-spoken man talk so much horror.
'Not the sort of thing you would expect from someone so well spoken.
'He is extremely fit. He goes out on exercise daily. He has no visits and when not working he cooks and keeps himself to himself.'
'He must have some personality issues because when he tells his stories he will give the impression it was him that committed the crimes all the way through the conversation, then he will blame Jason.'
In 2013, Moore unsuccessfully appealed his whole-life tariff at the European Court of Human Rights.