After being in jail for two years, she stated that she would have preferred the death sentence. Nannie Doss died in prison in 1964 while serving a life sentence for the murder of her last husband. Exhausted from labor and groggy from ether, Melvina thought she saw her visiting mother stick a hatpin into the baby's head. Doss then met Arlie Lanning through an advertisement in the local lonely hearts column. Until you do, approximately half an hour later. Meanwhile, Doss took out insurance worth $500 on Robert. Then at the age of seven, she suffered a traumatic head injury on a train, which changed her life. This is the story of Mary Bell. Nannie Doss (born Nancy Hazel; November 4, 1905 - June 2, 1965) was an American serial killer responsible for the deaths of 11 people between some time in the 1920s and 1954. Your head is pounding and you cant think except to run to the bathroom where you have nonstop and explosive diarrhea. He courted her with poetry; she wrote passionate letters and sent him a cake and a photograph of herself. Despite this, she maintained her cheerful disposition throughout her life, often making jokes about her case. During her marriage to Morton, Doss already had began to correspond with new men. Doss was born Nancy Hazel on November 4, 1905, in Blue Mountain, Alabama, the United States. Bettmann/Getty ImagesNannie Doss laughs as she is interviewed by a police captain after confessing to the poisoning of four of her five husbands. Her husband went away with their oldest living child and didnt return until the following year. At the age of seven, she suffered a serious accident which caused severe bouts of headache in the years to come. The Nannie Doss case in the mid 1950s is being featured on Japanese television as one of the five most unusual murder cases in the world. Nannie's father forbade the Hazel sisters from wearing makeup and attractive clothing as he believed it would prevent them from being molested by men. After a successful treatment regime, the hospital let him go. In September, Samuel was admitted to the hospital with flu-like symptoms. Nannie was one of five children; she had one brother and three sisters. Nannie killed him that evening in her rush to collect the two life insurance policies she had taken out on him. You wake up wearing a hospital gown in a bed at the hospital with a doctor looming over you. From this time on, she suffered from excruciating headaches. 1. Nannie was first married at age 16 to Charley Braggs, her co-worker at a linen factory. The couple divorced in 1928. Braggs must have known something was wrong with their deaths, because he left, taking the oldest daughter with him. Nannie Doss (born Nancy Hazel; November 4, 1905 June 2, 1965) was an American serial killer responsible for the deaths of 11 people between some time in the 1920s and 1954. In her own words, Doss romance magazines had a profound effect on her psyche. Nannie Doss (born Nancy Hazel) was one of the notorious female serial killer, born on November 4, 1905, in an underprivileged family in Blue Mountain, Alabama. Doss blamed these and her mental instability on that accident. After all, Samuel was far from her only husband and Nannie considered family in general quite expendable. She soon confessed to killing four of her five ex-husbands, but not her family members. Doss was referred to as the "Giggling Granny," the "Lonely Hearts Killer," the "Black Widow," and "Lady Blue Beard." Take a look below for 25 more interesting and bizarre facts about Nannie Doss. Your stomach is absolutely killing you, and what is really weird is that you are also drooling everywhere. Doss believed in true love and romance, and she wasnt willing to wait to find it. It turns out that what he found confirmed the worst. Though she was acquitted, many people believe Lizzie Borden killed her father and stepmother back in 1892. . A few days later, she started to have severe stomach pains and died. The happy couple lived with Braggs' mother, but she had the same abusive type of behavior as Doss' father. To make matters worse, as she talked to the police about each of the people she had killed, she smiled and giggled. Your email address will not be published. Check out this biography to know more about her childhood, family, personal life, crimes committed, etc. But all you do is groan, as your head is throbbing and you have no desire for small talk. Her mother, though kind, could not protect her children from her husband, nor could she keep Nannie from a traumatic injury that may have changed everything. Nannie's Early Life A native of Alabama, Nannie grew up with four siblings in a town near Jacksonville. Lanning died in 1950 from what was thought to be heart failure and townspeople came out in support of his widow. The insurance money went to Nannie, who quickly banked it, and after Lanning's mother died in her sleep, Nannie left North Carolina and ended up at her sister Dovie's home. She went on to kill all three of her subsequent husbands, Arlie Lanning, Richard L. Morton, and Samuel Doss. Lizzie Borden was acquitted of the murders of her father and stepmother in 1892. Nannie Doss was born in 1905 into a family of farmers in Alabama. Your email address will not be published. Then, read about Elisabeth Fritzl, who spent 24 years held captive by her father. The woman died suddenly and without warning a few months after Doss agreed to take care of her. They married in 1952 in Emporia, Kansas and not long after that, Morton started to spend night after night with other women in the town. Nannie Doss is credited with killing at least 11 people. When she was seven years old, she boarded a train to go to Alabama where a few of her relatives lived. She was anxious all the time and soon enough, started drinking. The doctors ordered . For better or worse, Nannie didnt live much longer. At the age of seven, Nannie Doss fell forward while on a train and her head collided with the floor. The following day, she found his corn whiskey jar buried while she was in the garden tending her roses. On July 7, 1945, he died from asphyxiation and within two months after his death, Doss cashed in on Roberts insurance. Nannie continued to act crazy even as she was handed down a sentence of life in prison. Two weeks later, he was dead. So youre not the brightest, but your hearts in the right place. Educator and activist, she lived from May 2, 1879, to May 20, 1961. They were married soon. Nannie Doss was born in Blue Mountain, Anniston, Alabama, Nannie Doss's nickNames is Giggling Granny, the Lonely Hearts Killer, the Black Widow, Nannie Doss's spouses is Arlie Lanning (m. ?1950), Richard L. Morton (m. 19521953), Robert Franklin Harrelson (m. 19291945), Nannie Doss's childrens is Melvina B. Braggs Leonard, Copy this code and place into your web pageView Nannie Doss stories, Copyright FamousBio 2020 All rights reserved This template was inspired with love by Colorlib, Giggling Granny, the Lonely Hearts Killer, the Black Widow, Arlie Lanning (m. ?1950), Richard L. Morton (m. 19521953), Robert Franklin Harrelson (m. 19291945). The jury didn't find amusing so on May 17, 1955, Nannie now being 50 years old, confessed killing Samuel Doss, her last husband in return of a life sentence. Karla Homolka is one of Canadas most infamous female serial killers. CENSUS RECORDS: 1930 Lynchburg, Virginia. They got married that year. Contrary to what you believed, neither was prepared with love, and your multiple apologies were not truly accepted. He did not allow non-educational, non-enlightening TV shows and magazines in the house and disliked the romance novels and stories that his wife adored. Instead, Nannie was given a check from their insurance company to cover the damages. Under his orders, an autopsy was performed and they found a large amount of arsenic in his system. He is really eyeballing you and asking you all sorts of questions. Once a newspaper called her a "self-made . Unbelievably, she was successful yet again and found Arlie Lanning of North Carolina. One newspaper went as far as calling her a "self-made widow". He courted her with poetry; she wrote passionate letters and sent him a cake and a photograph of herself. Furthermore, her favorite part was the lonely hearts column. This head trauma caused Nannie to suffer from severe headaches, blackouts and depression for many years. She found Richard L. Morton of Jamestown, North Carolina in a dating service called the Diamond Circle Club. The first grandchild, Robert, died while in Doss care of asphyxiation. In all, it was revealed that she had killed four husbands, two children, two of her sisters, her mother, two grandsons, and a mother-in-law. This biography provides detailed information about her childhood, life, achievements, works & timeline. Nannie's story begins in Blue Mountain, Alabama. Before long, she confessed to killing not only her four husbands, but confessed to seven other murders as well. Nannie Helen Burroughs founded what was at the time the largest Black women's organization in the United States and, with the organization's sponsorship, founded a school for girls and women. "Arsenic Nannie" was excited about this decision: "Now maybe I will get some rest and won't have to answer so many silly questions," she said. At that time, she was taking care of Lannings mother who was suffering from a broken hip. Doss died from leukemia in the hospital ward of . No one else was ever charged. Nannie was born on November 4, 1905[3] in Blue Mountain, Alabama, now part of Anniston. 2023 The Arena Media Brands, LLC and respective content providers on this website. This was particularly interesting, as her husbands sister was designated as the one who would inherit it, according to Arlies will. Doss could not provide any reasonable explanation. Only three days after that, Morton perished after drinking from a thermos full of coffee that had been spiked by Doss with arsenic. She connected with her second husband Frank through a romantic ad in a newspaper column and they were married by 1929. Nannie Doss, under arrest in Tulsa, Oklahoma, November 1954. She was also known as the Giggling Granny, the Lonely Hearts Killer, the Black Widow, and Lady Blue Beard. She was not given the death sentence because of her gender. The woman died in her sleep. In exchange for a trashy romance magazine, Nannie admitted to murdering not just Samuel but many others. She attacked one with a hairpin while just a newborn and suffocated another two-year-old grandchild. She was only charged with the murder of her final husband, and pleaded guilty on May 17, 1955 - almost 25 years after she began her killing spree. Both Nannie and her mother despised James because of his controlling behaviour towards every member of the family. Two years later, she and her husband had another child, this time a daughter. Just seven months later, Harrelson also would be dead. Because of the stress of raising four children, Mrs. Braggs, and an adulterous husband, Doss began drinking and smoking heavily, and soon, she too began indulging in adulterous acts. She still found faults in him. Doss only attended school until sixth grade, and after spent her time doing household chores, maintenance work, and fieldwork until her first job in 1921. Charley Braggs and Doss had four children together from 1921 to 1927. Meanwhile, journalists gave her the nickname Giggling Granny because every time she would tell the story of how she killed her late husbands, she laughed. (Photo Credit: Bettmann/ Getty Images) Her fourth husband was a man named Richard Morton whom she met through a dating service. Doss confessed to killing four of her husbands, her mother, her sister, her grandson, and her mother-in-law. However, the doctor who had cared for him in the hospital didnt believe he had just succumbed to illness. But Doss wasnt finished killing there. At age 9, while the family was taking a train to visit relatives in southern Alabama, Nannie hit her head on a metal bar on the seat in front of her when the train suddenly stopped. Perhaps, if that injury had never occurred, several men, women, and children could have died naturally instead of at the hands of the Giggling Granny. However, the relationship had several issues right from the beginning, mostly due to Harrelsons alcoholism and violent temper. Despite this, the marriage lasted 16 years. While Braggs was an attentive father, his relationship with his wife did not improve at all. Often referred to as The Giggling Granny or The Jolly Widow, Nannie Doss did not instill fear in her victims. After he was warned anonymously not to eat anything his wife prepared, Braggs fled their home, taking their eldest daughter, Melvina, with him but leaving Florine, their youngest, behind. After their wedding, Braggs mother insisted on living with them. HubPages is a registered trademark of The Arena Platform, Inc. Other product and company names shown may be trademarks of their respective owners. She wasnt after insurance money. In 1945, Harrelson raped Nannie. People assumed he died of food poisoning. Harrelson died an excruciating death that evening. In 1947 she met Arlie Lanning, and just two days later they married. Doss earned her nickname, Giggling Granny, because of her smiling and giggling as she discussed her crimes with the authorities. Other than throw up and convulse until you die while your significant other happily laughed in the background. It is quite possible that she had poisoned those girls. Nannie Doss- even her name sounds cutesy-poo and giggly- was evil in a too-charming disguise, so charming that she got away with murder many times. She soon experienced some stomach upset and then passed away, and Morton followed her a few months later. He died under mysterious circumstances. Doss was 16 years old when she married her first husband, Charley Braggs, after knowing him only for four months. It was at her first job that Doss met Charley Braggs, who would become her first husband. Unfortunately, she was able to kill multiple innocent victims before she was finally snatched by the police. They married three days later. Doss then met Arlie Lanning through an advertisement in the local lonely hearts column. Shortly after her mothers death, one of Dosss sisters died suddenly after having contact with the Nannie Doss. It turns out that a common household ingredient at the time was a potent way to kill people and without anyone suspecting a thing. Doss story begins with her birth to a family of farmers in 1905 in Blue Mountain, Alabama. This caused her to lurch forward and smash her head on a metal seat in front of her. Source: Murderpedia Gizmodo 00:00 01:11 00:00 After serving 9 years in prison, Nannie Doss died of Leukemia in the Oklahoma State Penitentiary. Doss was never charged with the other deaths. By the time she married her third husband, three people had been killed. Braggs' mother died not much later and Nannie took a job in a cotton mill to support Florine and herself. He drank without inhibition and one night, after returning home completely intoxicated, raped Doss. Doss was sentenced to life in prison, where she died of leukemia in 1965. Soon after, Braggs took firstborn daughter Melvina and fled, leaving newborn Florine behind. You sit down to a homemade dinner of juicy and tender pork roast. The final murder ended up revealing her for what she was. A huge fan of newspaper classifieds, Nannie Doss began looking for a third husband shortly after the murder of her second. The doctor, who treated Samuel, was alerted by his sudden death. For a while at least, Nannie seemed to care for her like a good daughter. When she was seven years old, she boarded a train to go to Alabama where a few of her relatives lived. They realized after exhuming her other past husbands that they all had doses of arsenic and rat poison in their systems. Despite James forbidding Doss and her sisters from wearing make-up and attractive clothes in fear of molestation, it still happened on several occasions. Nannie killed him that very evening with her tried and tested method of arsenic in coffee. Rosa Parks, also known as the first lady of civil rights and the mother of the freedom movement, was a famous African-American civil rights activist. In the case of the toddler, she collected a large $500 life insurance policy she just so happened to have taken out on him before he died. In 1927 (Age 21/22) Nannie Doss started her killing spree, during her crimes as a serial killer she was known to murder her victims. After he performed an autopsy on the body, he found the lethal doses of arsenic in his system. Her first attempt to kill him with arsenic-laced prune cake failed, and he spent a month recovering in the hospital. Doss collected $500 dollars on an insurance policy she had placed on the boy. So the doctor convinced Doss, who was to receive two life insurance benefits after the fifth husbands death, to let him perform an autopsy. His life was insured for $1,400. Nannie Doss, otherwise known as the Giggling Granny, or Lady Bluebeard, was an elderly woman who poisoned and killed up to 11 members of her family, including four husbands.She blamed early head trauma and an unrealized dream of a romance novel-style marriage as the impetus behind her coldhearted murders, the crimes of Nannie Doss will shock even the most hardened true crime lovers. In Samuels system was much more than lethal amounts of poison. They lived in Jacksonville with Melvina and Florine. Nannie Doss was also known by her nickname, "The Giggling Granny.". Why the United States Entered World War I, 123rd Machine Gun Battalion in the Meuse-Argonne, Northern Military Advantages in the Civil War, The Year Before America Entered the Great War. After a few years, she decided death may have been the better option for her. She is now an anonymous grandmother who lives among us somewhere. She married, had four children, and spent time with her grandchildren. Total she killed 11 people and they are as follows: Her 2 middle daughters Frank Harrelson Arlie Lanning Arlie Lanning's mother Her sister Dovie Her grandaughter Her grandson Her mother, Lou Hazle Her son-in-law, Richard Morton Sam Doss Suspect The only real suspect in all of the murders was Nannie Doss herself. During the journey, the train suddenly ceased moving and she hit her head on a metal bar on the seat opposite of her. She moved to be with her new love interest, and they were married just two days after they met in person. This biography profiles her childhood, life, horrifying acts, death and other facts. According to Braggs later statement, when he left for work the girls seemed healthy but they were crying while he was leaving and reportedly died in convulsions soon after having breakfast. Sources cite either a singles club or additional romantic advertising as netting Nannie another husband by 1952. Nannie was promptly arrested. In addition, Morton had another girlfriend who he met before Doss. The doctor, who treated Samuel, was alerted by his sudden death. Exhausted from the labour and still groggy from the ether, Melvina thought that she saw her mother kill her daughter by sticking a hairpin into the newborns head. [1] Doss was also referred to as the Giggling Granny, the Lonely Hearts Killer, the Black Widow, and Lady Blue Beard.[2]. She was just getting started. Could You Pass This Voting Literacy Test Designed To Disenfranchise African Americans? He was a heavy drinker, so doctors attributed the heart attack to alcohol. Sam Doss was different from her previous husbands in that he was neither threatening nor violent, did not drink or swear, and was a money-grubbing penny-pincher. In time, a bitter mother-in-law and a horde of screaming offspring were more than they could handle. Sep 15, 1945, Frank Harrelson dies. Bettmann/Getty ImagesNannie Doss breaks into a smile after signing a statement for Tulsa officers admitting she killed four of her five husbands with rat poison. Instead, after she pleaded guilty on May 17, 1955, she was sentenced to life imprisonment. In 1927, the couple lost their two middle girls to suspected food poisoning. He spent 23 days in the hospital before returning home. Nannie was sentenced to life in prison. She was a year older than he was. While they were married, Doss' mother needed a caretaker and moved in with the couple. The next four wouldn't make it out alive. Nannie Doss was an American serial killer who was convicted and sentenced to life in prison after murdering 11 people between the 1920s and 1954. Nannie Doss was an American serial killer who was convicted and sentenced to life in prison after murdering 11 people between the 1920s and 1954. He drank without inhibition and one night, after returning home completely intoxicated, raped Doss. Doss was looking to get married for the fourth time. She was subsequently tried and given a life sentence. Learn how and when to remove this template message, List of serial killers in the United States, List of serial killers by number of victims, "Only in Oklahoma: Black widow enjoyed the limelight", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Nannie_Doss&oldid=1151423541, American people who died in prison custody, American prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment, Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Oklahoma, Serial killers who died in prison custody, Articles needing additional references from November 2017, All articles needing additional references, Pages using infobox criminal with motive parameter, Articles needing additional references from June 2020, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 23 April 2023, at 23:50. She topped it off with rat poison, and Frank died on Sept. 15, 1945 just hours after Doss filled his liquor bottle. Braggs took his older daughter, Melvina, with him and left a newborn, Florine, with his ex-wife and mother. He had other suspicions. She would later blame her mental instability on the accident. While in these unpleasant circumstances, Nannie allegedly turned on her own grandchildren. Braggs often would not be home for days on end. She boarded a bus to Tulsa, Oklahoma, to meet Samuel Doss, a Nazarene minister who had lost his family in a tornado in Madison County, Arkansas. The good news is that although she may have killed as many as a dozen people, some still got lucky and survived coming into contact with her. Then, her two year old grandson died by asphyxiation while in her care. His organs were found to be full of arsenic and blame was put on Nannie. After a successful treatment regime, the hospital let him go. She too met her demise soon after Doss moved in. https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/nannie-doss-41380.php. Melissa Brim is the ex-girlfriend of former professional boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. Nannie Doss is escorted for a court appearance in 1955 after confessing to poisoning four of her five husbands, including Samuel Doss of Tulsa. Alarmed at his sudden passing, Samuel's doctors ordered an autops to be performed. Though Lanning also was an alcoholic, unlike second husband Frank Harrelson, Lanning was not violent. After the funeral, the house they had lived in, which was inherited by Lannings sister, burned down and Doss got the insurance money. Soon, Dovies condition began to worsen, and it wasnt long before she, too, died in her sleep. At one point, in order to gain more control of the finances, Doss left from Oklahoma, where the couple currently lived, and went home to Alabama. Check out this biography to know about her birthday, childhood, family life, achievements and fun facts about her. You really didnt see that one coming. Youre still on the toilet when you pass out. Free once more, Nannie went in search of another victim in the romantic interest section of the local newspaper. One such pen pal was Sam Doss, who would become her fifth husband. James would force his children to work on the family farm, refusing to let the children go to school, resulting in Nannie's poor academic performance.