Nannie Doss
Murderer
Name at birth: Nannie Hazle
Nannie Doss was a serial poisoner responsible for eleven murders between the 1920s and 1954, when she finally confessed in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Doss's fifth husband died in October of 1954, and an autopsy found that he'd been poisoned with arsenic. More investigations revealed that in all Nannie had killed four husbands, two children, her two sisters, her mother, a grandson and a nephew. She admitted that she had killed her husbands because they didn't measure up: "I was searching for the perfect mate, the real romance of life." She became infamous for appearing amused while recounting her crimes, and the papers dubbed her "The Giggling Granny" and "The Jolly Black Widow," as well as "Arsenic Annie." Sentenced to life in prison, she died in 1965 of cancer.
Other serial killers include Gary Ridgway and Aileen Wuornos.
Four Good Links
Nannie Doss
A distant relative recounts the tale
Lonely Hearts Lady
The Crime Library's slightly embroidered version makes a good story
Nannie Doss
Morbid retelling of her deeds
Nannie Doss
The Discovery Channel has a brief profile and a good photo
Vital Stats
Birth
Birthplace
Death
Best Known As
"The Jolly Black Widow" serial killer

