Doss's oldest daughter, Melvina, had a child in 1943 and another in 1945. Within hours of his return, Doss had served him a port roast dinner with a cup of coffee laced with arsenic. Samuel L. Doss, 58, of Tulsa, who died Oct. 10, 1954, of poison mixed with a bowl of prunes and a cup of coffee. Her first marriage, to a co-worker named Charley Braggs, was tumultuous to say the least and Braggs would later claim that he left Doss because he was afraid of her. She and Braggs worked together at the Linen Thread Company in nearby Anniston. Sources cite either a singles club or additional romantic advertising as netting Nannie another husband by 1952. His life was insured for $1,400. (Photo Credit: Bettmann/ Getty Images) Her fourth husband was a man named Richard Morton whom she met through a dating service. Nannie Doss was promptly arrested. Within months after the death of her fourth husband, Nannie had her eyes set on a new one. She died from leukemia in the hospital ward of the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in 1965. Doss was never charged with the other deaths. The marriage produced four daughters from 1923 to 1927. She gave birth to her son Robert Lee Haynes in 1943. Doss was born Nancy Hazel on November 4, 1905, in Blue Mountain, Alabama, the United States. When she was seven years old, she boarded a train to go to Alabama where a few of her relatives lived. They got married that year. Melvina vaguely remembered watching her mother stick a hatpin in the head of the infant as Melvina faded in and out of conciousness. After the funeral, the house they had lived in, which was inherited by Lannings sister, burned down and Doss got the insurance money. Doss was 16 years old when she married her first husband, Charley Braggs, after knowing him only for four months. That night, Robert died in his sleep of asphyxia. Both Nannie and her mother despised James because of his controlling behaviour towards every member of the family. During this time, many critical events took place, including the murder of 11 people. Harrelson died an excruciating death that evening. At that time, she was taking care of Lannings mother who was suffering from a broken hip. After all, you truly love your life partner. After Lanning died, the house mysteriously burned to the ground and Lanning's mother died. On September 15, 1945, Harrelson became ill and died. At the age of 16, Nannie Doss wed a man she had only known for four months. Nannie later wrote: I married, as my father wished, in 1921 to a boy I only knowed about four or five months who had no family, only a mother who was unwed and who had taken over my life completely when we were married. Nannie continued to act crazy even as she was handed down a sentence of life in prison. 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. Well, after youd eaten about three large slices and downed a few glasses of milk, you lay down completely stuffed and unusually tired. Just a year after her divorce, Doss married her second husband. She was not given the death sentence because of her gender. She wasnt a happy child. She was a year older than he was. 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. From this time on, she suffered from excruciating headaches. Alarmed at his sudden passing, Samuel's doctors ordered an autops to be performed. But it does make you wonder if all of it could have been prevented if not for that childhood train injury. One newspaper went as far as calling her a "self-made widow". Melvina then started dating a soldier whom Doss did not particularly like. He had the dubious and fortunate distinction of being the only husband that Doss did not murder. On December 15, three weeks after Nannie was arrested, the judge at her preliminary hearing decided to turn her over to the state asylum for a ninety-day stay. A few days after he got home, poison-laced coffee finished him off. Often referred to as The Giggling Granny or The Jolly Widow, Nannie Doss did not instill fear in her victims. Then, read about Elisabeth Fritzl, who spent 24 years held captive by her father. Instead, after she pleaded guilty on May 17, 1955, she was sentenced to life imprisonment. In Samuels system was much more than lethal amounts of poison. Braggs and Nannie soon divorced, with Nannie taking her two girls back to her mother's home. She put rat poison in the whiskey. Shortly after the birth of Nannie and Samuel Doss's fourth child, the two middle children mysteriously died of 'food poisoning'. This time, it was Doss who would often vanish for prolonged periods. After a few months of courtship, they married and moved in with his unhappy and unpleasant mother. Her husband went away with their oldest living child and didnt return until the following year. Two children died under mysterious circumstances that same year. Nannie Doss life of murder did not start with Arlie Lanning. The woman died in her sleep. However, she continued to find humor in things. Soon after her discovery, police began showing up at her house several times a week to let her know that Frank was, once again, in the drunk tank for fighting. Samuel Doss spent a month recovering in the hospital. A few days later, she started to have severe stomach pains and died. Doss could not provide any reasonable explanation. After a successful treatment regime, the hospital let him go. This biography provides detailed information about her childhood, life, achievements, works & timeline. 1895 December 29, 1895. In the years after, she had bouts of depression, headaches, and blackouts. Mirtha Jung is the ex-wife of former drug smuggler George Jung. "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. Doss was never charged with the other deaths. [2] This head trauma caused Nannie to suffer from severe headaches, blackouts and depression for many years. A few days later, she started to have severe stomach pains and died. Whenever she came back, she played the role of a doting wife perfectly. The doctors, however, could not give a positive explanation. One such pen pal was Sam Doss, who would become her fifth husband. 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. The happy couple lived with Braggs' mother, but she had the same abusive type of behavior as Doss' father. On July 7, 1945, Doss was taking care of Melvina's son, Robert, because Doss and Melvina had an argument over Doss's disapproval of Melvina's boyfriend. Fortunately, his murder was her last one, and upon her arrest, they uncovered large amounts of damaging evidence. 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. Nannie Doss was prosecuted by J. Howard Edmondson, who later became governor of Oklahoma. Braggs was the only son of a single mother who insisted on continuing to live with him after he married. Until you do, approximately half an hour later. Melvina then started dating a soldier whom Doss did not particularly like. A year later, Doss met her second husband, Jacksonville resident Robert Franklin Harrelson, through a lonely hearts newspaper column. Doss soon began plotting to kill Morton, but, under unrelated circumstances, her father died and Doss mother came to stay with her. Arlie was poisoned to death by 1950. Harrelson wrote her romantic letters, while Doss responded with racy letters and photos. Nannie Doss and the Last Seven Murders | World History 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. She was an 11-year-old girl who began killing children just for the fun of it. About Nannie W. Doss ID: I28949 Name: Nannie W. Given Name: Nannie W. Sex: F Birth: Feb 1868 in , , Virginia, USA Death: Aft 1930 in Lynchburg City, Virginia, USA _UID: 1C8C215F4EB7DB4EB24F7DC25D9C6BE8E2DD Change Date: 3 Jun 2008 at 01:00 Note: CENSUS RECORDS: 1920 Lynchburg, Virginia. Nannie Doss laughs as she is interviewed by a police captain after confessing to the poisoning of four of her five husbands. She entered a guilty plea and was sentenced to life in prison. Samuel was neither an alcoholic nor abusive nor a womaniser. She laced some cake and coffee with poison and served it to her fifth husband. During this period, Doss likely killed her own newborn granddaughter a few days after the birth by using a hairpin to stab her in the brain. He and Doss divorced soon after and she and her two daughters moved in with her mother. The Truth About Serial Killer Nannie Doss - Grunge And more importantly, why are you by yourself? When it came to her final victim, the doctor who looked into the death realized there may be some foul play involved on Nannies part. Nannie's Early Life A native of Alabama, Nannie grew up with four siblings in a town near Jacksonville. All you wanted was for her to read a good book and to get rid of those trashy magazines. She pleaded guilty on May 17, 1955, and was sentenced to life imprisonment; the state did not pursue the death penalty due to her sex. If that's what happened, this article asks the big question: Why did Lizzie Borden kill her parents? Dovie was bedridden and soon after Nannie's arrival she died. In contrast to her later years, she was rarely laughing as a child. However, the relationship had several issues right from the beginning, mostly due to Harrelsons alcoholism and violent temper. She soon realised, however, that Lanning was an alcoholic womaniser like Harrelson. Though Lanning also was an alcoholic, unlike second husband Frank Harrelson, Lanning was not violent. Nannie Doss, who is commonly referred to as "The Giggling Granny" or "The Jolly Widow," is suspected of killing at least 10 people between 1924 and 1954. 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. Under his orders, an autopsy was performed and they found a large amount of arsenic in his system. Richard Morton of Emporia, Kan. was Doss next true love, although he spent a lot of time with other women while married to Doss. A True Crime Story: Nannie Doss - Her Campus You really needed that caffeine. She craved a non-existent thing the "Perfect Marriage", complete with a perfect romance-novel man to sweep her off her feet and make her dreams come true just like in the novels she . Though she was acquitted, many people believe Lizzie Borden killed her father and stepmother back in 1892. By the time Samuel and Nannie met, she had years of poisoning experience, so its a surprise that her prune cake missed its mark. Your head is pounding and you cant think except to run to the bathroom where you have nonstop and explosive diarrhea. Furthermore, she couldnt understand why those in charge prevented her from cooking in the kitchenShe just didnt know why they wouldnt want her around the food that was served to everyone. Check out this biography to know about his childhood, family, life, and little known facts about him. She married five times. Turns out what your spouse wanted was for you to be dead and to collect on those two insurance policies. She was anything but sorry for her crimes. Perhaps it was her mother-in-law that kickstarted Doss murdering spree. Playing the doting wife, Doss added poison to one of Lannings meals and he died shortly thereafter. He drank without inhibition and one night, after returning home completely intoxicated, raped Doss. Soon, Dovies condition began to worsen, and it wasnt long before she, too, died in her sleep. The woman died suddenly and without warning a few months after Doss agreed to take care of her. Unfortunately, she was able to kill multiple innocent victims before she was finally snatched by the police. This made her one of the most notorious female serial killers. In the summer of 1928, Braggs came back with Melvina, a new love interest and her own child. The couple moved in with Braggs mother, and soon, Doss realized she had escaped the violent hands of her father, only to fall into the manipulative hands of her mother-in-law. He spent 23 days in the hospital before returning home. Doss met her fourth husband, Richard Morton, through a singles club. Nanny Doss: The Giggling Nanny By mthirion9 Timeline List 1910 1920 1930 1940 Jan 1, 1912, Train Injury Jan 1, 1922, Charley Braggs Jan 1, 1927, First Deaths Jan 1, 1929, Frank Harrelson Jan 1, 1945, Melvina's second child. The doctor seems to notice. 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. The doctor, who treated Samuel, was alerted by his sudden death. Doss grew up reading her mothers romance magazines and wished for a fairytale future. Joyce Meyer is a Christian author and speaker.