Giggling Granny - Episode Notes:

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Nannie Doss was a serial killer in the first half of the 20th century who earned the monikers "The Giggling Nanny,” "The Giggling Granny," and "The Jolly Black Widow" after a killing spree that began in the 1920s and ended in 1954. Doss' favorite pastimes included reading romance magazines and poisoning relatives.

On the outside Nannie Doss of Tulsa, Oklahoma, was a friendly and happy neighbor, wife, and parent. On the inside lurked a cold-blooded murderess who nearly wiped out her entire family singlehandedly.

Her first victims were her own children. Her first husband, George Frazer arrived home one day in 1920 and found the kids lying on the kitchen floor dead. Doss claimed it had been an accidental poisoning but evidently Frazer was not convinced. He left and never went back.

Relatives and husbands continued to die of "stomach problems" and other such ailments until Doss' fifth husband, Samuel Doss sudenly passed away.

The doctor in the case was not as gullible as the previous ones were evidently and didn't simply take Doss at her word. He ordered an autopsy, which revealed massive doses of arsenic in the man's system.

The bodies of Doss' husbands, relatives, and children were exhumed and tested. It was found that Doss' two infant children, four of her husbands, two of her sisters, her mother, and a nephew had all been killed by arsenic poisoning.

Armed with this information, police soon convinced the poisoner to confess and she was sent to prison for life in 1964. She succumbed to Leukemia the following year.

Article Sources: Thoughtco.com Article By Charles Montaldo & Murderpedia