The Grandma Who Poisoned Her Family (and Laughed About It) Nannie Doss *Podcast Exclusive*

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Murder, Mystery & Makeup

Host: Bailey Sarian (Audioboom Studios)
Episode: The Grandma Who Poisoned Her Family (and Laughed About It) Nannie Doss Podcast Exclusive
Date: October 21, 2025

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Overview

In this exclusive audio episode, Bailey Sarian uncovers the chilling life and crimes of Nannie Doss, infamously dubbed the "Giggling Granny" and "Black Widow." With her signature mix of true crime storytelling and dark humor, Bailey explores how a seemingly sweet grandmother systematically poisoned at least 11 members of her family—husbands, children, and others—over several decades, all while maintaining a façade of charm and affection. The episode delves into Doss's traumatic upbringing, her notorious string of marriages, the suspicious deaths surrounding her, and her eventual capture thanks to a suspicious doctor and one fateful autopsy.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Nannie Doss’s Early Life and Family Background

• Born 1905 as Nancy Hazel in tiny Blue Mountain, Alabama (Population: “like 528 people” [00:58]).
• Childhood ruled by her "abusive and very controlling" father, Papa Jim.
• Limited schooling (only to fifth grade); forced into labor on the family farm.
• Suffered a traumatic head injury at age 7 on a train, a detail Bailey notes as a common thread among serial killers.

  “Usually, traumatic head injuries… there’s always that common thread when it comes to some serial killers.” — Bailey [01:47]

First Marriage: Charlie Braggs

• Met at 16 while working at a textile mill (1921); quickly married with her father’s enthusiastic approval.
• Lived with Charlie's controlling mother.

  “…kind of a bummer for Nanny, because it turns out Charlie’s mom was just as controlling as her own father…” — Bailey [07:05]

• Had four daughters by age 22 (1927).
• Marriage marred by infidelity on both sides.
• Two daughters died suddenly in 1927, reportedly from food poisoning, sparking rumors about Nanny’s role.
• Charlie soon left her, taking the eldest daughter and leaving Nanny with their newborn and his mother.

Second Marriage: Frank Harrelson

• Met via Lonely Hearts columns, communicating through racy letters (“her responses were a little sexual…for the time” [09:08]).
• Married in 1929; Frank revealed as an abusive alcoholic.
• Nanny’s daughter Melvina began a family, but both Melvina’s newborn daughter and two-year-old son died mysteriously while in Nanny’s care.

  “Melvina thought Nanny killed the baby by sticking a hairpin into the baby’s head, which is, like, kind of random, huh?” — Bailey [12:15]

• Nanny collected insurance policies after her grandson’s death.
• Frank was murdered by poisoned moonshine after he sexually assaulted Nanny; his last words:

  “‘It must have been the coffee.’” — Frank Harrelson, according to Bailey [14:43]

The Pattern of Poison & Collecting Insurance

• Each time, Nanny collected life insurance on her husbands and sometimes other family members.
• Used the money to improve her lifestyle—buying homes, supporting travel, and seeking new partners.

Third Marriage: Arlie Lanning

• Met through another Lonely Hearts ad, married 1946.
• Marriage marked by Arlie’s drinking and infidelity; Nanny’s absences explained as visits to family, especially her sister Dovey (who died during a visit).
• Arlie died after being poisoned, his death attributed to heart failure amid a flu epidemic.
• Their home burned down soon after, and Arlie’s mother died in her sleep.
• Nanny benefited from insurance due to the timely house fire.

Fourth Marriage: Richard L. Morton

• Met via the Diamond Circle Club newsletter; he appeared financially secure but was secretly in debt.
• Nanny’s mother moved in and died shortly after.
• Richard continued seeing other women; killed by poison in 1953.
• Nanny collected $1,400 in insurance (about $16,600 today).

Fifth Marriage: Sam Doss

• Sam, different from previous husbands: sober, thrifty, and non-abusive.
• Nanny disliked his boring, restrictive habits and him controlling her spending.
• After Nanny left, Sam took out two life insurance policies naming her as beneficiary.
• Upon her return, Nanny poisoned Sam with a prune cake and later a spiked dinner/coffee.
• Sam’s prolonged illness and eventual death prompted suspicion from his doctor, leading to an autopsy.

Capture & Confession

• Sam Doss’s autopsy revealed massive arsenic poisoning (“enough…to kill a horse” [29:27]).
• Nanny’s reaction to police was flippant; she initially denied knowing her previous husband until shown insurance papers.

  “‘Well, you got me trapped. I guess I did know him.’” — Nannie Doss [30:37]

• Confessed to murdering Sam and other husbands after police withheld her magazines as leverage.
• Maintained her giggling, nonchalant demeanor throughout questioning, which made her notorious as “the Giggling Granny.”

Legal Proceedings and Sentencing

• Initially committed for psychiatric evaluation; prosecution and defense debated her sanity.
• Defense claimed she functioned “on the level of a five or six-year-old child”; prosecutors asserted narcissistic personality disorder.

  “What five or six year old knows how to cash like insurance checks, you know? But okay.” — Bailey [33:33]

• Daughter Melvina publicly claimed she believed her mother was guilty.
• Nannie ruled competent to stand trial; pleaded guilty to Sam’s murder to avoid the death penalty.
• Sentenced to life in prison (Oklahoma had never executed a woman before; judge cited precedent and “fragility”).
• Other suspected murders (children, mothers, etc.) were not prosecuted due to jurisdiction, costs, and certainty she'd never be released.

Nannie’s Final Years & Legacy

• Served 10 years before dying of leukemia in prison.
• remained unrepentant and playful, even joking about being banned from kitchen duties in prison:

  “‘When they get shorthanded in the kitchen here, I always offer to help out, but they never do let me.’” — Nannie Doss [41:35]

• Bailey reflects on society’s failure to recognize warning signs, the topic of women’s rights, and the “perfect storm” that allowed Nannie’s crimes to go undetected for so long.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Nannie’s Upbringing:

  “Her father was kind of giving—foosball is the devil!” — Bailey [03:24]

• On Patterns Among Serial Killers:

  “Usually, traumatic head injuries… there’s always that common thread when it comes to some serial killers.” — Bailey [01:47]

• On Manipulating Systems:

  “She made herself the beneficiary and quietly set up a financial safety net that only she could access.” — Bailey [12:53]

• On Nannie’s Nonchalance:

  “‘Well, you got me trapped. I guess I did know him.’” — Nannie Doss [30:37]

• On Her Giggling Persona:

  “She would just start giggling… and her sweet grandmotherly looks is what got her the nickname that would stick forever, the Giggling Granny.” — Bailey [31:18]

• On Not Being Allowed to Work in the Prison Kitchen:

  “‘When they get shorthanded in the kitchen here, I always offer to help out, but they never do let me…’” — Nannie Doss [41:35]

• On Systemic Failures:

  “How many red flags were ignored… I mean, all dying mysteriously. The insurance claims, the house fire, the insurance claims. I mean, come on.” — Bailey [43:15]

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:00–02:20: Nannie’s background in Blue Mountain, Alabama; family and early trauma.
• 06:46–14:55: First and second marriages; suspicious child and husband deaths; insurance fraud beginnings.
• 18:25–27:02: Subsequent marriages; deaths of spouses and relatives; insurance and arson.
• 27:02–34:58: The murder of Sam Doss; autopsy, investigation, and Nannie’s confession.
• 34:58–41:20: Legal proceedings, trial, and Nannie’s sentence.
• 41:20–End: Nannie’s prison years, unrepentant attitude, and Bailey’s reflections.

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Tone & Style

Bailey’s narrative is a blend of dark humor, pop culture references, and accessible true crime storytelling:

• Wry asides (“lock up your prune cake,” and “he had it coming” in a nod to Chicago)
• Pop references (The Waterboy, Chicago the musical)
• Empathetic towards victims, but not excusing of Nannie
• Regular rhetorical asides exploring social context, especially for women in the early to mid-20th century

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Final Reflection

Bailey drives home the dangers of underestimating those who fit society’s stereotypes of innocence (“the sweet grandma next door”), and how outdated gender roles and systemic blind spots enabled Nannie Doss to escape suspicion for decades. The story closes with a sobering warning about the potential for history to repeat itself if vigilance—and women’s rights—are taken for granted.

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This episode provides a detailed, gripping account of Nannie Doss’s crimes—woven with wit, historical insight, and a focus on the societal failings that allowed a serial killer to thrive behind a grandmotherly mask.

Transcript

[A]

Hi, friends. How are you today? I hope you're having a wonderful day so far. My name is Bailey Sarian, and I'd like to welcome you to my podcast, Murder Mystery and Makeup. Now, you might follow me over on YouTube where you can actually watch these episodes, but today we have an audio exclusive. That's right, baby. So don't forget to subscribe for these little exclusives. So listen. Today we are diving into the dark story about a woman who looked like the sweet grandma next door. But behind her friendly smile was something deadly. Her name was Nanny Doss. Now, to some, she was a wife, a mother, a grandmother. But to at least 11 people, she was their killer. Now, they called her the giggling Granny, a black widow who poisoned her way through husbands, family members, and anyone else unlucky enough to get too close. And the wildest part, she managed to keep it up for decades, laughing her way through every investigation before anyone finally caught on. So grab a snack, lock up your prune cake, and let's talk about the life and crimes of Nanny Doss. So Nanny was born in 1905 as Nancy Hazel in the tiny town of Blue Mountain, Alabama. And when I say tiny town, I mean it was tiny. The population 1910, was like 528 people. So it's mole. Now, seven of those people were actually part of Nanny's family. Nanny, she was one of five kids born to Jim and Lou Hazel. And it seems like her dad, Papa Jim, wasn't the greatest guy. You know, apparently he was quite abusive and very controlling, which made for a difficult childhood for Nanny. Jim would make the kids stay home and work on the farm. And because of this, you know, Nanny and her siblings, they barely even made it to school. Now, it was said Nanny only made it through the fifth grade before being forced to drop out of school altogether. Then, at seven years old, Nanny was riding the train and she suffered a head injury. I guess the train suddenly stopped and she, like, whacked her head on the metal seat. Seat that was in front of her. Now, look, if you've been following murder mystery and makeup for a long time or just true crime in general, you know, or maybe you've put the pieces together that usually traumatic head injuries kind of, you know, there's always that common thread when it comes to some serial killers. Home life was rough again. Her father, abusive and controlling. He wouldn't let Nanny wear, you know, dress clothes. Dress as a. As a young girl.

[B]

When she got older, she wasn't allowed.

[A]

To wear makeup, and he also forbade her from going to Any social events like dances or hell, anywhere other than home. And I was like, you know who? He, he kind of reminded me of the mother in the movie the Water Boy. Remember Bobby Boucher's mom? She'd be like, foosball is the devil. School is the devil. Women are the devil. Like literally everything was the devil. That's what Nanny's father was kind of giving. Foosball is the devil. But then in 1921, when Nanny was 16 years old, she went to work at a textile company in Anniston, Alabama. Anniston was like a larger town and it was near Nanny's hometown, so that's where she was able to find work. And it was there that where she met Charlie Braggs. It was said this Charlie guy, he was tall, he was handsome, and he had luscious curls. And luckily for Nanny, he instantly took a liking to her. Charlie wooed the heck out of Nanny and for some reason, Nanny's dad actually approved of this guy. I was like, why? Well, Charlie was the only son of a widow still living at home with his mom. And to Papa Jim, you know, that seemed safe. He was respectable. And in his mind, Nanny wouldn't be out running around with some troublemaker. She just moved from his roof straight to another household where a mother figure would be watching. So he approved. He's like, fine, yeah, I like this guy. You know what's scary?

[B]

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[A]

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[B]

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[A]

So, within four months of meeting Nanny and Charlie, they got married. And yes, Nanny, she was still just 16 at the time. What difference does it make? Because technically, to this day, it's still legal in Alabama to get married at 16, as long as you have parental consent. So there's that. Now, reports don't show a specific age for Charlie, but he was described as, quote, unquote, young. So teenage nanny, she moves in with her new husband, Charlie, and his mother. Now. Kind of a bummer for nanny, because it turns out Charlie's mom was just as controlling as her own father had been. Like, if Nanny, like, ever wanted to do something, anything, I don't know, go out, mama brags, she wouldn't want to do it. All of a sudden, she would, like, pretend to be sick. So if Charlie wanted to, like, take his wife out, let's go out for dinner or something, his mom would be like, I'm sick. I need you to stay home and take care of me. So Nanny was still locked down and, like, forced to stay at home all the time. Nanny and Charlie went on to have four daughters together. Her youngest was born in 1927, which meant Nanny had four kids by the time she was 22 years old. And it was around this time that Nanny, you know, she's starting to drink and she's starting to smoke. Don't blame her. You know, she's like, give me a cigarette, God Damn it. Got four kids. I'm 22. At this time, Nanny was known to visit Gin Mills, AKA bars all the time. And, you know, it was said apparently she wasn't just drinking and smoking. Allegedly, she was having multiple affairs as well. But it was also said that Charlie was having affairs, too. So, you know, yeah, it was said that, like, sometimes Charlie would disappear for, like, days on end. So, yeah, you know, nobody was faithful in this marriage. But things went from, like, not so great to freaking awful when in 1927, two of their daughters died mysteriously. Now, the girls had just eaten breakfast when all of a sudden, they fell ill. Now, their deaths were thought to have been from food poisoning. And there were some rumors that Nanny had poisoned the food, but they were just that, rumors. It was said, though, that after this, Charlie stopped eating any of the food that Nanny prepared. Like, he thought something was up. Not only did Charlie not eat her food, but he ended up leaving her altogether. When Charlie left, he ended up taking Their eldest daughter Melvina with him, but he left behind their newborn to stay with Nanny. Oh, and Charlie's mom, too. So Nanny's now living, you know, at the house with her newborn and her mother in law. So about a year goes by, and then Charlie ends up coming back, except this time he brought with him a new lover. So Nanny kind of like got the message. She's like, oh, okay, I see how it is. Fine. And then she and Charlie ended up getting divorced. So Nanny then took her two surviving daughters and moved back in with her parents. And in order to support herself and her two kids, she ended up getting work in a cotton mill. Shortly after divorcing Charlie and moving back in with her parents, Nanny met Frank Harrelson. And rumor has it that Frank looked like a freaking movie star. He was hot. And he too was looking for love. And luckily, the lonely hearts column of the local newspaper was there to help. Now, back in the day, before dating apps and all that jazz, people had to get a little more creative, you know, when it came to finding love. One popular option was the lonely hearts column that was like, in newspapers and magazines, people would write short ads about themselves, sharing their age, their looks, hobbies, what they were looking for. And then the paper would publish it. And then if you saw it and you were interested, you would respond by mail. I'm tall, dark and handsome, and I have a job. Looking for love is always vague. Just kind of cross your fingers and hope for the best. You're like, I hope all this is true. So it turns out Nanny and Frank, they had met through the lonely hearts column, and he, like, started wooing her with his poetry. She wrote openly about what she wanted to do with him, the kind of attention she wanted, and how much she longed for him in bed. Her responses were a little sexual. You could say, listen, this was a time when women were expected to be modest, okay? You didn't talk like this. So to Frank, this was different. And she seemed fun, and Frank was in love. Nanny and Frank would end up getting married in 1929, which was less than two years after the death of her two daughters and her divorce from Charlie. But, you know, back then, it didn't matter, people. You had to move on quick. Okay? And listen, it seems like there was no honeymoon period for Frank and Nanny. Apparently, their marriage almost immediately turned sour. Turns out the reason Frank was probably single was because he was an alcoholic with a bad temper. She's like, oh, he didn't put that in the ad. Yeah. So I guess he would get like, arrested all the time for getting into bar fights. And on top of that, Frank and like would beat Nanny and then would often, like, threaten her kids too. But Nanny, she stuck it out for as long as she could with Frank. Meanwhile, Nanny's eldest daughter from her first marriage, Melvina, she ended up getting married and went on to have two children, officially making Nanny a grandma. Now, at first, it should have been like a joyful time, you know, but things took a dark turn. Melvina's newborn daughter, I guess she died just hours after birth. And though nothing was proven, Melvina suspected her own mother did it. Melvina thought Nanny killed the baby by sticking a hairpin into the baby's head, which is, like, kind of random, huh? A hairpin into the head. Then only a few months later, tragedy struck again when Melvina's two year old son passed away. The cause of death was ruled asphyxiation. Well, after this, nanny collected a $500 life insurance policy that she had taken out on her grandson, which at the time was not a small amount in today's money, that would be almost $9,000. Now, it might seem strange that she and not Melvina had the policy, right? But Nanny, I guess, liked to be the one in control. She was the one who signed the papers. She made herself the beneficiary and quietly set up a financial safety net that only she could access. Now, Nanny, she denied, you know, having anything to do with the children's deaths. The fact that she had money riding on their lives made people deeply skeptical if she was innocent or not. And the deaths in Nanny's orbit just kept piling up. Later that same year, her husband Frank was next. One night he came home drunk after hanging out with some friends. I guess these friends had just returned from World War II. So they're hanging out, they're drinking, you know, he comes home. And being drunk wasn't the only problem. That night, he forced himself on Nanny. Back then, there was nothing she could do legally. Marital rape wasn't even recognized as a crime. Husbands had what was called implied consent, so it didn't matter is what I'm getting at. So Nanny took matters into her own hands. The very next day, she laced Frank's moonshine with rat poison. He drank it, and by the following day, he was dead. Apparently his last words were, quote, it must have been the coffee, end quote. Frank's death was written off as natural causes. And no one suspected Nanny a foul play. After all, by this point, the two had been married for 16 years. So with Frank out of the way nanny collected his life insurance and used the money to buy herself a piece of land and a house in Jacksonville.

[B]

So there I was, standing in front of my closet, realizing everything in there is outdated. Honestly, doesn't fit. Or I've just worn it to death. I wear the same thing every day.

[A]

I really do.

[B]

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[A]

So happy shopping. Now, after Frank's death, Nanny kind of disappeared for a bit. Some say she traveled around, maybe even married a man named Hendrix, but nothing about that part of her life is confirmed. What we do know is that she eventually resurfaced in the small town of Lexington, North Carolina. And of course, Nanny didn't move there for the scenery. She moved there for a man. Enter Arley Lanning. Now, just like before, the two had connected through a lonely hearts ad. And if there's one thing about Nannie, it's that she wasted no time. By 1946, the two were married. This was barely a year after her two grandchildren and her last husband, Frank, had passed away. Again, Nanny and Arlie's marriage was very rocky. Arley liked to drink and sleep with other women, which would then make Nanny pack up and leave, sometimes for months. And the only time Arlie would hear from her was when she sent telegrams asking for money. I mean, hey, at least Arlie wasn't abusive like the first two husbands. Yeah, he was just cheating and an alcoholic, but he wasn't abusive. I don't know. Trying to see the positive, but the couple would tell people that Nanny would leave for long periods of time to visit friends or family, and, like, that's why she wasn't around, you know, not because there. There were issues. No, no, no, no, no. And to be fair, that wasn't a total lie. Nanny's sister, her name was Dovey, she was battling cancer at the time, and Nanny would go and, like, visit her pretty often. But there was, like, you know, one visit in particular where Nanny went, saw her, and Dovey, she passed away. Now, because she had cancer, no one suspected anything. You know, they assumed she had passed away from cancer. But then, just two years after Dovey's death, Nanny's husband, Arlie, he was gone, too. The couple had been married for six years by this point, when Nanny slipped rat poison into his food and things kind of worked in her favor because there was a flu epidemic spreading through the area. And also, Arlie already had a reputation as a heavy drinker, you know, so that was like. Well, you know, could be. It could be that. And then also, like, Nanny had, like, carefully cultivated this image of being a devoted wife. You know, she was just the perfect partner. So with all that in mind, no one thought twice about his sudden decline. His official cause of death was listed as heart failure. About eight weeks after Arlie's death, the house that he and Nanny had lived in, it, freaking out of nowhere, burned to the ground. Geez, Louise, talk about bad luck, huh? And listen, of course, insurance. And, yeah, she had it. And the insurance company, they wasted no time and sent Nanny a nice. You know, a nice lump sum. Now, here's the interesting part. If the house didn't burn down, it actually would have gone to Arlie's sister. That detail was actually spelled out in his will, but apparently, you know, no one was paying too much attention to that. And she burned it down before it could actually happen. Well, allegedly, she burnt it down. We don't know. Wink, wink. So while all this is happening, Nanny had been living with Arlie's mother. But right around the same time, the house went up in flames. Arley's mother conveniently died in her sleep. Geez Louise. With no one left asking questions, Nanny cashed that insurance check, and she just kind of slipped right out of North Carolina. Yeah, crazy, huh? Literally everyone is dying around. Her house is burned down, and no one is thinking twice about it. Well, she killed all the people who could probably think twice about it. Now, you would think that maybe at this point, Nanny would take a break. She's 47 years old. She already, like, had buried three husbands. But laying low just wasn't her style. Within months of Arlie's death, she was already on the hunt for husband number four. This time, she joined something called the Diamond Circle Club. It was like another version of a lonely hearts group. Instead of simple ads, they mailed out newsletters full of potential partners. And that's how Nanny met Richard L. Morton from Emporia, Kansas. Now, Richard was a retired salesman. It was said he was tall, dark, and handsome with eyes that would cut right through you. Now, he gave off the vibe that he was a wealthy man, but the reality was, Richard was, for Kim, broke and drowning in debt. But Nanny didn't know any of that. When she saw Richard, she's like, oh, my gosh, he's very handsome, and he looks like he has money. You know, so, you know, they started flirting, talking, seeing each other. But throughout Nanny and Richard's courtship, I guess he kept his options open, and he continued to see other ladies. But that didn't seem to bother Nanny. She and Richard tied the knot In October of 1952, just a few months after meeting. Not long after, in December of that same year, Nanny's father passed away. So with her dad gone, Nanny's mother, Mama Lou, she moved in with the newlyweds in Emporia. But listen, a month later, Mama Lu, she died in her sleep. Maybe it was natural causes, maybe it wasn't but no one thought twice about it. Unfortunately for Richard, his time was running out, too. By October of 1953, just a year into the marriage, Nanny discovered that he was still cheating. And when she found out about the affairs, she reached for her favorite weapon. Poison. And listen, Richard was dead. Soon after, Nanny collected $1,400 from his life insurance, which, in today's money comes out to about $16,600. At this point, Nanny wasn't just unlucky in love. She was perfecting her craft. Now, here's the thing. Shortly before Richard died, Nanny had met this guy named Sarah. Sam doss. Sam was 59. And unlike the previous men in her life, Sam didn't chase women. He didn't drink. He didn't smoke. He didn't gamble. He didn't even use curse words. Yeah. So Sam was very pure. And on top of that, he was also a very thrifty guy. He was good with his money, and he also just seemed to, like, try to see the good in everything. So Nanny and Sam, they became pen pals. When they first connected, Nanny was still technically married to Richard. But then, as we know, like, Richard suddenly died. So after this, it gave Nanny and Sam the green light to pursue their romantic connection. And, boy, did they jump into things quickly. In July of 1954, Nanny moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma, to be with Sam. And then that very same month, the two ended up getting married. And just so we're tracking the. Okay. And just so we're, like, tracking the timeline here. This was less than a year after Richard's death. But honestly, it seemed like after four terrible marriages, her fifth one was finally, like, a good guy. Sam was solid. He had a steady job. And get this, he even helped around the house. I know. Gasp. What? And the best part, he was never violent toward Nanny. This sounds great.

[B]

Great.

[A]

This is what you want in a partner, right? But Nanny, she wasn't satisfied. Apparently, she thought Sam was boring. Yeah. Plus, she didn't like that he tried to get her to stop spending so much money on romance novels. I guess. Nanny, she loved romantic books, but Sam, he saw these books as evil idleness. Sam also didn't let Nanny listen to love stories on the radio, and he kept her from watching her favorite television programs. It turns out romance wasn't really Sam's strong suit, because even their sexual relations had to be pre scheduled, and they were not allowed to get it on after 9:30pm Because Sam was very strict about that being their bedtime. Sam was seen as, like, a frugal guy. And this really started to bother Nanny. I mean, she said that he wouldn't even let her use the electric fan unless it was, like a thousand degrees outside. She was annoyed. So she went back to Alabama for a bit, hung out there. Just. She needed. She needed some space. And once Nanny left, Sam had begged her for forgiveness. He's like, please come back, Please. He even agreed to give her equal control of their bank account. And he took out two life insurance policies on himself and named Nanny as the beneficiary. Obviously, this was very appealing to Ms. Nanny. So she's like, okay, that sounds great. And she moved back to Tulsa in September of 1954. She whipped up one of her specialties, a homemade prune cake, and served it to Sam. I guess that very night he started having horrible stomach pains and ended up dropping 16 pounds. After weeks of being sick and losing so much weight, Sam finally went to the doctor. He ended up spending, like, 23 days in the hospital where doctors diagnosed him with a severe infection in his digestive tract. Listen, things were good. After three weeks, he seemed to be recovering, and then he was discharged. So Nanny, she's at home. She greets him. She's like, oh, I'm so glad you're home. Let me make you dinner, whatever. So she serves him, like, pork roast and a hot cup of. Of coffee. And it seemed like a very sweet gesture, you know, until later that night when Sam died. When Sam's doctor heard that he had passed, oh, he was baffled. I mean, the doctor's thinking, like, Sam was getting better. So this, like, sudden death, like, did not make any sense. Now, because of this doctor, he was very suspicious, so he ordered an autopsy to be performed. And this was the first time anyone had ever pushed for an autopsy to be performed in Nanny's long trail of bodies, you know? So they do the autopsy, and the results were shocking. Sam's digestive tract contained enough arsenic to kill a horse. And that is not me exaggerating. That's what investigators actually said. It turns out that, you know, sweet cup of coffee that Nanny had made him, you know, when he came home, yeah, it was laced with arsenic. He had it coming. He had it coming. It's just anytime I hear arsenic, I just think of Chicago. It's not funny, but, you know, it's a great musical. Once authorities put the pieces together, Nanny was arrested. Investigators take Nanny into custody, and right away, she is not having any of it. She's not taking it seriously at first. She's talking to them about, like, random stuff. She's acting like she's just there for casual conversation. But when it came to the case, she clammed up. At this point, like, investigators have, like, looked into her background. So they're asking her about her fourth husband, Richard Morton, and they're like, did you kill him? Are you responsible for his death? And she straight up denied even knowing him. She's like, I've never heard of this person. Who are you talking about? But the authorities, they had receipts. They showed her proof that she had cashed in on his life insurance after his death. They're like, here. You know him. And nannies receive response. Well, I guess she just shrugged and said, quote, well, you got me trapped. I guess I did know him, end quote. And, like, that was it. That's all she gave them about Richard. After that, she just kind of, like, tuned the investigators out. She flipped through a magazine. She's just sat there, refusing to answer any questions. And when she did respond, it was said that she would just start giggling. Now, the bizarre little laugh she was having, plus paired with her, like, sweet grandmotherly looks is what got her the nickname that would stick forever. The giggling granny. Mind you, nanny, she was only 49 at this time, so she's still young. And they're like, this grandma, this old woman, you're like, Geez, she's 49. The giggling granny's case, it, like, blew up. It was everywhere. The associated press even picked it as Oklahoma's top story of 1954. But back to nanny's first round of questioning. Investigators kept her in for a full 24 hours of on and off grilling. At one point, they even took away her magazines. They snatched those magazines, and they told her she could have them back if she confessed to killing Sam, her fifth husband. And weirdly enough, it worked. Nanny confessed. Throughout her confession, she was giggling, but she went on to describe slipping arsenic into his coffee. And then, as if that wasn't enough, she started complaining. She. She whined about how Sam wouldn't let her watch her favorite TV shows and how he made her sleep without a fan, even in the middle of, like, a scorching hot night. She literally asked or said, what's a woman to do under those conditions? I thought that was kind of funny. So once she admitted to poisoning Sam, the floodgates opened. She went on to confess to killing her other husbands as well. And after hearing all of this, a judge ordered that nanny be committed to a mental institution. So the plan was for nanny to spend 90 days under observation at a mental hospital. After that, the court would decide if she should go to trial or be committed permanently. During this time, Nanny tried to blame her behavior on that childhood head injury. Remember the one where she smacked her head on the metal train seat? Yeah. She hinted that maybe, you know, maybe that's why she wasn't right. In her mind, it's the train's fault. But after a full evaluation, doctors concluded that Nanny wasn't psychotic. She understood right from wrong. In other words, she was sane and competent to stand trial. Her defense team fought back, and the state attorney pushed for a jury hearing to settle it once and for all. That hearing lasted three days, with psychiatrists on both sides giving testimony. Some argued, yeah, she was insane. And others said, no, absolutely not. She is not insane. Psychiatrists for the defense went so far as to claim that Nanny functioned on the level of a five or six year old child. The prosecution fired back, but bringing in their own experts who argued Nanny wasn't childlike at all. Instead, they believed she showed traits of narcissistic personality disorder. Yeah, because I mean, what five or six year old knows how to cash like insurance checks, you know? But okay, around this time, Nanny's daughter Melvina, she was like 28 years old. She told the press that she believed her mother had committed the murders. Yeah, and really, like poor Melvina, she likely never recovered from losing her two young children. And to think like it was her own mom who was responsible, I mean, that is deep. That hurt. In the end, the jury ruled that Nanny was sane enough to stand trial. But before the trial even started, Nanny pleaded guilty to Sam's murder. Her attorneys were banking on that confession to spare her from the death penalty and secure a life sentence. Instead, after her Nanny's confession, the court handed down her sentence. In June of 1955, she was officially sentenced to life in prison. Now, you might be wondering why the judge didn't give Nanny the death penalty. I mean, she admitted to killing her her freaking husbands. But here's the thing. At the time, Oklahoma had never executed a woman before. And in the judge's eyes, handing down the electric chair to Nanny would set a poor precedent. Back then, women were often viewed as too fragile for that kind of punishment, no matter how brutal their crimes were. On top of that, the judge argued that Nanny wasn't entirely meant to mentally sound and that executing her wouldn't be the Christian thing to do. So again, instead, he sentenced her to life. Now, as she was being let out of the courtroom, photographers, they shouted for one last smile. And Nanny, you know, true to form she flashed a big grin and told them she didn't feel bad at all about going to prison. Now, you're probably wondering, or I was wondering, if Nanny was ever officially convicted in the deaths of her children, her sister, her mother, her grandkids, her mother in law or whatever, you know, the answer is no. After her conviction and life sentence for Sam's murder, the other states where she was suspected of killing former husbands and family members decided not to prosecute. That said, many of those bodies were exhumed, and sure enough, most of them showed traces of arsenic. So again, I was like, wait, what? Like, if they exhumed the bodies and they found traces of arsenic, why didn't they go after Nanny for those deaths? Well, it comes down to a few things. First, Nanny was already sentenced to life in prison. She was never getting out. So to the courts, putting her on trial again, like, wouldn't have changed anything. Second, the trials would be expensive. We're talking about digging up bodies, paying experts, dragging in witnesses from all over. And her victims were scattered across different states, so that meant, like, multiple jurisdictions involved. And honestly, they saw it as too much work. And then finally, in the public's eyes, Nanny was already guilty of way more than just one murder. She was the quote, unquote, giggling granny. And her reputation alone had cemented her as a serial killer. So prosecutors probably felt that the one conviction was enough. But still, you're like, ding. You just want the. It's. It's the principle. You just want justice. You know, this feels lazy, but it is what it is. Nanny ended up serving exactly 10 years in prison before dying of Los Leukemia. One of the last things ever written about her came from a reporter at the Tulsa World. Nanny joked, saying, quote, when they get shorthanded in the kitchen here, I always offer to help out, but they never do let me, you know, because she killed people with poison. Yeah, she thought she was funny. And that, my friends, is a story of Nanny Doss, the so called giggling Granny or Black Widow, and apparently, oh, stand up comic in her own mind. I don't know, it blows my mind that she was able to allegedly kill at least 11 people before anyone finally put a stop to her. You know, but really what gets me thinking is, like, how many red flags were ignored. Husbands, kids, grandkids, even her own mother, sister. I mean, all dying mysteriously. The insurance claims, the house fire, the insurance claims. I mean, come on. I'm sure people around her had their opinions, but that didn't stop her. Or maybe, maybe really nobody was connecting the Dots. Was it because she looked harmless or because people just didn't want to believe a grandmother could do something so evil? And sure, she was finally caught before she could claim a sixth husband, thank God. But it makes you wonder, if Sam's doctor hadn't pushed for that autopsy, how many more victims would follow? I feel like these stories are always really common in the quote unquote, olden days, because in my mind, I'm like, okay, women weren't allowed to. You weren't allowed to do anything. You had to be married. It was heavily frowned upon. If you weren't married, you weren't allowed to have, like, credit cards, own a home, really hold a good job, get paid well. You couldn't survive on your own. So I feel like women back then, you know, they would kill because it was the only way to survive. Am I excusing the behavior? No, absolutely not. I'm just saying it seems like a common theme around this time. And I feel like if women's rights ever get taken away and we end up back here, we're stuck at home, not allowed to do anything. I bet you shit like this would happen again. Do, do, do, do, do. Just saying. I don't know. It was their only way to survive. I. I don't. Yep, okay. Anyhoo, thank you so much for hanging out with me today. I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day. Stay safe out there. Make good choices. Okay? And I'll be seeing you guys later. Goodbye, Sam.