At first glance, no one would ever suspect that Nannie Doss was a vile woman, let alone someone who brutally murdered several people. In 1955, authorities arrested Doss for the murder of her fifth husband, Samuel Doss. During the interrogation, Nannie confessed to killing Samuel as well as three of her former husbands. She giggled and laughed as she recounted her crimes to the authorities, earning her the immortal nickname “The Giggling Granny.”
Nancy “Nannie” Hazle was born to a poor farming family in Alabama in 1905. Her mother, Lou, loved and cared for her children, but his father, Jim, was a different story. He wanted the children to help with household and farming chores, even sacrificing their education in the process.
Jim kept them from attending school, and Nannie eventually dropped out in the sixth grade. Furthermore, the Hazle girls were not allowed to wear makeup or clothing their father deemed inappropriate. Social activities were prohibited, too. According to reports, however, Nannie snuck out to meet with young boys at night.
Nannie Doss’ first four husbands
In 1921, 16-year-old Nannie began working at a textile company where she met a young man named Charles Braggs who, months later, would become her first husband. They had four daughters together, but the marriage fell apart. The family also experienced a tragedy when two of the girls died of food poisoning. Braggs left Nannie soon after, and their divorce was finalized in 1928. Braggs was the only husband that Nannie didn’t murder.
In 1929, Nannie scoured the lonely-hearts column of the newspaper and found her second husband, Frank Harrelson. They married in 1929. Nannie liked Harrelson’s good looks, but the attraction stopped there. She realized soon after they married that her new husband was an alcoholic who often found himself in jail for assault crimes. Nannie was also at the receiving end of her husband’s abuse at times. Despite the troubled marriage, their union lasted 16 years but didn’t end in divorce. In 1945, Nannie put rat poison in her husband’s liquor, and Harrelson died in agony soon after he ingested the drink. At that time, it was suspected that Harrelson died of an unknown illness or food poisoning.
Two years after Harrelson’s death, Nannie began looking for her third husband. Again, she returned to the lonely hearts column and, after a few correspondences, she met Arlie Lanning and just days after meeting in person they were married. Like Harrelson, Lanning was a drinker. Although Nannie’s third marriage was better than her second one, it was far from a blissful union. Her new husband was a womanizer and arguments between the two ended with Nannie leaving the home for a while, only to return to a husband who acted indifferent. In 1950, Lanning died of heart failure. The death was sudden, but it wasn’t entirely suspicious as he was known to abuse alcohol. Furthermore, there was a virus spreading at that time, which was also a suspected cause of the man’s death. When Nannie talked to the authorities after her arrest, she confessed that she added rat poison to Lanning’s food.
Nannie met her fourth husband via a paid correspondence dating service called the Diamond Circle Club. Each month, members received a newsletter that featured members of the club, and she grabbed the attention of Richard Morton, whom she married in 1952. However, Nannie soon learned that despite being treated well, her new husband was a womanizer. Morton died in 1953 after drinking coffee laced with arsenic.
The last husband
The same year Morton died, Nannie married Samuel Doss, a man she met via Lonely Hearts correspondences. By all accounts, Samuel was a good man. He was unlike Nannie’s previous husbands – he wasn’t a drinker, he was loyal to his wife, and he handled his finances well. He treated Nannie well and helped with household chores. However, he lived a more conservative life than his wife. He didn’t like that Nannie read romance novels and magazines, and he was strict with expenditures.
In 1954, Samuel was enjoying a slice of prune cake. Unbeknownst to him, his wife laced it with arsenic. He suffered from excruciating pain for the next few days before his doctor pushed him to visit the hospital. He was diagnosed with an infection and was sent home after more than 20 days in the hospital. Nannie prepared her husband a hearty pork roast paired with a cup of coffee with arsenic. Samuel was dead within hours.
How was Nannie apprehended?
Samuel’s physician was shocked to learn that his patient had died just a day after being released from the hospital. He had recovered from his illness and was stable when he left. The sudden death made the doctor suspicious, and he ordered an autopsy to figure out Samuel’s cause of death. He found massive amounts of arsenic in Samuel’s system, and the findings were reported to the authorities.
Nannie was arrested on suspicion of murder. At first, the Giggling Granny was adamant that she had nothing to do with Samuel’s death. The authorities confronted her about the fact that they knew Samuel died of arsenic poisoning, but Nannie stood by her statement that she was innocent. Investigators also discovered that three of her husbands died of suspicious circumstances, and they believed they were all poisoned. The interrogation lasted for hours as Nannie read a romance magazine. When the head of the investigation asked Nannie to put down her magazine, she eventually confessed to Samuel’s murder while nonchalantly revealing why she killed him. “He wouldn’t let me watch my favorite programs on the television and he made me sleep without the fan on the hottest nights,” she answered.
The interrogators then asked her for details about her other husbands’ deaths, and Nannie agreed to cooperate if she could have her romance magazine back afterward. They agreed, and she spilled all the details.
Other possible murders
Although Nannie only confessed to murdering four of her husbands, authorities suspected that she had more victims. During her marriage to Braggs, two of her children died of suspected food poisoning. One of her granddaughters died soon after her birth while Nannie was taking care of her in a hospital room while her daughter recovered. Her grandson also died from unknown causes while in Nannie’s care.
After Lanning’s death, his home was destroyed in a mysterious fire. His mother lived with him and Nannie, and she died in the blaze. Nannie then lived with her sick sister, Dovie, after the incident, and she also died while in her care.
While married to Morton, Nannie’s mother lived with them after her father died. After a few days of being in the home, Nannie’s mother suffered from excruciating stomach pains before passing away.
Nannie was sentenced to life in prison for the death of Samuel. She died of leukemia in 1965.
Published: May 28, 2024 02:37 am