But no one could have anticipated the dark places her life would lead. Unlike her early years, where she was described as brilliant and terrible, at the hospital she was well-liked, bright and friendly, evoking the nickname "Jolly Jane". Taken from Killer Women by Stewart Andel. Jolly Jane Toppan was never going to have a perfect life. She earned her nickname “Jolly Jane” from her pleasant and upbeat personality, and her friendliness toward her patients. [3] She even poisoned herself to evoke the sympathy of men who courted her. JANE TOPPAN, the poisoner of thirty-one persons, after two and a half years' confinement in the Insane hospital here, is approaching— has reached—the secondary stage of her ailment, moral insanity, and is believed to be near her end, says a Taunton, Mass., correspondent of the New York Times. But unlike most nurses who to pledge to help others, Toppan aspired to “kill more helpless people than any other man or woman who ever lived.” Sure, serial killers ~killed~ people, but what did they actually do? As she usually did, Toppan put together a picnic for the two of them, of corned beef, taffy, and mineral water – laced with strychnine, Toppan’s new favorite drug. [8] Toppan administered a drug mixture to the patients she chose as her victims, lay with them, and held them close as they died. Also Told Her Counsel She Set Fires and Committed Other Serious Offenses. Jane Toppan was absolutely a monster, but she did not start out that way. Toppan is quoted as saying that her ambition was "to have killed more people—helpless people—than any other man or woman who ever lived". [2] The original Toppan family already had a daughter, Elizabeth, with whom Honora was on good terms.[3]. Jane Toppan had a complicated relationship with men. Macedonian crime reporter, Vlado Taneski turned out to be a serial killer. She confessed to 31 murders in 1901. Jane Toppan was born in Boston on March 31, 1854. America’s First Female Serial Killer novelizes the true story of first-generation Irish-American nurse Jane Toppan, born as Honora Kelley. Toppan then began a career as a private nurse and flourished despite complaints of petty theft. When Jane was a young child, her father abandoned her and her sister to the Boston Female Asylum. By 1902, she had confessed to 31 murders. She was born as Nora Kelley, in Boston, in 1854, to Irish immigrants, Bridget and Peter Kelly. Documents from the asylum note that they were "rescued from a very miserable home". [5], Soon after the trial, one of William Randolph Hearst's newspapers, the New York Journal, printed what was purported to be Toppan's confession to her lawyer, claiming that she had killed more than 31 people, and that she wanted the jury to find her sane so she could eventually have a chance at being released. She also has a … During her residency, Toppan used her patients as guinea pigs in experiments with morphine and atropine; she altered their prescribed dosages to see what it did to their nervous systems. Toppan claimed her life goal was to “have killed more people – helpless people – than any other man or woman who ever lived.” Jane was born to the name Nora and grew up in Boston’s Female Asylum, where unwanted female children were often abandoned. Toppan is quoted as saying that her ambition was "to have killed more people—helpless people—than any other man or woman who ever lived".[1]. [2] Within weeks, she killed Davis,[6] his sister Edna, and two of his daughters, Minnie and Genevieve. So, she forged her certificate and began working for private clients, caring for their elderly and sickly relatives. Jane Toppan (March 31, 1854 – August 17, 1938), born Honora Kelley, was an American serial killer, nicknamed "Jolly Jane". This Day In History: October 29, 1901. “Jolly” Jane Toppan was a serial killer in Massachusetts in the late 1800s. Jane Toppan was absolutely a monster, but she did not start out that way. Making of a serial killer. Jane Toppan was absolutely a monster, but she did not start out that way. [3] Her father, Peter Kelley, was well known as an eccentric and abusive alcoholic,[4] nicknamed by those who knew him "Kelley the Crack" (as in "crackpot"). Although all the facts are intact, books about her life and her crimes are all facts and no story. [2] In 1901, Toppan moved in with the elderly Alden Davis and his family in Cataumet to take care of him after the death of his wife, Mattie (whom Toppan had murdered). She lost her mother, to tuberculosis, in infancy. When Jane was a young child, her father abandoned her and her sister to the Boston Female Asylum. When Jane was a young child, her widower father surrendered her and her sister to the Boston Female Asylum. Her mother died of tuberculosis when she was a young child, leaving her to be brought up by her alcoholic and possibly insane father Peter Kelley, who was rumoured to have gone so mad as to sew his own eyelids shut while working as a tailor. Jolly Jane Toppan killed at least 31 people between 1880 and 1901, but the doctors who hired her thought she was one of their best nurses. However, she spent considerable time alone with patients, making up fake charts and medicating them to drift in and out of consciousness and even getting into bed with them. Although all the facts are intact, books about her life and her crimes are all facts and no story. [4], Toppan used poison for more than just murder, reportedly poisoning a housekeeper just enough so that she appeared drunk in order to steal her job and kill the family. Jane Toppan the Serial killer that overdosed her victims with medication had the following to say: 8. Jane Toppan was absolutely a monster, but she did not start out that way. She confessed to 31 murders in 1901. 5. Jane Toppan Jane Toppan “Jolly” Jane Toppan was a serial killer in Massachusetts in the late 1800s. This is where she earned the title “Jolly” Jane. She would give them varying amounts of morphine and atropine, a painkiller and a nerve agent, respectively, because she wanted to see the medication's effects on the nervous system. Said She Was Not Insane Knew What She Was Doing And Therefore Could Not Be Mad", "Testing Existing Classifications of Serial Murder Considering Gender: An Exploratory Analysis of Solo Female Serial Murderers", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jane_Toppan&oldid=1010897819, Wikipedia articles with WORLDCATID identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, Israel Dunham: patient, died on May 26, 1895, aged 83, Lovely Dunham: patient, died on September 19, 1897, aged 87, Elizabeth Brigham: foster sister, died on August 29, 1899, aged 70, Mary McNear: patient, died on December 28, 1899, aged 70, Florence Calkins: housekeeper for Elizabeth, died on January 15, 1900, aged 45, William Ingraham: patient, died on January 27, 1900, aged 70, Sarah (Myra) Connors: patient and friend, died on February 11, 1900, aged 48, Mattie Davis: Wife of Alden Davis, died on July 4, 1901, aged 62, Genevieve Gordon (Annie): daughter of Alden and Mattie Davis, died on July 31, 1901, Alden Davis: died on August 8, 1901, aged 64, Mary (Minnie) Gibbs: daughter of Alden and Mattie, died on August 13, 1901, aged 40, Edna Bannister: sister-in-law of Elizabeth, died on August 26, 1901, aged 77, This page was last edited on 7 March 2021, at 22:58. 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