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Speaker 1: Diversion audio.

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Speaker 2: A note this episode contains mature content and descriptions of

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Speaker 2: violence that may be disturbing for some listeners. Please take

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Speaker 2: care and listening. Seth Ramsay and Franklin Andrews were roommates

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Speaker 2: in the Archer Home for the elderly infirm at the

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Speaker 2: turn of the twentieth century. The large Federal style house

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Speaker 2: was a nursing home, but not in the way we

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Speaker 2: think of them now. The type of care we associate

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Speaker 2: with nursing homes now would have been in what was

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Speaker 2: called a residential hospital then.

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Speaker 1: This was not that.

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Speaker 2: The Archer Home was basically a boarding house for people

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Speaker 2: in the empty nester stage of life. The residents still

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Speaker 2: had social engagements and active lifestyles. Seth Ramsey was a

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Speaker 2: widower in his sixties and Franklin Andrews was a bachelor

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Speaker 2: in his late fifties. Both of them were in good health,

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Speaker 2: but neither of them wanted to keep a full house

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Speaker 2: just for himself, so they'd each booked a bed here

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Speaker 2: at the Archer Home.

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Speaker 1: They'd gotten lucky. They had the best.

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Speaker 2: Room in the place. It was the only two bedroom,

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Speaker 2: no extra residents squeezed into two little space. It was

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Speaker 2: also just off the veranda, and it had a great

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Speaker 2: view of the town Windsor, Connecticut. But best of all,

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Speaker 2: Ramsey and Franklin got along well despite not having known

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Speaker 2: each other all that long. After dinner, around nine pm,

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Speaker 2: the residents turned in, chatting about the day before they

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Speaker 2: knotted off. They wouldn't wake up until it was time

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Speaker 2: for communal breakfast downstairs, except one morning, when Ramsey was

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Speaker 2: startled awake around five am he heard strange noises coming

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Speaker 2: from Franklin's side of the room. It took a moment

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Speaker 2: for his eyes to adjust in the twilight, but when

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Speaker 2: they did, he saw Franklin sitting bolt upright in bed,

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Speaker 2: projectile vomiting and covered in his own fluids. And it

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Speaker 2: wasn't normal vomit. It had a weird coffee ground appearance.

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Speaker 2: Welcome to the greatest true crime stories ever told. I'm

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Speaker 2: Mary Kay McBrayer. I'm a writer of true crime, which

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Speaker 2: means I live inside the research wormhole. I'm constantly reading

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Speaker 2: about crime, but I'm not necessarily interested in the headline

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Speaker 2: grabbing elements like blood and vomit. I'm more interested in

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Speaker 2: the people behind these stories and what we can learn

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Speaker 2: about all of us. By looking at their experiences. That's

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Speaker 2: what I explore here every week when I dig into

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Speaker 2: crimes where a woman is not just a victim. She

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Speaker 2: might be the detective, the lawyer, the witness, the coroner,

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Speaker 2: the criminal, or any combination.

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Speaker 1: Of those roles.

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Speaker 2: As you probably already know, women can do anything. Today's

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Speaker 2: story we're calling the Murder Factory, the name the press

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Speaker 2: dubbed the case back in the early twentieth century when

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Speaker 2: it was ushered in by a massive heat wave. This

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Speaker 2: one is a real saga, and it's really linked to

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Speaker 2: the time period.

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Speaker 1: In which it happened.

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Speaker 2: Because it's an historical crime, I want to take a

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Speaker 2: little more space to really get in there and make

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Speaker 2: sure i'm going through some of the context that's crucial

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Speaker 2: to understanding the case. Plus, there's a lot of fascinating

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Speaker 2: people who make their way into the story and a

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Speaker 2: lot of strange, weird details that I have to include.

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Speaker 2: So this is the first episode of a two episode

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Speaker 2: mini series about the Archer House. It was supposed to

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Speaker 2: be a place where older folks could find comfort, community in,

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Speaker 2: somewhere to call home. Instead, it was a murder factory.

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Speaker 2: I'll tell you all about it after the break. My

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Speaker 2: favorite class in college was intro to Psychology. It explained

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Speaker 2: so much to me about why we think the way

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Speaker 2: that we think, and without going so far in depth

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Speaker 2: as to sound like actual science. It was, but it

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Speaker 2: didn't feel like it, if that makes sense anyway. My

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Speaker 2: favorite lesson was about functional fixedness. It's a term for

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Speaker 2: the phenomenon that we can't see past the intended use

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Speaker 2: of things. For example, the coconut oil in your kitchen

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Speaker 2: cabinet is the same thing as the coconut oil in

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Speaker 2: your bathroom cabinet, but most of us would never grab

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Speaker 2: the coconut oil from the bathroom to throw in our

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Speaker 2: frying pan. Or how when you look at tennis shoes,

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Speaker 2: you don't often see how they could be tied together

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Speaker 2: and used to weigh something down, or how chewing gum

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Speaker 2: can be used as a weapon that kind of thing.

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Speaker 2: And my favorite example of functional fixedness involves the mentor

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Speaker 2: of my Intro To Psychology teacher. He was an elderly

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Speaker 2: professor close to retirement, and every day on his lunch break,

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Speaker 2: he'd go into the back stairwell and smoke a joint.

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Speaker 2: And this was during the early two thousands in Georgia,

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Speaker 2: back when you had to pick out your own seeds

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Speaker 2: and stems and grind it up yourself and roll it

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Speaker 2: on your sister's coffee table and make sure you got

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Speaker 2: all the crumbs out of the cracks before her shift

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Speaker 2: was over. High stakes, is what I'm saying. So after

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Speaker 2: the stairwell filled with smoke, someone inevitably called campus security,

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Speaker 2: and that elderly professor would wait until the moment they

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Speaker 2: showed up, step on his roach and swatting at the

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Speaker 2: cla around him, he would say, damn kids, and campus

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Speaker 2: police ran past him every time. They never suspected him

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Speaker 2: for a second, even though he was there every time

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Speaker 2: they got a call, even though there was smoke all

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Speaker 2: around him, because this burnout they were looking for couldn't

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Speaker 2: possibly be a professional, respectable academic. He couldn't possibly be old.

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Speaker 2: Let's go back in time one hundred and twenty odd years.

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Speaker 2: It's the turn of the century, nineteen oh one. President

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Speaker 2: McKinley has just died of an assassination attempt. I say

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Speaker 2: attempt because he survived the initial bullet he took in

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Speaker 2: the gut during a speech. He died of gangreen a

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Speaker 2: few days after a surgery. So that's where we are

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Speaker 2: in terms of medical science. The president just died of

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Speaker 2: gangreen after surgery. Keep that in your back pocket. I

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Speaker 2: have a point, I promise. Also in nineteen oh one,

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Speaker 2: in Connecticut, Amy Archer and her husband James Archer were

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Speaker 2: hired to care for an elderly widower, John Seymour. When

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Speaker 2: he died three years later, John Seymour's descendants converted his

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Speaker 2: home into a boarding house for the elderly. It was

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Speaker 2: actually a pretty smart economical move. This was fifty years

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Speaker 2: before Medicare began and thirty five before Social Security started

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Speaker 2: in the United States, so the elderly had even less

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Speaker 2: support than a lot of middle class people saved for

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Speaker 2: their retirement. But private nurses are expensive, so even if

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Speaker 2: they were able to pay for their room and board

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Speaker 2: without a huge strain, it left a lot of elderly

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Speaker 2: people still feeling like a burden on their families. And

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Speaker 2: that's those who had families to burden. Not to mention,

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Speaker 2: I mean, people have a hard enough time now with

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Speaker 2: resigning their loved ones to elder care.

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Speaker 1: Back then, there were no real options.

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Speaker 2: And definitely no good options for families who couldn't physically care.

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Speaker 1: For their elders.

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Speaker 2: So when the Seymours saw that hole in the market,

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Speaker 2: they capitalized on it and they kept Amy and John

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Speaker 2: Archer on as caretakers for years, which both subsidized the

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Speaker 2: Archer's rent, paid them a fee, and gave them a

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Speaker 2: lot of experience. After a few years, though, the Seymour

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Speaker 2: heirs sold the house and the Archers used their savings

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Speaker 2: to buy their own house in Windsor, Connecticut. In nineteen

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Speaker 2: oh seven, they converted it into a business, the Archer

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Speaker 2: Home for the Elderly and Infirm. The Archer business plan

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Speaker 2: had two options for the residents, or as they were

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Speaker 2: called then, the inmates.

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Speaker 1: In M.

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Speaker 2: William Phelps's book The Devil's Ruining House, which is the

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Speaker 2: book on the Amy Archer Gilligan case, he says that

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Speaker 2: inmate was quote a socially acceptable term used at that

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Speaker 2: time to describe residents of psychiatric hospitals, institutions, insane asylums, prisons,

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Speaker 2: or nursing homes, similar to Amy's. We're going to hear

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Speaker 2: from Phelps himself later on in part two of this episode,

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Speaker 2: so stay tuned for that. People at the time didn't

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Speaker 2: see anything weird about calling them inmates like you or

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Speaker 2: I might. But back to the Archer's business plan. In

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Speaker 2: exchange for shelter, food, and medical care for the rest

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Speaker 2: of their life, residents at the Archer Home had two options.

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Speaker 2: Option one, they could pay a weekly rate of between

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Speaker 2: seven and twenty five dollars, according to one advertisement. The

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Speaker 2: other option was to pay a one time flat fee

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Speaker 2: of one thousand dollars, which Amy called her contract for

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Speaker 2: life's Care. Now, I'm not a business expert, but some

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Speaker 2: quick calculations tell me that one thousand dollars would pay

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Speaker 2: for around a year of care at that time. That's

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Speaker 2: less than three years at the weekly rate max. And

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Speaker 2: that's the gross, not their net. And yes, of course

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Speaker 2: it's disgusting to put a monetary timeline on someone's life.

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Speaker 2: But if you're running a business like the Archers, then

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Speaker 2: you have to think about these things, right. Plus, the

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Speaker 2: Archer Home was not end of life's care. It wasn't

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Speaker 2: a hospice situation. It was a boarding house. Most people

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Speaker 2: who stayed at the Archer Home weren't in bad health.

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Speaker 2: There were hospitals for the infirm. The people at the

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Speaker 2: Archer Home were mostly just old. That meant there was

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Speaker 2: a good chance that they lived longer than three years,

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Speaker 2: so from a business perspective, after a while, each resident

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Speaker 2: would start costing the Archer's money. Amy and James didn't

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Speaker 2: seem to realize that, though the Archers seemed less concerned

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Speaker 2: with the accounting and more concerned with the really important

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Speaker 2: work they were doing for their community. And it was

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Speaker 2: important work everyone in town thought so. Windsor's residents really

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Speaker 2: respected the archers resolve and dedication. They especially revered Amy

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Speaker 2: after James died in nineteen ten, three years after the

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Speaker 2: Archer House opened. James's official cause of death was the

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Speaker 2: sudden onset of kidney disease, which most people in those

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Speaker 2: days usually suffered from for years before slowly dying, and

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Speaker 2: it was rarely fatal even to an elderly person unless

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Speaker 2: they had pre existing conditions. James wasn't elderly. He and

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Speaker 2: Amy were both in their late thirties or early forties,

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Speaker 2: so it was shocking to the town when he died,

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Speaker 2: and it inspired people to respect Amy even more. She

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Speaker 2: worked so hard to keep their business afloat all on

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Speaker 2: her own with a little help from James's life insurance payout.

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Speaker 2: After all, the people of windsor could see the hard work.

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Speaker 1: Amy looked so worn down.

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Speaker 2: Because while Amy wasn't elderly, she definitely didn't look like

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Speaker 2: she was in her thirties. To a degree, every photo

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Speaker 2: of someone from a historical period makes them look old,

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Speaker 2: you know, just based on the styles alone. Like Amy

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Speaker 2: wore the high collared dresses and puff sleeves of the

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Speaker 2: Gilded Age.

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Speaker 1: Her hair is the best way I.

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Speaker 2: Can describe it is by the Martha Washington thing we

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Speaker 2: used to do in the swimming pool, where we let

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Speaker 2: it drip forward and then fold it back and pose

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Speaker 2: like we were in a Guerra type.

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Speaker 1: So, yeah, the.

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Speaker 2: Styles have aged her, but she actually looks like she

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Speaker 2: could just as well be in her sixties, from her

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Speaker 2: thin lipped, clinched jaw to her furrowed brow. The people

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Speaker 2: in town, especially the socialites, the ones who decided what

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Speaker 2: everyone else should think, called her sister Amy. They rarely

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Speaker 2: saw her without a Bible in hand, and she definitely

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Speaker 2: looked like someone who would clutch her bible all the time,

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Speaker 2: like as a weapon. They watched her dedication to the elderly,

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Speaker 2: some of whom I'm sure they assumed probably nagged and

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Speaker 2: bothered her constantly, and she had a little girl whose

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Speaker 2: father had just died too. I mean, that does sound

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Speaker 2: pretty tough. That is, it would be tough if that

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Speaker 2: was true. As I mentioned before, while the residents at

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Speaker 2: Amy's were older, they could take care of themselves, they

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Speaker 2: mostly just couldn't take care of a full house and themselves,

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Speaker 2: so they wanted the extra help. But to the town

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Speaker 2: who didn't know any different, Amy seemed close to saintly

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Speaker 2: not everyone in the home was as convinced that the

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Speaker 2: Archer House was a place of God, though, because they

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Speaker 2: had a problem on their hands.

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Speaker 1: People kept dying.

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Speaker 2: Remember, and I've said it a few times, the residents

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Speaker 2: weren't sick most of the time, so these frequent deaths

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Speaker 2: were weird. They seemed to hit out of nowhere, and

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Speaker 2: they were happening to healthy people. Then Amy would have

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Speaker 2: their bodies moved out of the house in the middle

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Speaker 2: of the night so no one really saw them. Amy

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Speaker 2: said she thought it would be disturbing the other residents

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Speaker 2: woke to find their friends dead, and fair enough, that

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Speaker 2: definitely would be disturbing. I mean, imagine you were running

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Speaker 2: Archer House. I don't think i'd move the bodies like

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Speaker 2: that it definitely comes off as sort of brushing death

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Speaker 2: under the rug, if not something actually sinister.

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Speaker 1: But anyone who has.

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Speaker 2: Worked in direct care will tell you you can never

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Speaker 2: do enough. You can never be fast enough, caring enough,

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Speaker 2: sweet enough, smart enough, good enough. You have to make

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Speaker 2: some tough calls, calls that just can't please everyone. It's

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Speaker 2: not really surprising that some of those calls ended up iffy.

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Speaker 2: And when it comes to death, dying, and grieving, no

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Speaker 2: one can do anything perfectly. By the way, we are

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Speaker 2: now squarely in the Victorian era, when there was a

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Speaker 2: whole fashion element to grief and grieving correctly. At this

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Speaker 2: point in time, no one could do anything regarding death

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Speaker 2: well enough. It's also no surprise that there were deaths,

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Speaker 2: even though the people at Archer House were in good

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Speaker 2: health for the most part. They were elderly and well,

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Speaker 2: you heard what kind of medical care the president got,

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Speaker 2: and he was the president. Still, residents insisted there were

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Speaker 2: far too many people dying. Something was very wrong at

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Speaker 2: Archer House. Someone they said, was killing them. The town

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Speaker 2: socialites were having none of that. They rallied behind Amy's

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Speaker 2: pristine reputation, scandalized that anyone could suggest something untoward about

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Speaker 2: an organization run by a saint. Not only was it impossible,

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Speaker 2: but the audacity to them. Amy was basically doing charity work,

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Speaker 2: but for money. Sometimes she even set up funeral arrangements

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Speaker 2: and sent bouquets to grieving family members. Of course, she

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Speaker 2: was contractually obligated to do that, but most people didn't

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Speaker 2: realize that. They also didn't realize that although she claimed

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Speaker 2: she had taken it upon herself to pay for her

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00:19:48,040 --> 00:19:51,760
Speaker 2: residence funerals when they couldn't afford to, that was a

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00:19:51,800 --> 00:19:56,560
Speaker 2: straight up lie. So while the townspeople might have been

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Speaker 2: obsessed with Amy and totally convinced that her organization was

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Speaker 2: a flawless reflection of God's love on earth, the people

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00:20:05,080 --> 00:20:09,800
Speaker 2: closest to her physically her residence refused to be gas

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00:20:09,920 --> 00:20:13,800
Speaker 2: lit out of their suspicions, and as more and more

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Speaker 2: Archer residents died, those suspicions.

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Speaker 1: Only grew.

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Speaker 2: Until one resident, Franklin Andrews, became convinced he knew exactly

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Speaker 2: what was causing all this death, or rather who. At

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Speaker 2: this point in his life, Franklin Andrews was in good health,

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Speaker 2: but he hadn't always been. When he was a boy

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Speaker 2: in the early eighteen fifties, Franklin had a severe hip

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Speaker 2: pain that prevented him from walking. It was likely what

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Speaker 2: we now know as congenital dislocation of the hip. Over

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Speaker 2: the course of months, that condition caused his leg to shorten.

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Speaker 2: As a result, he always walked with a pronounced limp.

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Speaker 2: Even his friends would say he was quote lame. It

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Speaker 2: was the medical diagnosis at the time. Most people don't

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Speaker 2: realize that it's an ablest slur when they say it

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Speaker 2: nowadays that lame actually meant disabled, not boring or silly,

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Speaker 2: just you know, food for thought in your own language,

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Speaker 2: going forward in case you didn't know. But back to Franklin.

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Speaker 2: Franklin had always been self sufficient. He offended for himself

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Speaker 2: from an early age, and he had worked as both

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Speaker 2: of farmer and a factory worker. He also took a

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00:22:04,080 --> 00:22:09,840
Speaker 2: routine constitutional walk every morning, a walk of about five

287
00:22:10,119 --> 00:22:15,400
Speaker 2: or six miles. I don't actually know anyone who does

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00:22:15,480 --> 00:22:18,600
Speaker 2: that nowadays, even with all our pedometers and fitbits and

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00:22:18,640 --> 00:22:23,320
Speaker 2: Apple watches. It wasn't until he was fifty seven years

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00:22:23,359 --> 00:22:28,280
Speaker 2: old that Franklin started to feel his age. The effects

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00:22:28,280 --> 00:22:31,520
Speaker 2: of years of hard physical work showed up in his bones,

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00:22:31,560 --> 00:22:35,360
Speaker 2: and joints. He got treatment for rheumatism and his shoulders

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00:22:35,359 --> 00:22:40,080
Speaker 2: and legs for months. The condition prevented him from tending

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Speaker 2: to his family's farm. But let me explain, at fifty

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Speaker 2: seven Franklin couldn't do hard labor anymore. He had been

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Speaker 2: doing it though, that's why it was taking its toll. Again,

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00:23:04,080 --> 00:23:07,440
Speaker 2: this is nineteen eleven. There were very few desk jobs

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Speaker 2: and very few people really changed careers, especially not in

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Speaker 2: middle age. Although I guess back then fifty seven wouldn't

300
00:23:16,160 --> 00:23:20,640
Speaker 2: have been middle age as we see it now. Still,

301
00:23:21,119 --> 00:23:24,719
Speaker 2: Franklin was a lifelong bachelor, so he didn't have children

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Speaker 2: or a wife to lean on for personal care or

303
00:23:27,119 --> 00:23:31,000
Speaker 2: even social interaction. It seems like he got most of

304
00:23:31,000 --> 00:23:35,520
Speaker 2: his interactions from either his walks or his work. So

305
00:23:35,600 --> 00:23:39,040
Speaker 2: when he stopped working, it seems like he got kind

306
00:23:39,080 --> 00:23:43,280
Speaker 2: of lonesome. He sold his farm and he went back

307
00:23:43,320 --> 00:23:46,000
Speaker 2: and forth between the homes of his two local sisters

308
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Speaker 2: in Wallingford and Yalesville, Connecticut. But they were his elder sisters.

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Speaker 2: They were much more frail than Franklin was. Neither of

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Speaker 2: them had extravagant means, and Franklin didn't want to burden them.

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Speaker 2: To their credit, neither sister nor his in laws ever

312
00:24:04,760 --> 00:24:08,800
Speaker 2: told Franklin to get lost. In fact, his brother in law,

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Speaker 2: Warren Andrews, said that Franklin quote was perfectly healthy and

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Speaker 2: well with the exception of his lameness. But Franklin started

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Speaker 2: to consider where else he could go for a while.

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Speaker 2: That was the house of a friend who said Franklin

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00:24:24,640 --> 00:24:26,959
Speaker 2: could stay as long as he wanted. He was no

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00:24:27,040 --> 00:24:33,439
Speaker 2: trouble at all, never complained. But still Franklin didn't crash

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Speaker 2: for long. It just wasn't in his nature to freeload,

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00:24:36,720 --> 00:24:39,679
Speaker 2: even when his friends and family told him that wasn't

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00:24:39,680 --> 00:24:44,280
Speaker 2: what this was. He bounced around between his family members

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Speaker 2: and eventually ended up with his third sister, Nellie Pierce.

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Speaker 2: She had room for him and was happy to have him,

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Speaker 2: but he didn't want to burden her either. That's just

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Speaker 2: the type of man he was, you know, the type

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Speaker 2: who never overstays is welcome, the type who's such a

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Speaker 2: good house guest that he leaves your house better than

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00:25:05,880 --> 00:25:08,480
Speaker 2: when he arrived. He's the type who would see something

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Speaker 2: that needed fixing, and before you know it, he's fixed

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Speaker 2: it without you asking him to. Franklin Andrews had pinballed

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Speaker 2: from place to place too long for his liking, so

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Speaker 2: when he saw an advertisement for the Archer Home in

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00:25:37,400 --> 00:25:43,240
Speaker 2: the newspaper, he decided he was in. His sister Nelly

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00:25:43,359 --> 00:25:46,920
Speaker 2: didn't want him to go. Even though Franklin had money

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Speaker 2: enough to stay at Amy Archer's. Nelly was worried about him,

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00:25:51,680 --> 00:25:57,320
Speaker 2: and like everyone else, she wanted him around. But Franklin

337
00:25:57,400 --> 00:26:00,800
Speaker 2: was going period, and once Nelly realized she wasn't going

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00:26:00,880 --> 00:26:03,120
Speaker 2: to talk him out of it, she took the trolley

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00:26:03,119 --> 00:26:06,240
Speaker 2: from Hartford to Windsor and walked the two minutes to

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00:26:06,280 --> 00:26:12,000
Speaker 2: the Archer Home to meet Amy. For herself, Nellie was

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Speaker 2: not impressed. By this time, September of nineteen twelve, the

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00:26:21,680 --> 00:26:27,040
Speaker 2: Archer Home was deteriorating. There were the baseline issues of

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00:26:27,080 --> 00:26:30,960
Speaker 2: her business model to start with. For new revenue to

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00:26:30,960 --> 00:26:34,560
Speaker 2: come in, she needed more beds, so she kept adding

345
00:26:34,560 --> 00:26:39,159
Speaker 2: more beds. At one point there were an estimated twenty

346
00:26:39,200 --> 00:26:44,520
Speaker 2: beds in the home, not ten double occupancy bedrooms either

347
00:26:45,440 --> 00:26:49,199
Speaker 2: beds in the common areas. The hallways squeezed together to

348
00:26:49,200 --> 00:26:54,920
Speaker 2: fit as many people as possible. In addition, James Archer's

349
00:26:54,960 --> 00:27:02,400
Speaker 2: death left behind a pile of undone chores, things like painting, weeding, cleaning,

350
00:27:03,280 --> 00:27:09,520
Speaker 2: and now they had a severe bedbug problem. Amy had

351
00:27:09,560 --> 00:27:12,719
Speaker 2: sent one of her residents down to the wh Mason

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00:27:12,800 --> 00:27:17,919
Speaker 2: drug store to purchase some arsenic. She was handling it.

353
00:27:25,960 --> 00:27:29,760
Speaker 2: Amy and Nellie discussed the going rate, either one thousand

354
00:27:29,840 --> 00:27:35,240
Speaker 2: dollars up front or seven dollars per week. Nellie looked

355
00:27:35,240 --> 00:27:38,399
Speaker 2: around the house and asked, basically, what's the deal with

356
00:27:38,480 --> 00:27:40,520
Speaker 2: this place? Why does this house look like a dump.

357
00:27:42,280 --> 00:27:45,400
Speaker 2: That's when Amy put the hard cell on her. Her

358
00:27:45,480 --> 00:27:48,600
Speaker 2: husband had died a few years ago and he was

359
00:27:48,640 --> 00:27:55,520
Speaker 2: her handyman. Nellie didn't bite. Instead, she said, what if

360
00:27:55,520 --> 00:27:59,840
Speaker 2: Franklin doesn't like it? Here Amy had an answer for

361
00:27:59,880 --> 00:28:04,000
Speaker 2: that as well. She would charge Franklin the one thousand

362
00:28:04,080 --> 00:28:07,760
Speaker 2: dollars up front, and if he wanted to leave, she'd

363
00:28:07,800 --> 00:28:11,000
Speaker 2: refund him a pro rated amount based on how long

364
00:28:11,040 --> 00:28:18,639
Speaker 2: he stayed. Now, I find this a little odd. We

365
00:28:18,680 --> 00:28:21,600
Speaker 2: don't have the contract, or at least I couldn't find

366
00:28:21,600 --> 00:28:24,040
Speaker 2: a record of it. So the question I'm about to

367
00:28:24,080 --> 00:28:27,600
Speaker 2: ask might have been answered in that. But my question is,

368
00:28:29,119 --> 00:28:32,040
Speaker 2: how would you pro rate it if it's one thousand

369
00:28:32,080 --> 00:28:34,920
Speaker 2: dollars for the rest of his life. Well, Amy, how

370
00:28:34,920 --> 00:28:38,000
Speaker 2: do you know how long that would be? Do you

371
00:28:38,120 --> 00:28:41,320
Speaker 2: have an amortization timeline in your top desk drawer like

372
00:28:41,400 --> 00:28:46,440
Speaker 2: one of those life insurance adjusters. But Nellie either had

373
00:28:46,480 --> 00:28:49,760
Speaker 2: the information she needed or she just didn't think Franklin

374
00:28:49,840 --> 00:28:54,360
Speaker 2: would want to leave. Despite the crumbling building and crowded halls,

375
00:28:54,680 --> 00:28:57,000
Speaker 2: the place was full of people his age who seemed

376
00:28:57,000 --> 00:29:01,600
Speaker 2: to be in high spirits. Nellie suspect that this was

377
00:29:01,640 --> 00:29:07,239
Speaker 2: exactly what Franklin wanted. She decided to stop making a

378
00:29:07,240 --> 00:29:10,640
Speaker 2: fuss about the arrangement and let her brother move into

379
00:29:10,680 --> 00:29:18,280
Speaker 2: the Archer House. When Franklin arrived, he paid Amy twenty

380
00:29:18,320 --> 00:29:25,280
Speaker 2: five hundred dollars up front. You probably noticed that's a

381
00:29:25,280 --> 00:29:29,800
Speaker 2: different sum than what she and Nelly discussed, but Franklin

382
00:29:29,800 --> 00:29:32,760
Speaker 2: didn't mind. In fact, he took to Amy right away

383
00:29:33,000 --> 00:29:36,560
Speaker 2: and he started fixing the Archer House up too. As usual,

384
00:29:36,680 --> 00:29:40,160
Speaker 2: he was being his sweet helpful self, wanting to give

385
00:29:40,280 --> 00:29:46,320
Speaker 2: more than he took. Shortly after Franklin arrived, he made

386
00:29:46,320 --> 00:29:51,360
Speaker 2: a new friend, and Michael Gilligan. Michael was a child

387
00:29:51,400 --> 00:29:54,560
Speaker 2: of Irish immigrants, a divorced father of three sons and

388
00:29:54,600 --> 00:29:58,880
Speaker 2: two daughters, all now adults. He was fifty seven to

389
00:29:58,920 --> 00:30:02,760
Speaker 2: Franklin's now fifty, and while he'd been a fireman in town,

390
00:30:02,960 --> 00:30:07,000
Speaker 2: he had also worked farms. When he arrived, he helped

391
00:30:07,000 --> 00:30:12,040
Speaker 2: shoulder the handyman load too. Michael was in great health

392
00:30:12,160 --> 00:30:15,320
Speaker 2: like Franklin. The two of them were among the youngest

393
00:30:15,360 --> 00:30:19,280
Speaker 2: and healthiest of their residents at the Archer Home, and

394
00:30:19,320 --> 00:30:21,680
Speaker 2: Michael got along with Amy just as well as Franklin,

395
00:30:23,000 --> 00:30:27,520
Speaker 2: or actually even better. Within a few weeks, Michael and

396
00:30:27,560 --> 00:30:34,560
Speaker 2: Amy were involved in a romantic relationship. In November of

397
00:30:34,680 --> 00:30:40,280
Speaker 2: nineteen thirteen, Amy married Michael Gilligan, despite his being twenty

398
00:30:40,360 --> 00:30:45,000
Speaker 2: years her senior, and the town of Windsor was really

399
00:30:45,520 --> 00:30:48,880
Speaker 2: genuinely happy for them. Not only was it great to

400
00:30:48,920 --> 00:30:52,720
Speaker 2: see Amy finding love again, but marrying Michael would really

401
00:30:52,760 --> 00:30:58,160
Speaker 2: help her in more practical ways. On their marriage license,

402
00:30:58,560 --> 00:31:03,680
Speaker 2: Michael listed his assets. Although Michael came across as a

403
00:31:03,680 --> 00:31:06,720
Speaker 2: pretty rough guy in appearance, he had a net worth

404
00:31:06,760 --> 00:31:10,800
Speaker 2: of about five thousand dollars, which would be today about

405
00:31:10,880 --> 00:31:15,080
Speaker 2: one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, just enough money to

406
00:31:15,120 --> 00:31:17,440
Speaker 2: get Amy out of the debt that had accrued in

407
00:31:17,560 --> 00:31:24,440
Speaker 2: James's absence. Amy always paid attention to the bank accounts

408
00:31:24,440 --> 00:31:29,400
Speaker 2: of her residents. Sometimes she even demanded to see their

409
00:31:29,440 --> 00:31:35,280
Speaker 2: bank records before letting them move in. But she didn't

410
00:31:35,320 --> 00:31:41,080
Speaker 2: actually learn about Franklin's savings until January of nineteen fourteen.

411
00:31:42,720 --> 00:31:43,840
Speaker 1: That's when there was.

412
00:31:43,840 --> 00:31:51,240
Speaker 2: An odd moment. She wrote him the following letter. I

413
00:31:51,280 --> 00:31:53,920
Speaker 2: am writing to ask you, as I consider you my

414
00:31:54,040 --> 00:31:57,640
Speaker 2: dearest friend in need, as you have proved so thus far,

415
00:31:58,560 --> 00:32:01,760
Speaker 2: could you, or rather, will you please let me take

416
00:32:01,840 --> 00:32:05,640
Speaker 2: a few hundred dollars as near to a thousand as

417
00:32:05,680 --> 00:32:09,200
Speaker 2: you can for a few months until I can get

418
00:32:09,280 --> 00:32:13,520
Speaker 2: money I have loaned. I have but little cash, and

419
00:32:13,600 --> 00:32:18,800
Speaker 2: our bills are just now very heavy. She went on,

420
00:32:19,040 --> 00:32:23,479
Speaker 2: really working his guilt. I will pay you six percent

421
00:32:23,560 --> 00:32:26,400
Speaker 2: in advance. As you know, it is safer than any bank.

422
00:32:27,520 --> 00:32:30,520
Speaker 2: I thought, as a friend, you would accommodate me. I

423
00:32:30,520 --> 00:32:33,880
Speaker 2: would rather you would please not speak of this to anyone.

424
00:32:34,720 --> 00:32:37,640
Speaker 2: I appreciate your confidence, or I would not ask you,

425
00:32:37,800 --> 00:32:39,920
Speaker 2: as I have friends whom I know would lend it,

426
00:32:39,960 --> 00:32:44,120
Speaker 2: but I would rather not ask them. Please let me

427
00:32:44,200 --> 00:32:47,200
Speaker 2: know if you could get it tomorrow morning. I could

428
00:32:47,280 --> 00:32:50,200
Speaker 2: use it in the afternoon, And I assure you on

429
00:32:50,360 --> 00:32:54,040
Speaker 2: my honor you won't be sorry. I will give you

430
00:32:54,120 --> 00:32:57,120
Speaker 2: my note so there can be no possible way for

431
00:32:57,160 --> 00:33:11,120
Speaker 2: you to lose. Essentially, despite the fact that her new

432
00:33:11,200 --> 00:33:15,520
Speaker 2: husband had just paid off most of her debts, Amy

433
00:33:15,560 --> 00:33:19,560
Speaker 2: had just asked Franklin to lend her a bunch more money,

434
00:33:20,320 --> 00:33:24,240
Speaker 2: and even though Franklin and Michael were friends, Amy wanted

435
00:33:24,240 --> 00:33:30,200
Speaker 2: Franklin to keep it a secret. You might have noticed

436
00:33:30,200 --> 00:33:32,640
Speaker 2: a bit of a trend in the cases we've covered

437
00:33:32,680 --> 00:33:35,760
Speaker 2: on the greatest true crime stories ever told. The trend

438
00:33:36,000 --> 00:33:42,760
Speaker 2: is secret secrets are no fun. Secret secrets hurt someone. Unfortunately,

439
00:33:42,760 --> 00:33:46,280
Speaker 2: there's no written record of how Franklin responded to Amy's

440
00:33:46,360 --> 00:33:49,920
Speaker 2: request for the loan, but we know that his initial

441
00:33:49,960 --> 00:33:53,920
Speaker 2: appreciation for Amy and archer House was starting to waver

442
00:33:54,120 --> 00:33:58,720
Speaker 2: by this point. Around this time, he wrote a letter

443
00:33:58,760 --> 00:34:03,080
Speaker 2: to his brother Wesley's, saying, there have been some deaths

444
00:34:03,120 --> 00:34:09,520
Speaker 2: here lately. Have been eighteen died. There are fifteen here now,

445
00:34:10,280 --> 00:34:14,719
Speaker 2: and Amy expects some more before long. They come and

446
00:34:14,800 --> 00:34:22,359
Speaker 2: go one after another. There's a hint of wariness in

447
00:34:22,400 --> 00:34:26,000
Speaker 2: that report, and Amy's request for money may have triggered

448
00:34:26,040 --> 00:34:34,480
Speaker 2: even more of it. Then came February nineteenth, Amy called

449
00:34:34,520 --> 00:34:38,799
Speaker 2: her husband Michael downstairs. She had laid a document on

450
00:34:38,840 --> 00:34:42,720
Speaker 2: the kitchen table for him. It was his last will

451
00:34:42,760 --> 00:34:49,960
Speaker 2: and testament. He signed it, then he laid down. He

452
00:34:50,040 --> 00:35:04,200
Speaker 2: wasn't feeling too good. In fact, he was feeling bad.

453
00:35:10,200 --> 00:35:15,320
Speaker 2: Michael started vomiting the evening of February nineteenth, nineteen fourteen,

454
00:35:16,360 --> 00:35:19,880
Speaker 2: the same day he signed his last will and testament.

455
00:35:21,520 --> 00:35:24,720
Speaker 2: He seemed to recover briefly. His friends say he felt

456
00:35:24,760 --> 00:35:29,319
Speaker 2: fine when they saw him on February twentieth, But then

457
00:35:29,840 --> 00:35:33,520
Speaker 2: on February twenty first, at two in the morning, Amy

458
00:35:33,600 --> 00:35:37,480
Speaker 2: called Ralph Frost. Ralph was the manager of the Windsor

459
00:35:37,520 --> 00:35:44,440
Speaker 2: hotel where Michael often drank. Ralph also moonlighted as an undertaker.

460
00:35:46,760 --> 00:35:49,480
Speaker 2: Ralph was surprised to hear Amy say, come over to

461
00:35:49,520 --> 00:35:54,560
Speaker 2: the house right away. It's Michael. He's very sick. He'd

462
00:35:54,600 --> 00:35:58,680
Speaker 2: just seen Michael in the bar the night before. Was

463
00:35:58,719 --> 00:36:02,880
Speaker 2: Amy calling Ralph as a friend or as an undertaker?

464
00:36:06,920 --> 00:36:10,920
Speaker 2: When Ralph arrived, Michael was in and out of consciousness,

465
00:36:11,360 --> 00:36:15,279
Speaker 2: but he did recognize Ralph. He definitely wasn't dead. He

466
00:36:15,320 --> 00:36:18,960
Speaker 2: didn't need an undertaker, He needed a doctor. Ralph was

467
00:36:19,040 --> 00:36:22,520
Speaker 2: livid that Amy hadn't called one. Why didn't she call

468
00:36:22,600 --> 00:36:26,919
Speaker 2: someone who might have actually helped. It was after three

469
00:36:26,920 --> 00:36:32,359
Speaker 2: o'clock when doctor King arrived. He immediately asked Amy, why

470
00:36:32,360 --> 00:36:36,879
Speaker 2: didn't you call me sooner? It was then that Ralph

471
00:36:36,960 --> 00:36:40,040
Speaker 2: learned doctor King had already been at the Archer home

472
00:36:40,160 --> 00:36:44,320
Speaker 2: to tend to Michael the night before. He left specific

473
00:36:44,360 --> 00:36:48,279
Speaker 2: instructions with Amy about how to treat her husband. He

474
00:36:48,360 --> 00:36:53,239
Speaker 2: had also given Michael pills for indigestion. Y'all are not

475
00:36:53,280 --> 00:36:55,920
Speaker 2: going to believe what was in these stomach pills. I'll

476
00:36:55,960 --> 00:36:58,960
Speaker 2: give you a hint. It was a mixture of bismuth,

477
00:36:59,360 --> 00:37:04,880
Speaker 2: the main ingredient in peptobismal, and cocaine. That was the

478
00:37:04,920 --> 00:37:09,840
Speaker 2: doctor's order. Actually pretty standard for upset stomach at the time.

479
00:37:11,120 --> 00:37:13,759
Speaker 2: But by the time Ralph was there and doctor King

480
00:37:13,840 --> 00:37:16,799
Speaker 2: returned for the second time, it was clear that the

481
00:37:16,800 --> 00:37:18,239
Speaker 2: treatment hadn't worked.

482
00:37:19,080 --> 00:37:20,240
Speaker 1: The doctor should.

483
00:37:20,040 --> 00:37:24,200
Speaker 2: Have been called back earlier, and now it was too late.

484
00:37:25,440 --> 00:37:29,600
Speaker 2: By sunrise the morning of February twenty second, nineteen fourteen,

485
00:37:30,360 --> 00:37:37,080
Speaker 2: Michael Gilligan was dead. Franklin woke during the middle of

486
00:37:37,120 --> 00:37:42,560
Speaker 2: the commotion. He was shocked that Michael had died just

487
00:37:42,600 --> 00:37:48,440
Speaker 2: a day before. They'd been palling around as usual. Then

488
00:37:48,640 --> 00:37:55,279
Speaker 2: his shock turned into horror. Despite how odd this death was,

489
00:37:56,680 --> 00:38:03,240
Speaker 2: doctor King didn't conduct an autopsy. He also didn't consult

490
00:38:03,280 --> 00:38:09,640
Speaker 2: a coroner. Instead, he made the medical assessment that Michael

491
00:38:09,800 --> 00:38:16,520
Speaker 2: died of indigestion, and for some reason, he listed heart

492
00:38:16,600 --> 00:38:24,280
Speaker 2: disease among Michael's ailments too. Franklin knew that wasn't true.

493
00:38:24,520 --> 00:38:27,600
Speaker 2: Doctor King had only sporadically treated Michael in the past,

494
00:38:28,400 --> 00:38:30,920
Speaker 2: but he should have known there was no indication that

495
00:38:30,960 --> 00:38:36,600
Speaker 2: Michael had heart disease. What he did have in those

496
00:38:36,640 --> 00:38:41,120
Speaker 2: two days between signing his will and dying was a

497
00:38:41,160 --> 00:38:44,759
Speaker 2: burning sensation in the pit of his stomach and some

498
00:38:44,920 --> 00:38:53,480
Speaker 2: burning in his throat too. Franklin wrote an ominous, upsetting

499
00:38:53,560 --> 00:38:58,840
Speaker 2: letter to his family. That makes twenty one that's died

500
00:38:58,920 --> 00:39:02,680
Speaker 2: since I came here. Don't know who will be next.

501
00:39:04,440 --> 00:39:08,600
Speaker 2: There are eighteen here now and she expects more soon.

502
00:39:10,360 --> 00:39:10,560
Speaker 1: Now.

503
00:39:10,600 --> 00:39:15,640
Speaker 2: Franklin had only been at the Archer House seventeen months.

504
00:39:16,640 --> 00:39:21,560
Speaker 2: Twenty one deaths since he arrived in a group of

505
00:39:21,680 --> 00:39:26,239
Speaker 2: elderly but mainly healthy people. That's more than one death

506
00:39:26,280 --> 00:39:31,480
Speaker 2: per month. That is not normal, and Franklin knew it.

507
00:39:32,600 --> 00:39:35,600
Speaker 2: He mentioned Michael's death in every letter he wrote after

508
00:39:35,640 --> 00:39:38,840
Speaker 2: Michael died, and he would total up the number of

509
00:39:38,920 --> 00:39:44,040
Speaker 2: people who had died since he'd arrived. There was also

510
00:39:44,200 --> 00:39:48,680
Speaker 2: stranger shit in the offing. Michael Gilligan's body was embalmed

511
00:39:48,760 --> 00:39:53,160
Speaker 2: under the cover of night as usual, and Amy told

512
00:39:53,200 --> 00:39:58,080
Speaker 2: her friend that Michael had died of pneumonia, which was

513
00:39:58,120 --> 00:40:01,279
Speaker 2: different from the likewise bizarre cause of death given by

514
00:40:01,320 --> 00:40:06,279
Speaker 2: doctor King, a brand new diagnosis that came from her

515
00:40:06,360 --> 00:40:13,240
Speaker 2: own imagination. For Franklin, all the signs were pointing towards

516
00:40:13,280 --> 00:40:19,919
Speaker 2: one thing. Amy Archer Gilligan was the one behind these deaths.

517
00:40:20,880 --> 00:40:30,919
Speaker 2: She was killing her residence, and she'd killed Michael. There

518
00:40:31,120 --> 00:40:36,000
Speaker 2: was a ton of circumstantial evidence at this point. All

519
00:40:36,080 --> 00:40:39,759
Speaker 2: the deaths of apparently healthy people were a sign that

520
00:40:39,920 --> 00:40:44,520
Speaker 2: some foul play was at hand. Spiriting the bodies away

521
00:40:44,520 --> 00:40:47,960
Speaker 2: at night made Amy look suspicious. But the fact that

522
00:40:48,000 --> 00:40:52,560
Speaker 2: Michael died thirty six hours after signing over all his

523
00:40:52,719 --> 00:40:56,799
Speaker 2: property to Amy, and then she was making up stories

524
00:40:57,040 --> 00:41:03,920
Speaker 2: about the cause of his death, there was one small

525
00:41:04,440 --> 00:41:09,520
Speaker 2: satisfying irony in all of this. If Franklin's suspicions were

526
00:41:09,600 --> 00:41:12,920
Speaker 2: right about Amy's scheme, even though Amy had control of

527
00:41:12,960 --> 00:41:15,719
Speaker 2: Michael Gilligan's property and assets because of the will she

528
00:41:15,840 --> 00:41:19,000
Speaker 2: made him sign thirty six hours before his death, she

529
00:41:19,160 --> 00:41:23,200
Speaker 2: had to extend a grace period. That meant she had

530
00:41:23,200 --> 00:41:26,719
Speaker 2: to publish a notice so any potential creditors could come

531
00:41:26,760 --> 00:41:29,880
Speaker 2: make a claim, So his money was still a little

532
00:41:29,920 --> 00:41:34,359
Speaker 2: tied up. It's not much justice, but I do love

533
00:41:34,480 --> 00:41:37,279
Speaker 2: a dramatic irony like that, especially when it happens in

534
00:41:37,320 --> 00:41:44,120
Speaker 2: real life. But what this also meant was Amy's situation

535
00:41:44,360 --> 00:41:49,200
Speaker 2: remained somewhat the same financially because they had been married.

536
00:41:49,840 --> 00:41:54,440
Speaker 2: Michael's death didn't open up another bed. She had no

537
00:41:54,680 --> 00:42:01,239
Speaker 2: new revenue streams, so she started squeezing her current patients,

538
00:42:02,200 --> 00:42:05,760
Speaker 2: asking them to withdraw their savings, asking them for loans,

539
00:42:06,800 --> 00:42:13,279
Speaker 2: and all the while patients were still dying. Then, true

540
00:42:13,320 --> 00:42:17,160
Speaker 2: to form, when a resident died, Amy demanded that the

541
00:42:17,200 --> 00:42:24,520
Speaker 2: body immediately be taken away and embalmed. But Amy still

542
00:42:24,600 --> 00:42:30,359
Speaker 2: wasn't satisfied financially satisfied, that is, until a couple named

543
00:42:30,360 --> 00:42:35,040
Speaker 2: the Goudys got in touch. They were in a situation

544
00:42:35,200 --> 00:42:39,080
Speaker 2: like Franklin, had been bouncing between relatives, houses and sick

545
00:42:39,080 --> 00:42:43,160
Speaker 2: of feeling like a burden. When they came by to

546
00:42:43,160 --> 00:42:46,479
Speaker 2: tour of the Archer home, Amy showed them a double room,

547
00:42:47,239 --> 00:42:51,919
Speaker 2: the only one in the place. Amy said, this will

548
00:42:51,960 --> 00:42:57,800
Speaker 2: be vacant very soon. That's when Franklin started to get sick.

549
00:43:13,600 --> 00:43:16,560
Speaker 2: Join me next week on the Greatest true crime Stories

550
00:43:16,600 --> 00:43:20,239
Speaker 2: Ever told for the second episode of our two part

551
00:43:20,320 --> 00:43:25,320
Speaker 2: mini series on Amy Archer Gilligan, a tale of greed, violence,

552
00:43:25,680 --> 00:43:31,520
Speaker 2: and the consequences of an insatiable appetite for more. We'll

553
00:43:31,560 --> 00:43:34,680
Speaker 2: also be talking to m William Phelps, who wrote The

554
00:43:34,719 --> 00:43:40,080
Speaker 2: Devil's Rooming House. Phelps' book is full of incredible research

555
00:43:40,120 --> 00:43:43,319
Speaker 2: on this case, and it helped make it possible for

556
00:43:43,360 --> 00:43:47,080
Speaker 2: me to tell this story. I'm very excited to bring

557
00:43:47,120 --> 00:43:51,040
Speaker 2: you even more of his really sharp insights. For more

558
00:43:51,080 --> 00:43:54,160
Speaker 2: information about this case and others we cover on the show,

559
00:43:54,840 --> 00:43:59,759
Speaker 2: visit diversion Audio dot com. Sign up for Diversion's newsletter

560
00:43:59,800 --> 00:44:02,520
Speaker 2: and among the first to hear about special behind the

561
00:44:02,560 --> 00:44:07,160
Speaker 2: scenes features with hosts and actors from Diversion's podcasts, more

562
00:44:07,200 --> 00:44:10,480
Speaker 2: shows you'll love from Diversion in our partners, and other

563
00:44:10,600 --> 00:44:16,920
Speaker 2: exclusive tidbits you can't get anywhere else. That's Diversionaudio dot Com.

564
00:44:16,960 --> 00:44:20,719
Speaker 2: To sign up for the newsletter. The Greatest True Crime

565
00:44:20,800 --> 00:44:25,279
Speaker 2: Stories Ever Told is a production of Diversion Audio. I'm

566
00:44:25,280 --> 00:44:29,200
Speaker 2: Mary Kay McBrayer. I wrote this episode and our editorial

567
00:44:29,239 --> 00:44:33,600
Speaker 2: director is Nora Battel. Our show is produced and directed

568
00:44:33,600 --> 00:44:38,120
Speaker 2: by Mark Francis. Our development team is Emma Dumouth and

569
00:44:38,239 --> 00:44:45,279
Speaker 2: Jacob Bronstein. Theme music by Tyler Cash. Executive producers Jacob Bronstein,

570
00:44:45,800 --> 00:44:47,840
Speaker 2: Mark Francis, and Scott Waxman.

571
00:45:10,640 --> 00:45:11,840
Speaker 1: Diversion Audio