1 00:00:02,640 --> 00:00:06,560 Speaker 1: You're listening to American Shadows, a production of iHeartRadio and 2 00:00:06,640 --> 00:00:15,760 Speaker 1: Grimm and Mild from Aaron Manky. 3 00:00:16,720 --> 00:00:20,360 Speaker 2: The most Beautiful Girl in New York City was, according 4 00:00:20,400 --> 00:00:23,480 Speaker 2: to the judges of the contest that decided such matters, 5 00:00:23,880 --> 00:00:26,880 Speaker 2: a dark haired, blue eyed young woman by the name 6 00:00:27,040 --> 00:00:31,280 Speaker 2: of Olive Duffy. It was nineteen fourteen, and with her 7 00:00:31,360 --> 00:00:34,240 Speaker 2: newly minted title and all of the attention that came 8 00:00:34,280 --> 00:00:37,720 Speaker 2: with it, Olive was on her way to fame and fortune. 9 00:00:38,680 --> 00:00:41,840 Speaker 2: She worked first as a showgirl on Broadway before moving 10 00:00:41,880 --> 00:00:44,920 Speaker 2: on to the silver screen, the public's newest and most 11 00:00:44,920 --> 00:00:48,600 Speaker 2: exciting form of mass entertainment. Olive was a natural fit 12 00:00:48,680 --> 00:00:51,720 Speaker 2: for the Hollywood set. A studio darling with both a 13 00:00:51,840 --> 00:00:55,520 Speaker 2: foul mouth and a mischievous air, she seemed to be 14 00:00:55,640 --> 00:00:58,600 Speaker 2: living out the fantasies of so many young girls. She 15 00:00:58,880 --> 00:01:03,200 Speaker 2: got jobs, and eventually she got the man. Olive and 16 00:01:03,280 --> 00:01:06,440 Speaker 2: John Pickford, one of the most eligible bachelors of the day, 17 00:01:06,800 --> 00:01:11,200 Speaker 2: began carousing, partying, and gaining quite the reputation around the sets. 18 00:01:11,959 --> 00:01:15,000 Speaker 2: They were madly in love, yes, but they were also 19 00:01:15,120 --> 00:01:19,240 Speaker 2: wildly volatile. Their pairing rife with a magnetic passion that 20 00:01:19,360 --> 00:01:23,880 Speaker 2: bound them together and seemingly endless, passionate affairs that tore 21 00:01:23,920 --> 00:01:27,920 Speaker 2: them apart. In September of nineteen twenty, Olive and Jack 22 00:01:27,959 --> 00:01:30,720 Speaker 2: set sail for Paris. It was supposed to be a 23 00:01:30,760 --> 00:01:34,520 Speaker 2: reconciliation of sorts, an attempt to quiet their quarrels and 24 00:01:34,600 --> 00:01:37,959 Speaker 2: quell their tempers. Oh. Once they got to town, they 25 00:01:38,040 --> 00:01:40,720 Speaker 2: checked into the hotel Writs and went off to explore 26 00:01:40,760 --> 00:01:43,960 Speaker 2: the city. And there they drank and danced as the 27 00:01:44,080 --> 00:01:46,720 Speaker 2: night ticked on, a stumbling back to their room in 28 00:01:46,760 --> 00:01:50,960 Speaker 2: the early morning hours. There's old wisdom that tells us 29 00:01:51,040 --> 00:01:54,600 Speaker 2: that nothing good can happen at this liminal time between 30 00:01:54,680 --> 00:01:58,520 Speaker 2: night and day. Some may beg to differ, but knowing 31 00:01:58,560 --> 00:02:01,280 Speaker 2: what we know now, we might assume that our ill 32 00:02:01,320 --> 00:02:05,400 Speaker 2: fated couple might agree. Jack would later claim that he 33 00:02:05,440 --> 00:02:09,200 Speaker 2: had already climbed into bed, half asleep and soaked and whiskey, 34 00:02:09,639 --> 00:02:14,200 Speaker 2: when suddenly, from the bathroom Olive began to scream. In 35 00:02:14,200 --> 00:02:17,040 Speaker 2: his haze. Jack stumbled out of bed and found Olive 36 00:02:17,120 --> 00:02:20,119 Speaker 2: leaning against the counter holding a bottle. As he would 37 00:02:20,160 --> 00:02:23,680 Speaker 2: recount later, she looked at him, pale with horror, and said, 38 00:02:24,200 --> 00:02:28,360 Speaker 2: oh my god, I'm poisoned. Allegedly, Olive had been trying 39 00:02:28,440 --> 00:02:32,680 Speaker 2: to take her sleeping medication, but in her drunken, exhausted state, 40 00:02:33,040 --> 00:02:36,960 Speaker 2: she mixed up her medication with Jack's. At that time, 41 00:02:37,120 --> 00:02:41,400 Speaker 2: Jack was treating his painful syphilis sores with bichloride of mercury, 42 00:02:41,760 --> 00:02:45,480 Speaker 2: which just so happens to be extremely toxic if ingested. 43 00:02:46,320 --> 00:02:49,160 Speaker 2: It seems that Olive had grabbed the wrong bottle, poured 44 00:02:49,200 --> 00:02:52,760 Speaker 2: a dose, and drank it down, but very quickly realized 45 00:02:52,800 --> 00:02:56,520 Speaker 2: her mistake. Jack scooped up his wife and carried her 46 00:02:56,520 --> 00:02:58,800 Speaker 2: to the bed. He grabbed the phone and called for 47 00:02:58,800 --> 00:03:02,560 Speaker 2: an ambulance. Olive was taken to the hospital, and shortly 48 00:03:02,600 --> 00:03:06,600 Speaker 2: afterward the story broke in the newspapers. Olive, the most 49 00:03:06,680 --> 00:03:09,280 Speaker 2: beautiful girl in all of New York, died in the 50 00:03:09,280 --> 00:03:13,440 Speaker 2: hospital five days later. The story of all of Thomas's 51 00:03:13,440 --> 00:03:17,120 Speaker 2: poisoning made the front pages of reputable newspapers and gossip 52 00:03:17,200 --> 00:03:21,640 Speaker 2: rags alike. Some believed Jack's affairs had finally been too 53 00:03:21,720 --> 00:03:24,359 Speaker 2: much for her, and that she had died by suicide 54 00:03:24,520 --> 00:03:27,760 Speaker 2: by deploying the precise medication he was using to treat 55 00:03:27,760 --> 00:03:31,760 Speaker 2: the infections had contracted from his string of infidelities. Others 56 00:03:31,800 --> 00:03:34,519 Speaker 2: claimed it was Jack himself, who had deliberately switched to 57 00:03:34,520 --> 00:03:38,200 Speaker 2: the bottles in order to avoid an expensive divorce. Police 58 00:03:38,280 --> 00:03:42,000 Speaker 2: immediately launched an investigation into the starlet's death and ordered 59 00:03:42,000 --> 00:03:45,520 Speaker 2: an autopsy. As it would happen, they quickly came to 60 00:03:45,520 --> 00:03:48,680 Speaker 2: the conclusion that it was, as Jack had reported, a 61 00:03:48,800 --> 00:03:54,240 Speaker 2: terrible accident. For all its tragedy, this poisoning is popularly 62 00:03:54,280 --> 00:03:58,760 Speaker 2: remembered not as something malicious or cruel, but in fact 63 00:03:58,840 --> 00:04:04,160 Speaker 2: a fairly ordinary accident that happened to someone of extraordinary circumstances. 64 00:04:05,240 --> 00:04:09,000 Speaker 2: She was known, and she was loved. There were many 65 00:04:09,000 --> 00:04:12,320 Speaker 2: eyes on the case. But others who don't have the 66 00:04:12,400 --> 00:04:17,320 Speaker 2: privileges of love and fame, they aren't so lucky. Some 67 00:04:17,400 --> 00:04:20,919 Speaker 2: tragic accidents, as we will soon see, have more to 68 00:04:20,960 --> 00:04:25,640 Speaker 2: them than meets the eye. I'm Lorn Vogelbaum. Welcome to 69 00:04:25,720 --> 00:04:36,520 Speaker 2: American Shadows. Thomas Neil Cream knew something about death. He was, 70 00:04:36,720 --> 00:04:39,680 Speaker 2: after all, coming of age in the Victorian era, at 71 00:04:39,720 --> 00:04:43,200 Speaker 2: a time where medicine often felt like magic and the 72 00:04:43,240 --> 00:04:47,560 Speaker 2: average life expectancy was much shorter. He'd lost more than 73 00:04:47,600 --> 00:04:50,560 Speaker 2: one sibling and would lose his mother shortly before he 74 00:04:50,640 --> 00:04:54,520 Speaker 2: turned twenty. Even though his family was a prosperous one. 75 00:04:54,720 --> 00:04:57,120 Speaker 2: His father had risen quickly through the ranks of a 76 00:04:57,120 --> 00:04:59,799 Speaker 2: Canadian shipping company, turning him into one of the cities 77 00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:04,320 Speaker 2: healthiest men. Mortality was something that even they couldn't buy 78 00:05:04,400 --> 00:05:07,240 Speaker 2: their way out of. By the time he was twenty one, 79 00:05:07,520 --> 00:05:10,680 Speaker 2: Thomas knew that he couldn't follow in his father's footsteps. 80 00:05:11,080 --> 00:05:13,200 Speaker 2: He informed his dad that he was going to become 81 00:05:13,200 --> 00:05:17,000 Speaker 2: a doctor. He enrolled in McGill University in eighteen seventy 82 00:05:17,000 --> 00:05:20,400 Speaker 2: two and earned a reputation among his schoolmates as quite 83 00:05:20,400 --> 00:05:24,400 Speaker 2: the dandy. He loved flash and he loved style. He 84 00:05:24,480 --> 00:05:27,960 Speaker 2: was sure of himself arrogant, even knowing his life would 85 00:05:27,960 --> 00:05:31,120 Speaker 2: be made easier by his charms and his family money. 86 00:05:31,760 --> 00:05:34,640 Speaker 2: At McGill, he straddled the line between the living and 87 00:05:34,720 --> 00:05:38,640 Speaker 2: the dead, dissecting bodies in his anatomy lessons. Most of 88 00:05:38,640 --> 00:05:41,800 Speaker 2: the cadavers he worked on were probably procured by crooked 89 00:05:41,880 --> 00:05:44,600 Speaker 2: grave robbers in the middle of the night. It was 90 00:05:44,680 --> 00:05:48,280 Speaker 2: an unseemly business, but it was considered the only way 91 00:05:48,320 --> 00:05:51,920 Speaker 2: to unlock the body's secrets, a small price to pay 92 00:05:52,200 --> 00:05:56,560 Speaker 2: to serve the living. The coursework captivated him, sparking all 93 00:05:56,640 --> 00:06:00,600 Speaker 2: kinds of intense curiosities. One of the subjects of his 94 00:06:00,680 --> 00:06:05,320 Speaker 2: fascination came in liquid form. It was chloroform, a new 95 00:06:05,400 --> 00:06:08,200 Speaker 2: wonder drug that had begun showing up in doctor's offices 96 00:06:08,240 --> 00:06:12,039 Speaker 2: and pharmacies across the world. Was prescribed to treat just 97 00:06:12,080 --> 00:06:16,240 Speaker 2: about everything from insomnia to alcoholism to sea sickness, and 98 00:06:16,279 --> 00:06:20,520 Speaker 2: call it still. How it worked exactly was somewhat of 99 00:06:20,520 --> 00:06:24,000 Speaker 2: a mystery. It seemed to slow the body down and 100 00:06:24,120 --> 00:06:27,240 Speaker 2: put a person to sleep. As more doctors began to 101 00:06:27,360 --> 00:06:31,680 Speaker 2: use it, patients began to die on operating tables. It 102 00:06:31,839 --> 00:06:35,800 Speaker 2: said that on average, one in three thousand surgical patients 103 00:06:35,880 --> 00:06:40,200 Speaker 2: died due to its application. But without being totally clear 104 00:06:40,240 --> 00:06:42,600 Speaker 2: on how it worked or what a safe dose was, 105 00:06:42,920 --> 00:06:45,559 Speaker 2: the doctors were at a loss as how to best 106 00:06:45,640 --> 00:06:50,480 Speaker 2: mitigate fatalities. It was a wildly unpredictable substance, asking all 107 00:06:50,560 --> 00:06:52,600 Speaker 2: those who dealt in it to partake of a game 108 00:06:52,640 --> 00:06:57,080 Speaker 2: of chemical roulette. For his part, Thomas was more fascinated 109 00:06:57,120 --> 00:07:00,520 Speaker 2: by chloroform than any other herb or drug. In his arsenal, 110 00:07:01,320 --> 00:07:04,000 Speaker 2: he wrote a thesis on the effects of chloroform and 111 00:07:04,160 --> 00:07:07,880 Speaker 2: graduated from University with honors in March of eighteen seventy six. 112 00:07:08,839 --> 00:07:12,240 Speaker 2: Soon after, Thomas met a woman named Flora Brooks, the 113 00:07:12,440 --> 00:07:15,840 Speaker 2: pretty daughter of a wealthy businessman. He observed all of 114 00:07:15,880 --> 00:07:18,840 Speaker 2: the proper courtship rituals that were demanded of him, even 115 00:07:18,880 --> 00:07:23,040 Speaker 2: though he wasn't marriage minded. He had bigger plans for himself. 116 00:07:24,000 --> 00:07:26,800 Speaker 2: You might imagine his surprise when Flora told him she 117 00:07:26,840 --> 00:07:29,800 Speaker 2: was pregnant. He demanded that she get an abortion, and 118 00:07:29,920 --> 00:07:32,679 Speaker 2: that he be the one to perform it. Soon after, 119 00:07:33,000 --> 00:07:36,280 Speaker 2: Flora fell sick and her family called in a local doctor. 120 00:07:36,800 --> 00:07:41,080 Speaker 2: He immediately diagnosed the consequences of the botched abortion. It 121 00:07:41,120 --> 00:07:43,560 Speaker 2: was clear to all at her bedside that Thomas was 122 00:07:43,600 --> 00:07:48,360 Speaker 2: responsible for this whole mess. Flora's father was livid, but 123 00:07:48,400 --> 00:07:51,440 Speaker 2: Thomas and Flora married two days later under the threat 124 00:07:51,440 --> 00:07:54,600 Speaker 2: of her father's gun. It wouldn't be long, though, before 125 00:07:54,640 --> 00:07:57,280 Speaker 2: Thomas get town under the pretense of enrolling in a 126 00:07:57,280 --> 00:08:01,320 Speaker 2: British medical school. Flora was behind in what we can 127 00:08:01,360 --> 00:08:05,280 Speaker 2: assume was a flurry of mixed emotions. She never made 128 00:08:05,320 --> 00:08:09,280 Speaker 2: a full recovery. Flora took to bed dutifully following a 129 00:08:09,360 --> 00:08:13,240 Speaker 2: regiment of pills that Thomas mailed her from overseas. When 130 00:08:13,320 --> 00:08:16,000 Speaker 2: her local doctor asked her where they came from, she 131 00:08:16,280 --> 00:08:20,160 Speaker 2: told him. He told her to stop immediately, he couldn't 132 00:08:20,200 --> 00:08:24,760 Speaker 2: identify them. Laura died soon after, succumbing to what appeared 133 00:08:24,800 --> 00:08:30,000 Speaker 2: to be consumption, But those little pills later aroused suspicion 134 00:08:30,200 --> 00:08:39,240 Speaker 2: in all who came to hear his story. Thomas Cream 135 00:08:39,400 --> 00:08:41,800 Speaker 2: arrived back on this side of the pond in eighteen 136 00:08:41,880 --> 00:08:44,760 Speaker 2: seventy eight. He had a bit of European education under 137 00:08:44,800 --> 00:08:48,080 Speaker 2: his belt and a need for cash. He settled down 138 00:08:48,120 --> 00:08:50,920 Speaker 2: in Ontario. It was here he thought that he would 139 00:08:50,960 --> 00:08:54,120 Speaker 2: set up his new practice. He became an active member 140 00:08:54,120 --> 00:08:56,839 Speaker 2: in his community of something that had long ago been 141 00:08:56,880 --> 00:08:59,440 Speaker 2: instilled in him by his father. He was a frequent 142 00:08:59,520 --> 00:09:03,000 Speaker 2: presence at Sunday morning church services and tutored children in 143 00:09:03,040 --> 00:09:06,760 Speaker 2: their lessons. His daytime hours would never have suggested that 144 00:09:06,840 --> 00:09:09,080 Speaker 2: his neighbors should wonder what he was getting up to 145 00:09:09,160 --> 00:09:13,040 Speaker 2: after dark. His habits had come with him. It was 146 00:09:13,080 --> 00:09:16,359 Speaker 2: whispered that he was seen out frequenting bars and carousing 147 00:09:16,400 --> 00:09:19,800 Speaker 2: with prostitutes. He drank, and it seemed that he had 148 00:09:19,800 --> 00:09:22,920 Speaker 2: picked up a morphine habit along the way. This all 149 00:09:23,040 --> 00:09:26,840 Speaker 2: was wholly unacceptable for a man of his station. Even still, 150 00:09:27,080 --> 00:09:30,559 Speaker 2: he was a doctor. His degree earned him clout in 151 00:09:30,600 --> 00:09:33,240 Speaker 2: the eyes of those who knew him, and created a 152 00:09:33,280 --> 00:09:36,360 Speaker 2: polished reputation that was sought by folks who wanted to 153 00:09:36,400 --> 00:09:39,960 Speaker 2: meet him. But all of that respectability that came with 154 00:09:40,000 --> 00:09:43,560 Speaker 2: his title couldn't save Thomas from what happened. In May 155 00:09:43,800 --> 00:09:48,000 Speaker 2: of eighteen seventy nine, one frosty morning, a young girl 156 00:09:48,160 --> 00:09:52,040 Speaker 2: tromped outside to use Thomas's backyard privy. When she pulled 157 00:09:52,040 --> 00:09:56,080 Speaker 2: the door open, she found a woman dead, slumped cold 158 00:09:56,120 --> 00:09:59,320 Speaker 2: and stiff against the wall. The woman in the privy 159 00:09:59,440 --> 00:10:01,719 Speaker 2: appeared to be in her mid twenties and wore a 160 00:10:01,760 --> 00:10:04,920 Speaker 2: faded purple dress, and next to her sat a small, 161 00:10:05,200 --> 00:10:08,960 Speaker 2: uncorked bottle. A doctor was called, who decided that she 162 00:10:09,160 --> 00:10:12,440 Speaker 2: probably had died before daybreak. He turned his attention to 163 00:10:12,480 --> 00:10:15,199 Speaker 2: the small bottle and gingerly took it in his hands. 164 00:10:15,600 --> 00:10:18,000 Speaker 2: He turned it around and lifted it to his nose. 165 00:10:18,679 --> 00:10:23,720 Speaker 2: He sniffed it and immediately recognized the cloying fumes of chloroform. 166 00:10:23,960 --> 00:10:26,680 Speaker 2: An investigation got under way and the identity of the 167 00:10:26,679 --> 00:10:30,400 Speaker 2: woman was discovered. Her name was Kate Gardner. And those 168 00:10:30,440 --> 00:10:33,360 Speaker 2: who were investigating theorized that she had taken her own 169 00:10:33,400 --> 00:10:37,240 Speaker 2: life after becoming pregnant out of wedlock, but an inquest 170 00:10:37,320 --> 00:10:41,000 Speaker 2: was held all the same. The coroner discovered marks on 171 00:10:41,040 --> 00:10:44,800 Speaker 2: her face bruising it was likely they thought that this 172 00:10:44,920 --> 00:10:48,200 Speaker 2: could have been from a chloroform soaked handkerchief being held 173 00:10:48,240 --> 00:10:51,360 Speaker 2: tightly against her mouth and nose. They came to the 174 00:10:51,360 --> 00:10:54,120 Speaker 2: conclusion that she couldn't have done that long enough to 175 00:10:54,200 --> 00:10:58,240 Speaker 2: kill herself, especially once the chloroform had taken effect. They 176 00:10:58,320 --> 00:11:01,040 Speaker 2: knew they were looking for a killer, and it didn't 177 00:11:01,040 --> 00:11:03,920 Speaker 2: take them long to set their sights on doctor Thomas Crean. 178 00:11:05,040 --> 00:11:08,440 Speaker 2: Thomas didn't deny knowing this woman. He admitted that she 179 00:11:08,480 --> 00:11:11,400 Speaker 2: had consulted with him about an abortion, but he did 180 00:11:11,440 --> 00:11:14,360 Speaker 2: deny having anything to do with the chloroform found at 181 00:11:14,400 --> 00:11:18,160 Speaker 2: the scene. It was finally declared that she was killed 182 00:11:18,200 --> 00:11:22,000 Speaker 2: by the administration of chloroform to her by an unknown person. 183 00:11:22,760 --> 00:11:25,920 Speaker 2: The investigation couldn't prove that he was guilty, but the 184 00:11:26,040 --> 00:11:30,199 Speaker 2: public opinion was of a different mind. He was extraordinarily 185 00:11:30,240 --> 00:11:33,120 Speaker 2: suspect in the eyes of his neighbors and the larger community, 186 00:11:33,440 --> 00:11:36,520 Speaker 2: which effectively put an end to his career in Ontario 187 00:11:37,480 --> 00:11:40,800 Speaker 2: not to be wholly dissuaded. He left for Chicago, a 188 00:11:40,880 --> 00:11:44,240 Speaker 2: much larger city, but he could disappear into and re 189 00:11:44,320 --> 00:11:48,840 Speaker 2: emerge anew in Chicago. Part of this new trajectory would 190 00:11:48,920 --> 00:11:52,400 Speaker 2: be a rebranding. He didn't aim for the same air 191 00:11:52,440 --> 00:11:55,920 Speaker 2: of respectability that had had in Ontario, but instead he 192 00:11:56,040 --> 00:11:59,760 Speaker 2: set up a practice near the booming red light district. 193 00:11:59,760 --> 00:12:03,440 Speaker 2: That abortion was still illegal in the United States and Canada, 194 00:12:04,040 --> 00:12:08,280 Speaker 2: Thomas was playing a dangerous, albeit profitable game. He was 195 00:12:08,360 --> 00:12:12,640 Speaker 2: a functional extortionist in charging what he liked by capitalizing 196 00:12:12,720 --> 00:12:16,000 Speaker 2: on the desperation of his patients. At the same time, 197 00:12:16,200 --> 00:12:19,120 Speaker 2: if something went wrong, the women were out of luck. 198 00:12:19,600 --> 00:12:23,280 Speaker 2: Seeking secondary medical attention for a botched abortion might cause 199 00:12:23,320 --> 00:12:27,000 Speaker 2: another doctor to report them for their crime. Because of 200 00:12:27,040 --> 00:12:31,520 Speaker 2: this underground illicit system, Thomas could ensure that his patients 201 00:12:31,559 --> 00:12:34,600 Speaker 2: wouldn't report him, and he felt confident that he could 202 00:12:34,600 --> 00:12:39,679 Speaker 2: continue to operate undetected unless something went wrong again, which 203 00:12:40,000 --> 00:12:44,480 Speaker 2: inevitably it did. In August of eighteen eighty, a resident 204 00:12:44,480 --> 00:12:47,360 Speaker 2: of an apartment building on West Madison Street noticed the 205 00:12:47,400 --> 00:12:50,640 Speaker 2: smell of death permeating the next door flat, and the 206 00:12:50,640 --> 00:12:53,800 Speaker 2: police were summoned and summarily broke down the apartment door. 207 00:12:54,679 --> 00:12:57,839 Speaker 2: There they found a young woman lying peacefully on a 208 00:12:57,880 --> 00:13:00,840 Speaker 2: blood soaked bed. Her body was in a state of 209 00:13:00,960 --> 00:13:05,600 Speaker 2: deep decay. The reporting neighbor told police and the attending doctor, 210 00:13:05,720 --> 00:13:08,920 Speaker 2: one Donald Fraser, that the apartment belonged to an African 211 00:13:08,960 --> 00:13:12,679 Speaker 2: American nurse and midwife named Hattie Mack. The dead woman, 212 00:13:12,840 --> 00:13:16,240 Speaker 2: whose name was mary Anne Matilda Faulkner, was said to 213 00:13:16,280 --> 00:13:19,080 Speaker 2: have been staying with her with an unknown doctor, making 214 00:13:19,120 --> 00:13:22,440 Speaker 2: frequent house calls. A note left by Hattie in the 215 00:13:22,440 --> 00:13:26,520 Speaker 2: apartment suggested someone It was addressed to one doctor Thomas 216 00:13:26,640 --> 00:13:32,000 Speaker 2: Neil Cream. When the police finally located Hattie, she started talking. 217 00:13:32,679 --> 00:13:35,679 Speaker 2: It was a botched abortion, she claimed, and she had 218 00:13:35,679 --> 00:13:38,320 Speaker 2: done everything she could to save the young woman. She 219 00:13:38,400 --> 00:13:41,560 Speaker 2: claimed that Thomas was in the business of abortions. She 220 00:13:41,600 --> 00:13:44,160 Speaker 2: claimed that Thomas had used chloroform on the young woman, 221 00:13:45,120 --> 00:13:48,960 Speaker 2: But when Thomas was confronted, he suggested that Hattie acted 222 00:13:49,000 --> 00:13:51,440 Speaker 2: alone and that he had been the one who was 223 00:13:51,480 --> 00:13:54,920 Speaker 2: called in to help. Thomas's word won out that day, 224 00:13:55,280 --> 00:13:59,280 Speaker 2: which would prove to be a grave mistake. Maryanne Matilda's 225 00:13:59,280 --> 00:14:03,040 Speaker 2: body wouldn't be the last associated with the doctor. The 226 00:14:03,120 --> 00:14:06,160 Speaker 2: next appeared in eighteen eighty one and belonged to a 227 00:14:06,160 --> 00:14:09,800 Speaker 2: domestic servant named Ellen Stack. She had been to see 228 00:14:09,800 --> 00:14:12,880 Speaker 2: a doctor who had written her a prescription. After taking 229 00:14:12,920 --> 00:14:16,280 Speaker 2: the pills, she was soon writhing in pain and soon 230 00:14:16,400 --> 00:14:20,440 Speaker 2: after that dead. The same doctor Donald Fraser, was brought 231 00:14:20,440 --> 00:14:23,800 Speaker 2: to the scene and quickly located the prescribing doctor as 232 00:14:23,880 --> 00:14:29,120 Speaker 2: one doctor Thomas Cream. Thomas naturally pointed fingers at the pharmacist, 233 00:14:29,480 --> 00:14:33,320 Speaker 2: accusing them of making a fatal error. Not long after, 234 00:14:33,600 --> 00:14:36,520 Speaker 2: a young woman named Alice Montgomery checked into a hotel 235 00:14:36,720 --> 00:14:40,640 Speaker 2: called Sheldon House on West Madison. She took some medicine 236 00:14:40,640 --> 00:14:43,400 Speaker 2: with dinner, but collapsed to the floor not long after, 237 00:14:43,680 --> 00:14:47,480 Speaker 2: screaming in pain. Doctor Seymour Knox was summoned to help her, 238 00:14:47,560 --> 00:14:50,800 Speaker 2: but it was too late. He declared that she had 239 00:14:50,880 --> 00:14:55,240 Speaker 2: likely died of strychnine poisoning. During the examination, he discovered 240 00:14:55,280 --> 00:14:58,360 Speaker 2: that she also recently attempted an abortion, and that it 241 00:14:58,400 --> 00:15:01,040 Speaker 2: was likely the same doctor who had with her medicine. 242 00:15:01,920 --> 00:15:05,960 Speaker 2: The prescription was written by doctor Donald Fraser, and when 243 00:15:06,000 --> 00:15:11,640 Speaker 2: Fraser was found, he confirmed the prescription was likely and aborrificant. However, 244 00:15:11,920 --> 00:15:16,040 Speaker 2: this wasn't his doing, the prescription wasn't written in his handwriting, 245 00:15:16,480 --> 00:15:21,000 Speaker 2: and his name was misspelled. Fraser was still interrogated at 246 00:15:21,040 --> 00:15:25,040 Speaker 2: the inquest, and though he was exonerated, newspapers continued to 247 00:15:25,080 --> 00:15:29,120 Speaker 2: speculate about his guilt. Others theorized that the guilty party 248 00:15:29,280 --> 00:15:32,800 Speaker 2: was indeed Thomas Cream, whose office was only a stone's 249 00:15:32,800 --> 00:15:36,680 Speaker 2: throw from Alice's hotel. They never could prove it, but 250 00:15:36,960 --> 00:15:41,000 Speaker 2: the abortion method of killing, location and time period made 251 00:15:41,040 --> 00:15:45,680 Speaker 2: Cream the most likely suspect. Still, Thomas carried on with 252 00:15:45,760 --> 00:15:49,480 Speaker 2: his life and affairs, including romancing a married woman by 253 00:15:49,480 --> 00:15:52,480 Speaker 2: the name of Julius Stott. They had met when she 254 00:15:52,640 --> 00:15:57,040 Speaker 2: diagnosed her husband with epilepsy. Cream's old pills that allegedly 255 00:15:57,160 --> 00:16:00,440 Speaker 2: cured his condition, and Julia picked them up for him regularly. 256 00:16:01,440 --> 00:16:04,680 Speaker 2: It's only when Julia's husband died with three times the 257 00:16:04,800 --> 00:16:07,800 Speaker 2: lethal dose of strychnine in his bloodstream did the police 258 00:16:07,880 --> 00:16:12,080 Speaker 2: turn more seriously to the neighborhood doctor. Thomas had promptly 259 00:16:12,120 --> 00:16:15,280 Speaker 2: written to the coroner, blaming the pharmacist again for batching 260 00:16:15,320 --> 00:16:18,600 Speaker 2: the man's prescription and attempting to claim life insurance funds 261 00:16:18,640 --> 00:16:22,480 Speaker 2: on behalf of his mistress. He was trusting. It seems 262 00:16:22,560 --> 00:16:26,200 Speaker 2: that his story would end here what they happily ever after, 263 00:16:27,320 --> 00:16:30,840 Speaker 2: But Julia, crushed under the pursuit of law enforcement, turned 264 00:16:30,880 --> 00:16:34,880 Speaker 2: on her lover, pointing the finger at Thomas. He was 265 00:16:35,000 --> 00:16:39,000 Speaker 2: charged and convicted guilty of second degree murder. He was 266 00:16:39,040 --> 00:16:43,520 Speaker 2: handed a life sentence. Thomas was furious. He had always 267 00:16:43,520 --> 00:16:47,440 Speaker 2: gotten everything that he wanted. Money, women, and the power 268 00:16:47,520 --> 00:16:51,160 Speaker 2: to decide life and death. This wouldn't be the end 269 00:16:51,160 --> 00:16:59,280 Speaker 2: of his story. He just knew it. It's important to 270 00:16:59,360 --> 00:17:04,120 Speaker 2: understand that even in all of this, Thomas still had connections. 271 00:17:04,640 --> 00:17:07,919 Speaker 2: He still had people who loved him and more importantly, 272 00:17:08,000 --> 00:17:11,400 Speaker 2: in this case, believed in him. And thanks to those 273 00:17:11,440 --> 00:17:15,240 Speaker 2: people and some very crafty lawyers, Thomas was given a 274 00:17:15,280 --> 00:17:18,280 Speaker 2: pardon and released in eighteen ninety one on the account 275 00:17:18,359 --> 00:17:21,520 Speaker 2: of good behavior. He returned home to his native Canada 276 00:17:21,560 --> 00:17:24,320 Speaker 2: and staying some time with his brother Daniel to get 277 00:17:24,320 --> 00:17:28,520 Speaker 2: his bearings. It soon became evident, however, that something was 278 00:17:28,600 --> 00:17:32,919 Speaker 2: not right. But the good doctor Thomas was increasingly volatile 279 00:17:33,280 --> 00:17:36,880 Speaker 2: and began lashing out at family members. He was erratic, 280 00:17:37,320 --> 00:17:39,600 Speaker 2: and soon the family began to discuss what to do 281 00:17:39,680 --> 00:17:42,560 Speaker 2: with him. It seemed at points that he was exhibiting 282 00:17:42,600 --> 00:17:47,080 Speaker 2: symptoms of intoxication and withdrawal. It was decided that his 283 00:17:47,200 --> 00:17:50,159 Speaker 2: old London stomping grounds would be a good place for 284 00:17:50,240 --> 00:17:52,399 Speaker 2: him to go for a while, and so his brother 285 00:17:52,480 --> 00:17:55,359 Speaker 2: made plans to help him get set up there. On 286 00:17:55,560 --> 00:17:59,000 Speaker 2: October first of eighteen ninety one, Thomas wrote a brief 287 00:17:59,040 --> 00:18:01,600 Speaker 2: note to Daniel to say he'd arrived and was getting 288 00:18:01,640 --> 00:18:05,520 Speaker 2: settled in Lambeth, a neighborhood with a seed reputation, though 289 00:18:05,560 --> 00:18:08,800 Speaker 2: he didn't mention that in his letter. He began frequenting 290 00:18:08,840 --> 00:18:13,080 Speaker 2: the restaurant's shops and other familiar amusements, including the best 291 00:18:13,080 --> 00:18:17,600 Speaker 2: spots to hire working women. On October thirteenth of that year, 292 00:18:18,119 --> 00:18:21,880 Speaker 2: Ellen or Nellie Donworth, a local sex worker, went off 293 00:18:21,920 --> 00:18:24,480 Speaker 2: with a tall man. When she arrived back at her 294 00:18:24,560 --> 00:18:28,960 Speaker 2: rooming house, she began to shake horribly. A medical assistant 295 00:18:29,040 --> 00:18:32,000 Speaker 2: was brought to examine her and explained that her condition 296 00:18:32,240 --> 00:18:35,600 Speaker 2: was dire. It appeared that she had all the symptoms 297 00:18:35,640 --> 00:18:39,440 Speaker 2: of strychnine poisoning. She refused to go to the hospital 298 00:18:39,520 --> 00:18:43,080 Speaker 2: and begged him to let her die at home. Even still, 299 00:18:43,200 --> 00:18:46,000 Speaker 2: they decided to bundle her into a carriage, but she 300 00:18:46,240 --> 00:18:50,399 Speaker 2: would pass before they reached their destination. It's important to 301 00:18:50,440 --> 00:18:55,159 Speaker 2: remember that the streets of Victorian London were cold, hard places. 302 00:18:55,720 --> 00:18:59,400 Speaker 2: Kindness was not found there in the twilight hours, nor 303 00:18:59,560 --> 00:19:02,719 Speaker 2: was it directed toward the women who worked the streets 304 00:19:02,800 --> 00:19:06,199 Speaker 2: in life or in death. They were a class of 305 00:19:06,200 --> 00:19:10,560 Speaker 2: people considered to be a moral scourge, often expendable in 306 00:19:10,600 --> 00:19:13,199 Speaker 2: the eyes of those who met them. This was the 307 00:19:13,200 --> 00:19:15,760 Speaker 2: attitude when Jack the Ripper had begun to stalk these 308 00:19:15,880 --> 00:19:18,520 Speaker 2: very same streets in eighteen eighty eight, and the papers 309 00:19:18,520 --> 00:19:23,120 Speaker 2: filled up with salacious stories of women brutally murdered. Even still, 310 00:19:23,320 --> 00:19:26,520 Speaker 2: the investigators couldn't make much of Nellie's story about the 311 00:19:26,560 --> 00:19:30,560 Speaker 2: tall Man and decided that she had poisoned herself. They 312 00:19:30,560 --> 00:19:34,240 Speaker 2: ignored a letter from someone named a O'Brien, who offered 313 00:19:34,240 --> 00:19:37,560 Speaker 2: to help in finding the killer for an exorbitant fee. 314 00:19:37,920 --> 00:19:40,600 Speaker 2: He strangely seemed to know a lot about her death. 315 00:19:41,280 --> 00:19:43,600 Speaker 2: A week later, a woman by the name of Matilda 316 00:19:43,640 --> 00:19:47,800 Speaker 2: Clover awoke her entire house with her screen. Matilda jerked 317 00:19:47,880 --> 00:19:51,480 Speaker 2: violently as she whispered that someone named Fred had given 318 00:19:51,520 --> 00:19:54,479 Speaker 2: her pills, claiming that they would prevent her from catching 319 00:19:54,480 --> 00:19:57,879 Speaker 2: an even aerial diseases. The doctor who arrived at her 320 00:19:57,880 --> 00:20:01,399 Speaker 2: bedside didn't believe her story. He believed Matilda to be 321 00:20:01,480 --> 00:20:06,440 Speaker 2: suffering from delirium tremends. She died the next day and 322 00:20:06,640 --> 00:20:11,080 Speaker 2: alcoholism was given as her official cause of death. Soon 323 00:20:11,320 --> 00:20:14,720 Speaker 2: another letter arrived to a local doctor offering help in 324 00:20:14,800 --> 00:20:18,520 Speaker 2: finding the real cause of Matilda's death, again for a price. 325 00:20:19,280 --> 00:20:22,040 Speaker 2: The authorities made note, but there was no follow up. 326 00:20:23,080 --> 00:20:27,080 Speaker 2: Two more women friends in boarding house flatmates, would die next, 327 00:20:27,520 --> 00:20:30,480 Speaker 2: but not before telling those of their bedside a tall 328 00:20:30,520 --> 00:20:33,880 Speaker 2: man with a top hat, mustache, and crossed eyes who 329 00:20:33,960 --> 00:20:39,080 Speaker 2: gave them pills after their sexual encounters. In late October 330 00:20:39,160 --> 00:20:42,560 Speaker 2: of eighteen ninety one, young Louise Harvey made a date 331 00:20:42,600 --> 00:20:44,920 Speaker 2: with the man, claiming to be a doctor who wore 332 00:20:44,960 --> 00:20:48,520 Speaker 2: a black overcoat and a top hat. She later reported 333 00:20:48,560 --> 00:20:51,080 Speaker 2: that he had the strangest eyes she had ever seen. 334 00:20:51,880 --> 00:20:54,240 Speaker 2: He told her he was a doctor at the local hospital, 335 00:20:54,520 --> 00:20:57,200 Speaker 2: and he made note of a few spots on her forehead. 336 00:20:57,520 --> 00:20:59,520 Speaker 2: He promised to bring her pills when they met the 337 00:20:59,520 --> 00:21:03,520 Speaker 2: next day. That following day, he brought her roses and 338 00:21:03,560 --> 00:21:07,160 Speaker 2: they strolled along the river towards the theater. While there, 339 00:21:07,240 --> 00:21:10,040 Speaker 2: he handed her two light colored pills and told her 340 00:21:10,040 --> 00:21:14,680 Speaker 2: to swallow them immediately. Suspicious, Louise only pretended to put 341 00:21:14,680 --> 00:21:18,280 Speaker 2: them in her mouth. The man immediately left, claiming he 342 00:21:18,320 --> 00:21:20,520 Speaker 2: had an appointment at the hospital and that he would 343 00:21:20,560 --> 00:21:25,639 Speaker 2: meet her later. He'd never returned. By this point, news 344 00:21:25,680 --> 00:21:28,720 Speaker 2: of the so called Lambeth poisoner was starting to spread 345 00:21:29,000 --> 00:21:32,880 Speaker 2: and everyone was taking notice. One or two bodies might 346 00:21:32,920 --> 00:21:35,720 Speaker 2: be chalked up to the causality of hard living, but 347 00:21:35,960 --> 00:21:39,119 Speaker 2: so many reports of debts and near misses could no 348 00:21:39,200 --> 00:21:42,880 Speaker 2: longer be ignored. The Scotland Yard was starting to sit 349 00:21:42,960 --> 00:21:46,359 Speaker 2: up and pay attention, making inquiries around the neighborhood and 350 00:21:46,520 --> 00:21:51,880 Speaker 2: hearing some disturbing stories. An American policeman soon approached Scotland 351 00:21:51,960 --> 00:21:56,199 Speaker 2: Yard after an unsettling encounter with a local doctor. It 352 00:21:56,280 --> 00:21:59,040 Speaker 2: seems that this policeman had met a tall man who 353 00:21:59,040 --> 00:22:01,439 Speaker 2: had taken him on a tour of where all of 354 00:22:01,480 --> 00:22:05,359 Speaker 2: these women were poisoned and died. With this tip the 355 00:22:05,560 --> 00:22:09,040 Speaker 2: eyewitness accounts and the letters, it didn't take long for 356 00:22:09,119 --> 00:22:12,879 Speaker 2: police to turn their attention to Thomas, who perfectly matched 357 00:22:12,920 --> 00:22:16,760 Speaker 2: the description of their killer. He was tall, often seen 358 00:22:16,800 --> 00:22:20,760 Speaker 2: wearing an overcoat, had a mustache, and crossed eyes. The 359 00:22:20,800 --> 00:22:24,240 Speaker 2: detectives approached him and asked for his help, but not 360 00:22:24,359 --> 00:22:27,480 Speaker 2: before sending for police and jail records from Thomas's time 361 00:22:27,520 --> 00:22:30,760 Speaker 2: in Chicago. They told him that the killer had been 362 00:22:30,800 --> 00:22:35,200 Speaker 2: writing letters. Thomas, in his arrogant delusion and willingness to 363 00:22:35,320 --> 00:22:38,760 Speaker 2: tempt fate, cheerfully provided them with samples of his writing. 364 00:22:39,640 --> 00:22:42,879 Speaker 2: By the end of their investigation, Scotland Yard was confident 365 00:22:42,920 --> 00:22:46,320 Speaker 2: that they had their killer, but the handwriting samples and 366 00:22:46,359 --> 00:22:49,240 Speaker 2: the records of his previous conviction for murder by poison 367 00:22:49,560 --> 00:23:00,600 Speaker 2: clinched it. Doctor Thomas Cream was promptly arrested. You can 368 00:23:00,680 --> 00:23:05,640 Speaker 2: imagine Thomas's surprise when Louise Harvey took the stand. Despite 369 00:23:05,680 --> 00:23:10,160 Speaker 2: his calculations, she had somehow survived, and her testimony was damning, 370 00:23:10,720 --> 00:23:14,679 Speaker 2: especially since he had casually and confidently mentioned people that 371 00:23:14,920 --> 00:23:17,919 Speaker 2: one of the poisoner's victims died at the theater. She 372 00:23:18,000 --> 00:23:21,080 Speaker 2: was supposed to have died at the theater, but here 373 00:23:21,160 --> 00:23:24,439 Speaker 2: she was in London's Central Criminal Court, in telling the 374 00:23:24,520 --> 00:23:26,840 Speaker 2: jurors about her run in with Thomas, and how he 375 00:23:26,880 --> 00:23:29,199 Speaker 2: had demanded that she take the pills, and how he 376 00:23:29,400 --> 00:23:31,800 Speaker 2: insisted on checking her hands to make sure she wasn't 377 00:23:31,840 --> 00:23:35,239 Speaker 2: holding onto them. She explained to her audience that she 378 00:23:35,280 --> 00:23:37,600 Speaker 2: and Thomas had planned to join up again that evening, 379 00:23:37,960 --> 00:23:41,199 Speaker 2: even though she suspected something was strange about him. He 380 00:23:41,440 --> 00:23:46,400 Speaker 2: never showed up and she was fairly relieved. Prosecutors made 381 00:23:46,400 --> 00:23:49,320 Speaker 2: a case that all of the women were poisoned with strychnine, 382 00:23:49,560 --> 00:23:53,040 Speaker 2: while Thomas's defense insisted he was only linked through gossip. 383 00:23:53,720 --> 00:23:56,280 Speaker 2: They insisted that there were many men in London who 384 00:23:56,359 --> 00:23:59,160 Speaker 2: dressed like Thomas and this was all simply a case 385 00:23:59,200 --> 00:24:02,879 Speaker 2: of mistaken idea entity, though they've had no explanation for 386 00:24:03,240 --> 00:24:06,960 Speaker 2: Thomas and the Lambeth poisoner sharing the same crossed eyes. 387 00:24:07,760 --> 00:24:10,399 Speaker 2: It took only ten minutes for the jury to find 388 00:24:10,440 --> 00:24:13,960 Speaker 2: Thomas Neil Cream guilty of murder and sentence him to hang. 389 00:24:15,119 --> 00:24:18,720 Speaker 2: While he was in prison awaiting execution, he finally admitted 390 00:24:18,720 --> 00:24:23,480 Speaker 2: to his crimes and claimed many others previously unknown. Thomas 391 00:24:23,480 --> 00:24:26,680 Speaker 2: stepped up to the gallows and into infamy on November 392 00:24:26,720 --> 00:24:30,240 Speaker 2: fifteenth of eighteen ninety two. The city breathed a sigh 393 00:24:30,280 --> 00:24:32,960 Speaker 2: of relief as a noose was looped around his neck 394 00:24:33,359 --> 00:24:37,120 Speaker 2: and the floor fell out from under him. There's more 395 00:24:37,160 --> 00:24:40,359 Speaker 2: to this story stick around after this brief sponsor break 396 00:24:40,440 --> 00:24:50,680 Speaker 2: to hear all about it. A good nurse needs a 397 00:24:50,720 --> 00:24:55,280 Speaker 2: good bedside manner. They need a warm disposition, a kind spirit, 398 00:24:55,560 --> 00:24:59,480 Speaker 2: and a confident mastery of any task at hand. Jane 399 00:24:59,520 --> 00:25:03,120 Speaker 2: Toppin seemed to have this. She was so good, humored 400 00:25:03,240 --> 00:25:06,439 Speaker 2: and beloved at the Cambridge, Massachusetts hospital where she worked 401 00:25:06,560 --> 00:25:11,159 Speaker 2: that she received the nickname Jolly Jane. What no one realized, though, 402 00:25:11,560 --> 00:25:16,520 Speaker 2: were what terrible secrets she kept. Jane was born Honora Kelly, 403 00:25:16,760 --> 00:25:19,800 Speaker 2: the daughter of Irish immigrants, on March thirty first of 404 00:25:19,840 --> 00:25:24,159 Speaker 2: eighteen fifty four. Her upbringing was a tumultuous one, with 405 00:25:24,320 --> 00:25:27,760 Speaker 2: her mother dying and father going mad as She and 406 00:25:27,800 --> 00:25:30,119 Speaker 2: her sister were sent to an orphanage when she was 407 00:25:30,160 --> 00:25:33,639 Speaker 2: only six. At that time, there were few systems in 408 00:25:33,720 --> 00:25:38,080 Speaker 2: place to help orphaned children, especially poor ones. The young 409 00:25:38,119 --> 00:25:41,359 Speaker 2: girls might be trained as domestic servants, which was often 410 00:25:41,400 --> 00:25:44,800 Speaker 2: the only career choice they had. In November of eighteen 411 00:25:44,840 --> 00:25:47,639 Speaker 2: sixty two, Honora was sent to live with the Topphin 412 00:25:47,720 --> 00:25:52,080 Speaker 2: family in Lowell, Massachusetts as an indentured servant. They re 413 00:25:52,160 --> 00:25:55,600 Speaker 2: christened her Jane and gave her their last name, though 414 00:25:55,680 --> 00:25:59,560 Speaker 2: they never officially adopted her into the family. Jane seemed 415 00:25:59,560 --> 00:26:02,440 Speaker 2: to adjust well and stayed on as a paid servant 416 00:26:02,480 --> 00:26:05,399 Speaker 2: when she was eighteen after being officially released from her 417 00:26:05,440 --> 00:26:09,240 Speaker 2: indentured status. As she lived there until she was thirty three, 418 00:26:09,720 --> 00:26:12,520 Speaker 2: when she decided that she would leave to take up nursing. 419 00:26:13,119 --> 00:26:16,320 Speaker 2: She began her career at Cambridge Hospital in eighteen eighty seven, 420 00:26:16,920 --> 00:26:19,879 Speaker 2: and though she was adored by her patients, her colleagues 421 00:26:19,920 --> 00:26:22,959 Speaker 2: didn't take as kindly of a liking to her. They 422 00:26:23,000 --> 00:26:26,320 Speaker 2: thought she was a gossip and dishonest, a beer guzzler 423 00:26:26,359 --> 00:26:29,720 Speaker 2: with a crass sense of humor. They kept their distance 424 00:26:30,160 --> 00:26:33,280 Speaker 2: and she kept her job. It would go on like 425 00:26:33,320 --> 00:26:36,080 Speaker 2: this for a good long while. Patients came in and 426 00:26:36,240 --> 00:26:39,639 Speaker 2: stayed for a time to recover. But after a while 427 00:26:40,000 --> 00:26:43,000 Speaker 2: the hospital staff noticed that instead of leaving out the 428 00:26:43,040 --> 00:26:46,480 Speaker 2: front doors, more and more patience were shipped out through 429 00:26:46,520 --> 00:26:50,919 Speaker 2: the morgue. No one suspected that during her downtime, Jolly 430 00:26:51,040 --> 00:26:55,359 Speaker 2: Jane was poisoning her patience. Her friendliness was really just 431 00:26:55,400 --> 00:26:58,760 Speaker 2: a cover for finding her next victim. It's thought that 432 00:26:58,880 --> 00:27:03,960 Speaker 2: Jane actually despised her patients, specifically the elderly. To this end, 433 00:27:04,080 --> 00:27:07,760 Speaker 2: she took to falsifying patient's medical records, mixing up drug 434 00:27:07,800 --> 00:27:11,960 Speaker 2: cocktails and injecting them into their veins. She would experiment with, 435 00:27:12,160 --> 00:27:15,040 Speaker 2: keeping them in a liminal space between life and death, 436 00:27:15,640 --> 00:27:19,480 Speaker 2: alive but barely conscious and most likely unaware of the 437 00:27:19,520 --> 00:27:22,840 Speaker 2: power at play. It said that doctors were generally so 438 00:27:22,960 --> 00:27:26,119 Speaker 2: impressed with Jane's diligence on the floor that they recommended 439 00:27:26,119 --> 00:27:29,280 Speaker 2: her for a position at Massachusetts General Hospital, one of 440 00:27:29,320 --> 00:27:33,120 Speaker 2: the most prestigious medical facilities in the country. Death followed 441 00:27:33,160 --> 00:27:37,280 Speaker 2: her there too, but her undoing wouldn't come from patients 442 00:27:37,359 --> 00:27:41,840 Speaker 2: dying on her watch, rather for handing out painkillers too liberally. 443 00:27:42,760 --> 00:27:45,960 Speaker 2: Jane was fired, but the doctors liked her, so they 444 00:27:45,960 --> 00:27:49,400 Speaker 2: began recommending her as a private nurse for wealthy clients. 445 00:27:50,280 --> 00:27:53,040 Speaker 2: Out from under the supervision of the hospital, Jane was 446 00:27:53,080 --> 00:27:56,560 Speaker 2: a free agent. She began earning twenty five dollars a week, 447 00:27:56,920 --> 00:27:59,000 Speaker 2: a mighty sum at a time when a working woman 448 00:27:59,080 --> 00:28:01,719 Speaker 2: could expect to earn at five dollars a week outside 449 00:28:01,720 --> 00:28:06,080 Speaker 2: of the home, and soon the bodies began to follow her, 450 00:28:06,520 --> 00:28:10,879 Speaker 2: first her landlords, then a patient, then a dear friend 451 00:28:10,920 --> 00:28:14,600 Speaker 2: of hers, then finally her foster sister who she had 452 00:28:14,600 --> 00:28:19,400 Speaker 2: grown up with, all found poisoned. Jane moved herself back 453 00:28:19,400 --> 00:28:21,680 Speaker 2: into the home she grew up in, with her eyes 454 00:28:21,720 --> 00:28:25,800 Speaker 2: set on marrying her deceased foster sister's husband, Ormond. Soon 455 00:28:25,880 --> 00:28:30,160 Speaker 2: upon her arrival, the housekeeper turned up dead. Jane got 456 00:28:30,200 --> 00:28:33,440 Speaker 2: to work in the home, a familiar space with familiar 457 00:28:33,480 --> 00:28:37,080 Speaker 2: tasks she had mastered years earlier, as she hoped to 458 00:28:37,119 --> 00:28:40,680 Speaker 2: impress Ormond, who wanted absolutely nothing to do with her. 459 00:28:41,520 --> 00:28:43,960 Speaker 2: She figured if he wasn't going to be impressed with 460 00:28:44,000 --> 00:28:47,520 Speaker 2: her homemaking skills, perhaps he would be impressed with her nursing. 461 00:28:48,120 --> 00:28:51,800 Speaker 2: She decided to poison him, but when he survived and 462 00:28:51,840 --> 00:28:55,120 Speaker 2: suspected what had happened to him, Jane was thrown out. 463 00:28:56,040 --> 00:28:59,080 Speaker 2: She was testing her luck but saw no reason to stop, 464 00:29:00,000 --> 00:29:02,960 Speaker 2: so soon took up residence with an elderly mister Davis. 465 00:29:03,320 --> 00:29:06,320 Speaker 2: She killed him and his two daughters, Minnie and Genevieve, 466 00:29:06,400 --> 00:29:09,200 Speaker 2: who had come to stay for two weeks, and she 467 00:29:09,320 --> 00:29:11,600 Speaker 2: might have gotten away with it, as she always had 468 00:29:11,880 --> 00:29:15,440 Speaker 2: if the daughters hadn't been married. Minnie's father in law 469 00:29:15,480 --> 00:29:19,160 Speaker 2: grew suspicious of such a short violent illness and requested 470 00:29:19,200 --> 00:29:23,080 Speaker 2: a toxicology exam for his daughter in law. Medical examiner 471 00:29:23,120 --> 00:29:28,280 Speaker 2: discovered Mannie had been poisoned. Local detectives began investigating Jane, 472 00:29:28,600 --> 00:29:31,760 Speaker 2: and on October twenty ninth of nineteen oh one, police 473 00:29:31,840 --> 00:29:35,320 Speaker 2: arrested her in Amherst, New Hampshire. She went to trial 474 00:29:35,440 --> 00:29:38,080 Speaker 2: in the summer of nineteen oh two. As she took 475 00:29:38,120 --> 00:29:41,600 Speaker 2: the stand, it all came out. She told the court 476 00:29:41,680 --> 00:29:44,640 Speaker 2: room of the thirty one murders she knew about, but 477 00:29:44,760 --> 00:29:48,400 Speaker 2: said there could be over a hundred. Patience from Cambridge 478 00:29:48,400 --> 00:29:50,720 Speaker 2: who had lived to tell the tale spoke of Jane 479 00:29:50,880 --> 00:29:53,760 Speaker 2: taking a perverse pleasure as she hovered beside them in 480 00:29:53,800 --> 00:29:58,280 Speaker 2: their beds as they fought to survive. Jane was sentenced 481 00:29:58,320 --> 00:30:01,840 Speaker 2: to life in an asylum. As she got older, she 482 00:30:02,120 --> 00:30:05,120 Speaker 2: only became more brazen, and it said that she could 483 00:30:05,120 --> 00:30:08,520 Speaker 2: be heard at all hours yelling down the halls. Get 484 00:30:08,560 --> 00:30:11,280 Speaker 2: some morphine, Dearie, and we'll go out in the ward. 485 00:30:11,960 --> 00:30:14,080 Speaker 2: You and I will have a lot of fun seeing 486 00:30:14,120 --> 00:30:19,080 Speaker 2: them die. Medical professionals hold an awful lot of power 487 00:30:19,200 --> 00:30:23,160 Speaker 2: within their domain, and few stop to question their actions 488 00:30:23,160 --> 00:30:27,880 Speaker 2: are intent. For Jane, the tables were turned. Her life 489 00:30:28,080 --> 00:30:31,200 Speaker 2: was now in the hands of fellow Nurses. 490 00:30:36,680 --> 00:30:40,560 Speaker 1: American Shadows as hosted by Lauren Vogelbaum. This episode was 491 00:30:40,600 --> 00:30:44,440 Speaker 1: written by Robin Minitter, researched by Ali Steed, and produced 492 00:30:44,440 --> 00:30:48,840 Speaker 1: by Miranda Hawkins and Trevor Young, with executive producers Aaron Mankey, 493 00:30:49,080 --> 00:30:52,600 Speaker 1: Alex Williams, and Matt Frederick. To learn more about the show, 494 00:30:52,720 --> 00:30:57,240 Speaker 1: visit grimminmile dot com. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit 495 00:30:57,280 --> 00:31:01,760 Speaker 1: the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, wherever you get your podcasts.