In most cases when a spouse murders their partner, a life insurance payoff is involved. But for the Giggling Granny, she didn’t murder her husbands for the money. She murdered her husbands for the romance.
Nancy “Nannie” Hazel was born on November 4th, 1905 to Louisa “Lou” and James Hazel in Blue Mountain, Alabama, dear the town of Anniston. By the time she was 5 years old, Nancy had earned the nickname Nannie for her kind and gentle demeanour. This nickname followed her for the rest of her life.
Nannie was one of five children, all of whom hated their father, but adored their mother. James was a controlling, and abusive man. He kept his children out of school, and made sure, even at a very young age, that they all worked on the family farm.
Almost to compensate for her husband’s brutality, Lou was caring, giving, doting, loving, and gracious with all of her children. Nannie was especially close to her mother, and they bonded over their love of romance novels, and romance magazines. Nannie was especially fond of the lonely hearts ads in her mother’s magazines, dreaming of all of these people finding their picture perfect romances.
When Nannie was 7 years old, she and her family travelled by train to visit relatives in southern Alabama. The train stopped abruptly, causing Nannie to pitch forward, hitting her head on the metal bar of the seat in front of her.
Following this incident, Nannie complained of severe headaches, frequent blackouts, and bouts of depression. In her later years, she blamed this incident for much of her behaviour, claiming the accident forever changed her.
As a teen, Nannie went to work at the Linen Thread Company. There, she made the acquaintance of Charles “Charley” Braggs, who soon courted Nannie with marriage in mind. With her father’s blessing, Nannie married Charley in 1921 at the age of 16.
Nannie lived with Charley, and only child, and his mother in their home. It didn’t take long for Nannie to grow tired with this arrangement, as her mother-in-law did not treat her well, and demanded a lot of attention from Charley. However, Nannie had very little choice but to stay.
Over the years, Nannie grew more and more resentful of her marriage, and turned to drink and smoke as coping mechanisms. Charley would often spend days on end away from the home, leaving Nannie to suffer her mother-in-law’s verbal abuses alone.
Between the years of 1923 and 1927, Nannie and Charlie would have four daughters. In 1927, tragedy struck when their two middle daughters passed suddenly. At the time, the cause was believed to be food poisoning.
Charley left the home, taking their oldest daughter, Melvina, with him. He had been warned anonymously not to eat or drink anything provided to him by his wife. Despite this, he left their newborn daughter, Florine, in Nannie’s care.
Shortly after Charley left his wife, his mother passed suddenly. It was believed to be natural causes, due to old age.
Alone for the first time, Nannie took a job in a cotton mill in order to support herself, and her daughter, Florine. She was determined to make it as a single mother, though she dreamed of a man coming in to sweep her off her feet. There was only one problem – she was still married to Charley Braggs.
In the summer of 1928, Charley returned with Melvina, asking Nannie for a divorce, as he had met a woman whom he wanted to marry.
Nannie consented to the divorce, and Melvina was returned to her custody. With two children now to care for, Nannie moved herself and her daughters back to her mother’s home, her father having already passed.
Later, Charley would state that he chose to leave Nannie because he was terrified of her. However, he never could explain why he left his newborn daughter behind.
It didn’t take long for Nannie to long for another romance. She placed an ad in a lonely hearts column, and was soon being wooed by Robert Franklin Harrelson. He sent her letter of poetry, and she responded with steamy letters of her own, and a photo.
In 1929, the two married and lived in Jacksonville, Alabama. A few months into the marriage, Nannie discovered that her new husband was an alcoholic with a criminal record for assault – a far cry from the wonderful soulmate she’d always dreamed would sweep her off her feet.
Though disappointed, Nannie and Robert were married for 16 years.
In 1943, Melvina, Nannie’s oldest daughter, gave birth to a baby boy named Robert. Two years later, Melvina gave birth to another baby boy.
While recovering from birth, Melvina believed she witnessed her mother stick a long hatpin into the top of her newborn’s head. Soon after, the baby passed. Melvina tried to tell her husband, sister, and doctors what she’d seen, but her concerns were brushed aside. No explanation was ever given for the sudden death of her baby.
As Melvina grieved, she separated from her husband. She began dating a man Nannie did not approve of, resulting in a heated argument between mother and daughter.
In an effort to cool off, Melvina left the home to visit her father, leaving young Robert in Nannie’s care. On July 7th, 1945, it was reported that Robert had passed away from asphyxia related to unknown causes.
Two months after her grandson’s death, Nannie collected $500 from a life insurance policy she had taken out on Robert when he was left in her care.
In the fall of 1945, Harrelson was celebrating with friends who had returned from WWII. He returned home drunk, and raped his wife.
This was the straw that broke the camel’s back for Nannie. She found a jar of Harrelson’s corn whiskey, and mixed it with rat poison from the kitchen cupboard.
Harrelson died later that same evening, having drunk most of the jar of corn whiskey. No autopsy was performed. It was assumed that Harrelson had died of food poisoning.
Soon after Arlie’s death, Nannie found herself in Lexington, North Carolina. There, she placed another lonely hearts ad, which drew the attention of Arlie Lanning.
Three days after meeting each other, they got married.
Arlie, like Nannie’s previous husband Robert, was an alcoholic. However, Nannie didn’t seem to mind very much. She spent time travelling, and was often away from their home for months on end.
When she was home, Nannie doted on Arlie, and acted like the perfect housewife.
It wasn’t long before Arlie passed away of what was assumed to be heart failure due to his excessively heavy drinking. The community supported Nannie, and comforted her through the funeral and the following days.
They even supported her when she was surprised to learn that Arlie had left his house to his sister, rather than his wife. Tragedy struck again when the home burnt down. Nannie was quick to file and insurance claim, and pocket the payout.
However, this wasn’t the end of the Lanning family’s troubles. Following the death of Arlie, and the fire to his home, his mother passed away suddenly in her sleep.
Nannie decided she’d had enough of North Carolina, as nothing but death and tragedy followed here there. She soon found refuge with her sister, Dovie, who had been bedridden.
It wasn’t long after Nannie’s arrival that Dovie also passed.
It seemed like wherever Nannie went, death, devastation, and tragedy was soon to follow.
Nannie travelled the United States by rail following these deaths, but he dream of a fairytale romance never strayed far from her mind.
Nannie joined the Diamond Circle Club dating service, where she met Richard L. Morton. The two married in Emporia, Kansas, in 1952. For all intents and purposes, Richard was a better match for Nannie, as he didn’t seem to have a drinking problem. However, he seemed to have a problem keeping his hands to himself.
In 1953, Lou Hazel took a fall, breaking her hip. As a result, she required a live-in caretaker, and Nannie agreed to take on the role. A few months after moving in with Nannie and Richard, Lou passed away very suddenly.
Three months later, on May 19th, 1953, Richard also passed suddenly.
While the cloud of death continued to follow her around, Nannie was undeterred in her mission to find her soulmate.
In June of 1953, she married Samuel Doss, and moved to live with him in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Samuel was a Nazarene minister, and he disapproved heavily of Nannie’s obsession with romance novels and magazines. He only approved of entertainment that held educational value.
Despite this, Nannie and Samuel were married for over a year before he fell ill in September of 1954. He was admitted to the hospital with flu-like symptoms, and was formally diagnosed with a severe digestive tract infection.
Samuel was treated for the infection, and then released into the care of his doting wife on October 5th, 1954.
A week later, on October 12th, 1954 Samuel Doss had passed away following a meal with his wife.
The doctor who had treated Samuel for his digestive tract infection had been suspicious from Samuel’s admission to the hospital. He thought something strange was afoot, but didn’t have solid proof.
The doctor spoke to Nannie, and asked her if he could order an autopsy to be done on Samuel. At the time, the law would not allow for autopsies to be performed without the consent of surviving family members.
The doctor convinced Nannie that the autopsy was a good idea. She gave her consent, stating that she hoped the procedure would help save other lives.
The autopsy revealed that Samuel Doss had been murdered with arsenic poisoning.
Nannie Doss was promptly arrested for the murder of her husband.
At first, Nannie was reluctant to speak to investigators. She had obtained a romance magazine, and spent all of her time discussing the contents, rather than the death of her husband. Realizing this, investigators cut her a deal – she could keep the magazine with her, in exchange for information.
Nannie agreed to these terms. She confessed to investigators that she had killed 4 of her 5 ex-husbands, but she refused to admit to the deaths of her family members.
With this information, law enforcement agencies worked together to exhume the bodies of Nannie’s dead husbands, as well as others who had died either in her care, or around her. Many of them showed signs of arsenic or rat poisonings in their systems.
Nannie admitted to lacing their meals or drinks with the substances.
As Nannie detailed the killings, the press picked up on a nickname for her – the Giggling Granny. They couldn’t help but notice that as Nannie spoke of the murders, she smiled and giggled with detectives, even going so far as to flirt with a couple of them.
What surprised everyone the most was Nannie’s explanation for the murders. She claimed that she wasn’t after the insurance benefits, though they were a nice bonus. Instead, she claimed that she killed them all when the romance and dreaminess of the marriages wore off. “I was searching for the perfect mate, the real romance in life,” she said.
On May 17th, 1955, Nancy “Nannie” Doss pleaded guilty to the murder of her husband, Samuel Doss. She was sentenced to life imprisonment.
Agencies in North Carolina, Kansas, and Alabama also charged Nannie for the murders that occurred in those states. However, she was never tried outside of the state of Oklahoma.
In 1965, after ten years in prison, Nannie Doss died in the hospital ward of the Oklahoma State Penitentiary at the age of 59 of leukemia.
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Sources:
The Story Of Nannie Doss, The ‘Giggling Granny’ Who Spent Decades Murdering Relatives And Husbands – William DeLong, edited by John Kuroski – All That’s Interesting
Nannie Doss – Encyclopedia of Alabama
Who Was Nannie Doss, the Giggling Granny Serial Killer? – Pilar M. – The Crime Wire
True Crime All the Time podcast – Nannie Doss episode
Nannie Doss Wikipedia page