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“Jolly Jane” Toppan: Angel of Mercy (Part 2) | Morbid | Podcast

May 06, 2024 / 58:32

This episode covers the chilling story of Jane Toppan, a nurse known for her murderous actions. Ash and Elena discuss Toppan's heinous crimes, including the systematic killing of her patients and an entire family.

In part two, the hosts detail Toppan's return to Cape Cod, where she murdered Mary Davis, a woman who had shown her kindness. They recount how Toppan manipulated her way into the Davis family's lives, ultimately leading to the deaths of multiple family members.

The episode reveals Toppan's sadistic methods, including administering lethal doses of morphine and atropine, and her chilling indifference to the suffering she caused. Ash and Elena highlight Toppan's twisted rationale for her actions, believing she was helping her victims.

As the story unfolds, the hosts discuss the growing suspicions surrounding Toppan and the eventual investigation that led to her arrest. They reflect on the psychological implications of her actions and the societal failures that allowed her to continue her spree.

The episode concludes with Toppan's trial and her eventual commitment to a mental institution, where she claimed to have killed many more than the confirmed victims. Ash and Elena emphasize the horror of her story and the lasting impact of her crimes.

TLDR

Jane Toppan, a nurse, murdered multiple patients and an entire family, showcasing chilling indifference and sadism in her actions.

Episode

58:32
00:00:06
hey weirdos I'm Ash and I'm Elena and this is psychological damage this absolutely is psychological
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damage [Music] with a with a little dash of psychological damage I would say it's a
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lot it is this is part two of Jane toppen who is known as Jolly Jane um she doesn't live up to that name though uh
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that's one of those nicknames that you're like yeah okay yeah I can't think of like any other person to compare it
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to but I know exactly what you mean but oh no I'm making sounds sorry son of a bit yeah we're chaotic right now but you
00:00:55
you love us for that and we love you back yeah but in part one I mean she was unhinged yeah that's not even the word
00:01:04
to say the least yeah she ended up killing her own sister um and delighting in it and then trying to go [ __ ] her
00:01:11
mans trying to go [ __ ] her mans she's not even done with that so she she hasn't even given that up I had a
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feeling cuz then she [ __ ] killed the then she killed the the helper that her brother-in-law had hired to help him in
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the house after he was grieving the death of his wife meanwhile this man is like in his 70s yeah and just like
00:01:29
dealing with all of this um she has killed countless patients she has killed elderly couples her landlords
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she has killed her friend she has killed I mean there's no bounds to her and she
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does it with a smile on her face and she ends up hugging the person and caressing
00:01:45
them as they die I hate the part where you say caress yeah it's not great it's pretty horrible it's not great but what
00:01:55
is great is Ash has found a new passion and before we get into part two which h you need this right now because I'm not
00:02:02
kidding you I don't think anybody realizes how [ __ ] brutal Jane toppen is but so scared it's going to get worse
00:02:10
in part two and you you need to be ready so Ash has found a passion and here it is my passion is called sound baths get
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ready that was a good one wasn't she absolutely brown cow stunning you feel healed I always feel healed I'm in a I'm
00:02:41
on a healing Journey you are on a healing journey I just I put down the sound bath and picked up my French FY
00:02:49
french fry palis [Laughter] Santo every I have it like a little like chunk of Palos Santo on my chair and I
00:02:57
keep thinking it's a french fry because that's who I am as an individual and I keep seeing this really this look of
00:03:03
pure joy on her face when she walks by and I can almost see them like oo a rogue french fry and then she realizes I
00:03:12
need it right off the arm of my chair she realizes it's not and it's always severe disappointment it makes me
00:03:20
feel bad but you know what are you going to do that's where we are today we're we're in a place you're welcome for the
00:03:26
sound bath Mikey went out and bought a sound bath cuz the energy was weird in here should I wait should I quickly tell
00:03:32
my story yeah tell your story before we get into don't worry we'll get into it but this is a very interesting story and
00:03:37
it's paranormally so you guys will appreciate it I actually like I've never ever had an experience like this and I'm
00:03:42
ready to talk about it it happened like it was this week wasn't it yeah it was literally coule days ago and we should
00:03:48
preface this by saying like um I've been dealing with some [ __ ] [ __ ] lately and
00:03:53
um it's I've been in a place of of Rage in in this room in particular outside has been like
00:04:01
very heightened lately will say so I went to go to the bathroom the other day and there wasn't any toilet paper in the
00:04:09
bathroom so I came in here to be like hey [ __ ] there's no toilet paper in the bathroom but I walked into the
00:04:15
bathroom experienced the fact that there was no toilet paper went to turn around
00:04:19
and I'm like about to walk out the doorway of the bathroom and I see Elena like very like I see her and it
00:04:26
registers like oh that's my [ __ ] sister who didn't fill the toilet paper and you're wearing I saw you wearing a
00:04:33
white sweatshirt like you're always wearing a white sweatshirt I'm wear one right now literally is wearing one right
00:04:37
now and I went to say something to you and then I was like I had this like wave of confusion wash over me and this is
00:04:44
all in like like two seconds yeah but like I experienced a wave of confusion and then you were gone and I was like
00:04:52
wait that like what that's what and then I walked in here and it was like the one
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[ __ ] day where she wasn't wearing a white sweat chirt and she's just sitting on the couch in the office and I had not
00:05:03
moved mik was in the room with me and you would have been like I would have seen you like dive onto the couch if you
00:05:09
were like [ __ ] with me for if you were able to to shift time like that that would have been funny I it was so
00:05:17
cuz it happened so quickly that I saw you but it wasn't like a oh I just saw something out of the corner of my eye or
00:05:23
like oh I saw like a reflection in the mirror I literally saw you and you were there for like two three seconds and
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then I I think the wave of confusion that washed over me was like wait no like that's not her but I was and I like
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opened my mouth to say something to you before I was like no that's not her so I
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was literally just standing there with my mouth open just just in an empty room with your mouth open and then I ran in
00:05:48
here and you saw I was like she was like flushed and like slightly shaking and I
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could I could essentially see her heart beating out of her chest yeah like it was very real fight ORF flight reaction
00:06:01
that was happening there that I could witness just from looking at her I'm actually surprised I didn't pee my pants
00:06:06
I am too and then my the [ __ ] that was it's true my walk in the bathroom I'd like to be escorted
00:06:12
everywhere now it's yeah I don't know what it was but I'm like we were like maybe my energy is so [ __ ] up that
00:06:19
something's going on I don't really know how that works but we so that's why actually Mikey went out and got the the
00:06:25
sound bowl and it's my new passion now and even though it stresses me out hates it yeah I hate it I love it but I think
00:06:32
but Mikey said today we think you hate it partially because you don't like loud noises for sure's but also cuz your
00:06:39
energy is like no no don't heal me don't heal me with sound maybe I think that's
00:06:44
what it is I'm open I'm an open book but genuinely I don't think like I've seen actual ghosts before like in front of me
00:06:54
and I haven't been that that wasn't a ghost that wasn't like a a glimpse of like something out of the corner of my
00:07:01
eye that was something I've never [ __ ] experienced I really want to know what the [ __ ] it was I when we
00:07:07
looked into it it seemed like it possibly could have been like a a glitch in The Matrix but it didn't I don't I
00:07:13
just don't think it was that I feel like it was like a trickster like when we had
00:07:17
Rachel stavis on we need Rachel back we need Rachel to F we need Rachel here we need her at least on a zoom with us not
00:07:25
for a recorded thing but like something's up we just got a bring her here and then my little sister was
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texting me today and telling me like a bunch of [ __ ] [ __ ] that's going on like
00:07:34
spiritual [ __ ] [ __ ] in her house I think maybe I mean we got a clipse energy and
00:07:39
like I think there's you know there's all kinds of [ __ ] going down in the airwaves right now yeah and like in the
00:07:44
cosmos it's like energy in general like this in this year of 2024 that we've never experienced on Earth before so I
00:07:51
think it's just a bunch of [ __ ] [ __ ] happening to be quite honest so let's continue the pattern and you can tell me
00:07:55
the [ __ ] [ __ ] of uh Jee toppen to to well that's I mean we're going to get into it now
00:08:02
that we've we've made you wonder about space and time we've bathed you with sounds you know we've bathed you with
00:08:07
sound we've done all that yeah and now I'm going to take you to a really terrible end of the story I'll sound
00:08:14
bath you at the end of there go sound bath you B you sound B you um what we're going into right now is her final
00:08:19
Killing Spree um throughout much of her adult life Jane had found professional success
00:08:27
and had somehow dodged suspicion like we were talking about and arrest she nobody
00:08:32
even suspected her and it was due in large part to her ability to place herself into the good graces of powerful
00:08:40
and influential people that she needed to she was able to manipulate able to charm that's her thing and in fact it
00:08:46
was the letters of recommendation and other support from Physicians and surgeons that were very well respected
00:08:52
that had continually got her employment at hospitals and in private nursing her entire life which is wild when you think
00:08:59
about that yes cuz it's even after so many patients had died under very confusing and unexpected circumstances
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around her and families like going to her being like hey it's weird that this happened and then also all of my loved
00:09:11
ones things were missing do you think she had something to do with it and they're like ABS [ __ ] lutely not no
00:09:16
way and then it's like your own sister died violently and unexpectedly on vacation with you yeah weird and then
00:09:23
your your brother-in-law's housekeeper like your brother-in-law's housekeeper like all these people around you
00:09:30
yeah it's weird but unfortunately for one of those influential benefactors placing their trust in Jane toppen would
00:09:36
prove to be a a very poor decision oh no so in the summer of 1901 Jane returned to the Cape Cod Cottage where she had
00:09:45
murdered her sister just two years earlier oh God Jane had been vacationing there with Elizabeth and oramel since
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1896 and in that time they've gotten to know the owners of the rental property pretty well their names were Alden and
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Mary Davis the davises had always been impressed with Jane's professionalism and success in the nursing realm and
00:10:05
they were always happy to have her at the cottage for the weekend so they were really nice in fact Jane had so
00:10:10
ingratiated herself that the couple was willing to let her live in the cottage at a seriously reduced rate of $250 for
00:10:18
the entire season wow of course as a single person of limited means Jane didn't have that much that much money to
00:10:26
begin with but accepted the offer anyway of course cuz she just figured I'll just you know I'll just murder
00:10:31
people if I need to steal it um she figured she would find some way to pay that's part of her illness is she
00:10:37
believes she will always get out of a jam no matter what cuz she's smarter than everyone and because she has yeah
00:10:42
she's had no honestly nothing to tell her the contrary and it turned out Jane was right to think the davises cared
00:10:49
enough for her that they would believe whatever excuse she gave about why she couldn't pay that price that she had
00:10:54
agreed to pay year after year the couple invited Jane back at the same discounted
00:10:59
despite the fact that Jane almost never paid what she was owed wow what she owed
00:11:04
excuse me but eventually however Mary Davis had finally reached the limits of her generosity and she decided she wore
00:11:12
out her [ __ ] welcome she's done with making exceptions for little Jane top in there so in June after receiving a
00:11:20
letter from her daughter saying she would be stopping in Boston for a few days Mary thought you know what that's a
00:11:25
good enough reason to go to the city and finally collect the debt that Jane had owed them Fair yeah way more fair than
00:11:33
most people would exactly and in the weeks leading up to her plann trip to Boston Mary had actually been in kind of
00:11:39
poor health on account of her diabetes that she was dealing with which wasn't helped by what at the time was a
00:11:45
record-breaking Heatwave in the Northeast uh for that reason and more Alden Davis her husband had tried to
00:11:52
convince her to abandon the trip to visit Jane but Mary was she wasn't taking note for an answer she was like
00:11:58
nope I am she was firm in her resolve and on the morning of June 25th Alden accompanied his wife to the train
00:12:04
station cuz she said [ __ ] it I'm going to get that Deb she's a brave [ __ ] when
00:12:08
Mary Davis finally reached Cambridge that afternoon she wasted no time going straight to Jane's boarding house on
00:12:14
Wendell Street and she got there just as Jane and her landlords were sitting down
00:12:18
for dinner so she announced her reason for being at the house and immediately Jane invited Mary to sit down have a
00:12:25
rest eat something and she insisted that Mary must be thirsty after such a long trip n so she disappeared into the
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kitchen and reappeared with a glass of water for their guest I'm not thirsty at all no after they had eaten Jane said
00:12:40
she'd be she'd be happy to pay what she owed of course like I'm never I'm not going to stiff you such a good-hearted
00:12:47
woman I am of course I will and then she said you know what Mary why don't you and me we take a walk to the bank and
00:12:53
I'll get that money out right now but when Mary stood up from the table she was suddenly very dizzy and felt week
00:13:00
despite this Mary was determined she was like I'm getting that [ __ ] money and so she was like I'm fine but as soon as
00:13:07
they stepped outside into that sweltering heat Mary collapsed to the ground June in the middle of Boston is
00:13:14
not fun and this was a record-breaking Heatwave right so Jane's land Jane's landlord Melvin Beetle rushed outside
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and with Jane's help they were able to get Mary upstairs to a vacant bedroom as Melvin attempted to make Mary
00:13:26
comfortable Jane disappeared into her own own bedroom where she grabbed a hypodermic needle Mary was clearly very
00:13:34
uncomfortable and was trying to speak trying to say something and Jane said so I gave her another small dose of
00:13:41
morphine another remember another uh this quieted Mary for a long time uh the following day Jane sent word to Alden
00:13:51
her husband to let him know what had happened and Alden sent their daughter geneveve to Cambridge to check on the
00:13:58
situation although Mary hadn't been in the best health recently Genevie was very
00:14:03
surprised to find her mother was in such bad shape by the time she got there and
00:14:07
despite Jane's protest she called the doctor to come immediately good Dr John Nichols came a short time time later and
00:14:14
was given a thorough explanation of the symptoms by Jane who explained that Mary
00:14:19
was a bad diabetic who against Jane's advice had eaten a large piece of cake after dinner the previous evening what a
00:14:26
[ __ ] to to act like this is her diabetes and like her negligence and handling it and she's like and I tried
00:14:32
to tell her not to but you know she decided to have the cake recognizing that Mary's symptoms were similar to
00:14:38
that of someone in a diabetic coma the doctor had really no reason to doubt M Jane's assessment yeah I mean she knows
00:14:45
that she's a medically trained person nor did he have any reason to doubt that the woman was already in the capable
00:14:51
hands of a trained nurse who had worked at massgen in Cambridge hospital and as a private nurse so he left the house
00:14:58
with a plan to check periodically over the next couple of days in the week after that Jane spent day after day
00:15:05
injecting Mary with varying doses of atropine and morphine pushing her to the brink of death then pulling her back oh
00:15:14
my then repeating the cycle pushing her to the brink of death pulling her back this is like misery
00:15:23
it's I like diabolical I mean this is this is sadistic and she was angry the fact that Mary was trying to make her
00:15:33
pay for her [ __ ] which is wild that she's want to exert control over this woman very much so and she was punishing
00:15:39
her absolutely um as Harold sheer points out in his book this method was quote a
00:15:44
calculated effort to make the old woman's death seem like the result of natural causes right but she was also
00:15:51
there was an obvious level of sadism involved in prolonging this death and the agony involved in it uh it was like
00:15:57
Jane was reveling in the power had and again not o just over Mary's life and death but also the power she had over
00:16:03
Mary's loved ones who could only sit by helplessly as she died horrifically wow and finally on July 4th Jane
00:16:12
administered one final dose of morphine and killed Mary Davis just for collecting a debt this is
00:16:19
like scary the people who year for years had allowed her to live there for like no money and just took care of her yeah
00:16:26
and then eventually we're like you got to pay your debt and she was like I'll just kill you and not only kill you but
00:16:30
punish you slowly while there was a certain element of sadism in the murder of Mary Davis Jane's reason for killing
00:16:37
this woman was mostly because she didn't want to pay the debt yep and she she didn't want to deal with it but in the
00:16:45
wake of Mary's death for the re for reasons that were never made clear Jane decided pretty immediately that she was
00:16:54
going to kill the entire family oh like she wasn't stopping at Mary do you think it's possibly so that the that
00:17:04
house that property they owned couldn't be left to anybody else and she could still go there I don't know that's the
00:17:09
thing there would be nobody around to question her motives at all cuz they were like you said they were all sitting
00:17:15
by watching helplessly as Mary died she just got mad and I think she wanted to punish them
00:17:25
all this is nuts in a few weeks after 's funeral with their father in declining help and health and deep in the throws
00:17:33
of grief at this point of course geneveve and her sister Minnie invited Jane to stay with the family in katet in
00:17:41
near the cape at least until Alden was well enough to care for himself again because she's a nurse so they're like
00:17:46
this is how much they trust her you helped our like they think you helped our mother in her dying days so come
00:17:52
help our dad when you tortured our mother to death but we have like the fact that they had no idea at that point
00:17:58
and it wasn't long after Jane had gotten settled in the Davis home that she set the house on fire intending to kill
00:18:05
everyone inside so whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa what the [ __ ] yep moved in with the family set the house on fire
00:18:14
so she goes from like slowly methodically poisoning people and getting some kind of sexual thrill out
00:18:21
of that to literal arson just like to kill kill an entire family what the [ __ ] yeah you said that
00:18:29
like yeah just like and then she set the whole house on fire and then she set the
00:18:33
house on fire what set the house on fire thinking she could make it look like an accident
00:18:39
sure did it work fortunately Alden Davis had been suffering from insomnia since his wife's death he was not able to
00:18:47
sleep cuz he was so upset he smelled the smoke and began yelling for help at this
00:18:53
point Jane appeared and was like oh my goodness you roused me from my sleep I had no oh no that is on fire and the two
00:19:00
put out the fire with minimal damage in the days that followed though she repeatedly tried to burn the house down
00:19:06
with everyone inside but every time her attempts were thwarted by neighbors who who managed to extinguish the Flames
00:19:13
before any harm could be done and at what point were they like hey weird that you're here and our house keeps catching
00:19:19
fire well that's the thing So eventually the family was like it's a little suspicious you're you're kind of the
00:19:25
common denominator here has never caught on fire before and now that you've moved
00:19:29
in with us it is um a regular occurrence perpetually catching on fire like it it
00:19:36
can't stop won't stop catching on fire at this point like they're like this seems to be a pattern that like you are
00:19:44
here and this is what's happening so they were like Jane this is a little weird like we can you can you stop maybe
00:19:50
explain what's going on so she made up a story about having seen a stranger lurking around the house just before the
00:19:55
fires all started sending rumors of an arsonist around the small town and seeming to satisfy the Davis's
00:20:02
suspicions that they were being targeted oh no and also scaring the [ __ ] out of
00:20:07
the entire town everyone there a rogue arsonist yeah oh that was extra for I bet that fed her for days now very often
00:20:14
Jane would find a way to justify her actions so as not to appear psychotic in the case of her elderly and infirm
00:20:22
victims for example if she would say they were suffering you know they' be better off dead but so what she was
00:20:27
doing was in their best interest like who gives a [ __ ] if I'm actually torturing them in the case of geneveve
00:20:33
Gordon Alden and Mary's daughter a similar rationale was applied although she had attempted to appear strong in
00:20:39
order to support the rest of the family geneveve had in fact been extraordinarily affected by her mother's
00:20:47
death she was course deep in the throws of grief struggling sometime in Late July Jane pulled Minnie aside to tell
00:20:54
her you know what I noticed geneveve seems a little melan col and you know what I did see her in the garden shed
00:21:02
and she was looking at a small bottle I think it was poison essentially being like hey Minnie I think your sister's
00:21:08
going to kill herself what now the story was a complete fabrication that was a lie of course but the bottle of poison
00:21:16
was real yeah because Jane planted it there it was Fifer strictly Paris green which was a popular insecticide
00:21:22
containing high levels of Arsenic and copper both of which are toxic at even small amounts yeah with the of concern
00:21:29
planted it didn't come as a total surprise a few days later on July 28th when geneveve became violently ill and
00:21:37
started vomiting uncontrollably geneveve was taken to bed and watched over by Jane the next morning Jane roused Minnie
00:21:46
to let her know that her sister had died in the middle of the night oh my God a doctor was called and
00:21:53
the usual evaluation was made after which Genevieve's death was declared the result of disease though no death
00:22:00
certificate was ever made up that's weird privately Jane told some of the neighbors that she'd found a syringe
00:22:06
next to Genevieve's bed and believed who have she had taken of her own life so she walked around and told all the
00:22:12
neighbors that geneveve had killed herself which is clearly untrue this is even worse ready oh no later after her
00:22:20
arrest Jane said I went to the funeral and felt as Jolly as could be and nobody suspected me in the least
00:22:28
felt as Jolly as could be at a funeral at her funeral as the killer after killing This Woman's young
00:22:37
woman's mother in an agonizingly torturous way for trying to collect a debt this is truly unlike any other case
00:22:48
that we've covered and she's so open about just like whatever and just like she's so open about getting so much
00:22:56
enthusiasm and like Glee from this yeah now with her sick yeah with her plan to completely eradicate this entire family
00:23:05
in motion now Jane wasted little time moving on to her next Target on August 8th after returning from a trip to
00:23:12
Boston Alden Davis returned home to um to the cottage suffering the effects of another record-breaking heat wave that
00:23:20
was happening this is an awful time for all of them after getting Alden settled on the couch Jane went to get a glass of
00:23:26
water and Alden was like oh thank you so much I'm going to go to bed and rest but
00:23:30
I'm going to drink this water first the next morning when Alden didn't come down
00:23:34
for breakfast one of his grandchild was sent to check on him no and the little girl returned a few minutes later
00:23:41
frightened because her grandfather wouldn't wake up alarmed Minnie and Genevieve's husband Harry rushed to
00:23:47
alden's bedside where they found him dead oh my God so she's killed mother father and one sibling and she's not
00:23:55
done no she's not done and and somehow it gets worse alden's doctor Dr Leonard ladder was summoned to the house and
00:24:05
Jane explained her theory that after all the stress and grief of the previous month you know what his heart just
00:24:10
simply gave out like you piece of [ __ ] like he died of a broken heart she's trying to say
00:24:17
which is yeah legit like that does happen but oh my God and Dr ladder knew alden's history and his recent condition
00:24:26
so he was like you know what I guess so Janes assessment seems right and he concluded that Davis was known to
00:24:31
experience weak spells that invariably followed any great excitement or nervous strain and his death was caused by
00:24:38
apoplexy oh my God now in the past Jane's murders like most serial killers were followed by like a cooling off
00:24:46
period yeah where she would let things stabilize chill out let the suspicions subside and then she would ramp up again
00:24:54
but she appears now that she's in the grip of like frenzy this is absolutely frenzy and she was finishing this job
00:25:04
she wasn't stopping there she was not done less than a week later on the morning of August 12th Minnie and Harry
00:25:13
Harry is um Genevie husband right uh Minnie and Harry were planning to go to Woods Hole for the day when Jane
00:25:19
convinced Minnie to drink a glass of cocoa wine to build up her strength for the trip it wasn't long after that
00:25:26
Minnie began to feel very badly and by the time the pair had returned from Woods Hole Minnie was exhausted dizzy
00:25:32
and listless barely able to move from the couch feigning concern Jane rushed off to the kitchen to get a glass of
00:25:40
water into which she dissolved a tablet of morphine and a tablet of atropine the drugs took hold very
00:25:47
shortly and Jane made Minnie comfortable on the couch then went to bed for the night knowing that she was going to be
00:25:54
agonizingly dying on the couch oh my God and also Dave's Dave said that cocoa wine is wine with cocaine in it yeah so
00:26:02
she now has cocaine in her system mixing with whatever the [ __ ] Jane put in for
00:26:08
water yep atropine and morphine like your heart is going to blow out of your [ __ ] chest this next part is going to
00:26:16
really get you it got me so that evening while the few remaining members of this
00:26:22
family slept Jane crept back down to the Parlor Where Minnie had slipped into a coma she ejected her with one additional
00:26:30
dose of morphine just to make sure this would have been the point usually where she like with her other
00:26:36
victims that she like gets into the bed with them and does some weird [ __ ] but
00:26:40
this time she did something in my opinion that's worse she didn't lay with Minnie she went upstairs woke up
00:26:48
Minnie's 10-year-old son Jesse and quote brought the little boy into her own bed
00:26:54
and held him close while his mother lied dying on the couch downstairs that's tell me that didn't
00:27:03
that like my that made my stomach sick no that actually like like that turned my stomach that is
00:27:11
woke that 10-year-old child up and took him to with him so she could have him near her while she knew that she had
00:27:21
murdered his mother and she was agonizingly dying downstairs that's that was like her next
00:27:29
level of like what she was going to derive out of this that's Twisted on so many levels because she claims that she
00:27:36
gets sexually aroused when these things happen and this seems like it was another way to do so because it's her
00:27:45
knowing that that's happening downstairs and him not knowing that and she has that woman who's dying's baby in her
00:27:52
[ __ ] bed that's ew I want to I'm like actually filled with rage all the sudden
00:27:57
no literally like it turned when I say it turned my stomach it turned my stomach oh
00:28:04
my I hope something really [ __ ] awful happens to her she's not done no you got
00:28:10
to tell me at the end that like I never want to hear that like anybody got sentenced to death but this woman
00:28:16
sentenced her to [ __ ] death she's [ __ ] awful that's heinous that she like that that just sent me yeah it as
00:28:24
it should Minnie's nearly lifeless body was discovered the next morning August 13th by her cousin Bula Jacobs who
00:28:32
notified Harry Gordon um that's Jeni's husband yes her brother-in-law yeah for the second time in less than a week Dr
00:28:40
ladder had to come to the Davis house to attend to a dying person and he was immediately met by Jane again who told
00:28:46
him about the trip the woman had taken to Woods Hole against Jane's advice yeah Dr ladder explained examined Minnie and
00:28:55
prescribed regular drinks of cocoa wine to stimulate her cuz remember we're in the time of we're in the time of you
00:29:02
know living where it was a doctor would just say like do some cocaine about it and like that's like a legit like the
00:29:07
people joke about that but the fact that that's like a legit fil yeah uh it was to like stimulate her and then he left
00:29:14
insisting that he would come back to check on Minnie under the circumstances it seems the decision to give this
00:29:21
patient more alcohol like laced with cocaine before leaving would make us be like what the [ __ ] yeah but it's truly a
00:29:27
test to how thoroughly Jane had convinced everyone of her competency and innocence
00:29:33
that he was like okay just continue the course and we'll she'll be fine right of
00:29:37
course by that point Minnie was far too sedated to drink anything so Jane created a poison
00:29:44
enema what you heard that right a poison enema by dissolving a morphine tablet in
00:29:52
whiskey what then she administered it to Minnie a poison enema yep I'm so I yeah no words
00:30:07
I what the [ __ ] when Dr ladder returned a few hours later he was surprised to find that Minnie's condition had
00:30:14
severely worsened so he called for another doctor who happened to be vacationing nearby the two men tried for
00:30:20
literally hours to get Minnie back to stable but she was almost completely unresponsive by this point a little
00:30:27
after 4 p.m. that afternoon after having been subjected to every treatment and medication the doctors could think of
00:30:34
mini Gibbs died from what Dr ladder would later describe simply as exhaustion exhaustion
00:30:44
mhm and a poison enema is nowhere near where I ever thought we would go your mind can't conceive of it a
00:30:54
poison enema you can't conceive of what this woman does like you really can't the [ __ ] thinks of that Jane toppen and
00:31:02
that that's also like weirdly yeah this just weird [ __ ] like that's [ __ ] weird she's
00:31:10
[ __ ] [ __ ] oh my God and just like to to violate her like that like like she's already completely out of it and
00:31:19
you're just performing a [ __ ] enema like that's like another level like obviously you're killing her that's
00:31:24
[ __ ] violation of anybody's yeah it's an enema that you know is going going to
00:31:28
prolong this torture and make it worse oh my God that's that's beyond that's beyond and obviously right now it seems
00:31:36
like nearly impossible to believe that an entire family could die unexpectedly and under mysterious circumstances in a
00:31:42
six week span without raising significant suspicions it sure does but in 1901 medicine and biology were still
00:31:50
emerging as modern fields of study so diagnosises were sometimes like they were rudimentary and really poorly at
00:31:58
best and very few people would have suspected much less ever believed that a woman especially a nurse would be
00:32:06
capable of systematically killing four people who she had known for years and claimed to have loved for years she
00:32:14
claimed to have loved this family I'm just like but like hey everyone in town like this woman shows up their house
00:32:22
starts as Elena said perpetually catching on fire always after one of them died then a bunch of them die and
00:32:29
like weird circumstances the fire and and the numerous numerous deaths to me I'm like
00:32:39
it's really hard to think it's hard to understand especially from this this place time where we are but the
00:32:46
residents of katat just Chuck chocked up the death of the Davis family as an act
00:32:50
of God and said it was very tragic but what can we do and it's likely no one thought much about
00:32:58
you know Jane at all no one ever ever bothered to ask any questions when she packed her bags and returned to Boston
00:33:05
they were just like okay bye Jane sorry and it's not even like she kept going back to that house so she didn't
00:33:12
even do this not that that would make it any better she house she didn't even do
00:33:16
it for that that's why I think she just did it cuz she wanted to demolished her entire family satisfaction out of it and
00:33:23
like what happened to these kids yeah she left Terry Harry yeah Harry was the only one who
00:33:30
she wanted to kill all the actual like family like the blood Family Blood exactly yeah and despite and I mean you
00:33:37
think we're done we're not done no despite the passage of many many years Jane had never stopped believing that
00:33:44
with Elizabeth out of the way she could finally have orml Brigham to herself she
00:33:49
wasn't done girly pul she wasn't done in late August 1901 Jane had just returned
00:33:55
home from Cape Cod and given that she had no pressing things to attend to decided she would pay a visit to her
00:34:01
former home oh and when she arrived in LOL to visit Brigham she had expected to find him alone but was disappointed
00:34:08
because when she went there his sister 70-year-old Edna banister happened to be there just like Florence Caulkins on the
00:34:16
previous visit Jane looked at her and said well you're not a romantic rival but you are competing for his attention
00:34:23
and I don't like that and just as before she she resorted to her typical methods of dealing with
00:34:30
problems on the afternoon of August 26th Edna felt dizzy and was generally feeling run down so she went to her room
00:34:37
to take a nap when she awoke later that evening she was already feeling better just a little spell but Jane still
00:34:43
insisted the woman should rest and brought her her classic glass of water that's so scary that it's just something
00:34:49
inous as a glass of water water here's water in the middle of the night as Jane watched over Edna the woman slipped in
00:34:57
into a coma the following morning oramel called for Dr William Bass the same physician who was called upon Florence's
00:35:04
death but the doctor was unable to revive Edna the next day Edna banister was declared dead from heart failure
00:35:12
later when Jane finally confessed to her crimes to the police she said everything
00:35:17
seemed favorable for my marrying Mr Brigham I had put the three women to death who had stood in my way stop it
00:35:24
that when you actually lay that out like that that's first of all how she sees that is that the his wife his
00:35:31
housekeeper and his sister are Rivals who stand in her way yep and I put them to death she killed
00:35:39
them because of that literally said I had put the three women to death who stood in my way I put them to death like
00:35:48
she somehow has the power to sentence them to death it's just so callous like the way she speaks she's so callous now
00:35:56
we we've been sitting here this whole time being like where the [ __ ] are all the people that suspect that something
00:36:00
weird is a funny because again like now this same doctor and poor orl he's like am I just a death magnet like is every
00:36:07
woman in my life going to die like the grief in his life yeah but the thing is throughout her adult life several people
00:36:13
did suspect her of nefariousness but they didn't really know what she had done like they they
00:36:20
couldn't they weren't like hey I think she's murdering lots of people like no one was really thinking that they just
00:36:27
couldn't be sure like they were like something's off here like she's something's up with her I don't know
00:36:31
what it is I think she's doing some bad [ __ ] but people are dying around her but
00:36:35
she's a nurse and a woman I can't imagine she's so nice right taking care of us you know it was one of those kind
00:36:40
of things but after his daughter-in-law Minnie's mysterious death and the death of her immediate family Captain Paul
00:36:47
Gibbs became suspicious that these deaths weren't the result of natural causes let's [ __ ] go Paul Gibbs
00:36:54
Captain let's go Captain Paul Gibbs he had just visited with Minnie the day before her death and she while obviously
00:37:00
deeply in grief everyone was dying around her and her family she hardly seemed exhausted him he was like he was
00:37:07
like he she died of exhaustion the next day was fine she was fine she was just sad then after Minnie had become ill
00:37:14
Gibbs paid a visit to see how she was doing and walked in on Jane giving Minnie an injection huh the scene itself
00:37:22
hardly seemed unusual because after all Minnie was sick and Jane was a nurse yet
00:37:27
there was something that he couldn't pinpoint he was like there's something secretive about her behavior it's it
00:37:33
didn't look like she wanted me to see that right and it made him think that she was doing something she shouldn't
00:37:37
have done he was picking up on the little details and he's a dad like he's a parent like something up he's a
00:37:43
[ __ ] captain of what we don't know but he's a captain of this and after the young woman's death Paul suggested that
00:37:49
an autopsy should be performed like he was proactive he was like let's figure this out wild suggestion and Jane
00:37:56
strongly objected saying there is no need of an autopsy there was no suspicious circumstances I'd be like uh
00:38:02
she's a nurse maybe as far as you're concerned and he didn't want to spread any slanderous rumors so he kept his
00:38:10
concerns to himself for a while because he was like I feel like I'm going to like he's being a decent human and being
00:38:15
like I don't want to like totally smear This Woman's name if I'm like completely
00:38:19
wrong right like she's a nurse like I'm just going to like [ __ ] up her whole life by being like I think you killed
00:38:23
her when I don't have the proof yeah so he was like you know what like I I'll just keep it to myself but it turned out
00:38:31
he wasn't alone in this especially when it came to the Davis Family the day before his death Alden Davis took a
00:38:39
train to Boston to do some business and on his return trip he spoke to a fellow train passenger named IRA Cushing in the
00:38:47
following days Cushing was shocked to learn that Alden had died cuz he appeared very healthy when he had seen
00:38:53
him it didn't seem possible that this man could look and feel perfectly healthy one day than dead the next right
00:39:00
his suspicions were further stoked when just a few days later alden's young healthy daughter died under similarly
00:39:07
mysterious circumstances I'm so glad people are like actually putting things together here yeah like this is [ __ ]
00:39:13
weird because he he couldn't be certain about what had happened but Ira Cushing felt it was important that he at least
00:39:18
share his perspective with someone nice so he sought out Captain Gibbs who he knew had a close relationship with the
00:39:25
Davis Family Cushing paid a visit to Gibbs a short time after Minnie's funeral and explained that he believed
00:39:31
the Davis family had been poisoned and he said probably with arsenic close to his surprise Gibbs agreed he was like oh
00:39:39
my God thank you're saying exactly what I've been thinking and he's like or at least something like that like arsenic
00:39:46
in leveraging their most influential contacts the two men initiated a plan to get the bodies exhumed and to have
00:39:52
proper autopsies conducted to on the Davis family members let's [ __ ] King go these two kings here two kings and it
00:40:02
took some persuasive arguing but eventually Cushing and Gibbs were able to convince the da that there was some
00:40:08
reason to believe the deaths hadn't been natural damn and the da agreed to have the bodies of geneveve and Minnie
00:40:15
exhumed wow on August 30th the bodies were exhumed from their graves and autopsies were performed by Dr Robert
00:40:22
font the medical examiner from uh barnable County with assistance from two doctor s from Harvard Medical
00:40:29
School also based on the two men's suspicions the district attorney assigned state police detective John
00:40:35
Patterson to tail Jane let's [ __ ] go let's somebody go get her go go get her go get her so detective Patterson Trail
00:40:45
Jane from the moment she left katow oh [ __ ] following her all the way to LOL where he took a room in a boarding house
00:40:52
under an assumed name Jane meanwhile had already resumed her plan to marry orml Brigham however
00:41:00
when she realized the man wasn't interested in her Jane then made a disingenuous attempt to end her own life
00:41:06
by drinking poison okay but what she was doing and she admitted this later was she was hoping that it the dramatic
00:41:11
display would just convince briam to give in right the plan didn't work obviously he's like I really just don't
00:41:18
like you no way and Jane was admitted to LOL General Hospital where Patterson also checked in under an assumed name
00:41:24
shut the [ __ ] up discharged from the hospital in early October Jane decided to abandon her plans to marry Brigham
00:41:31
and instead headed out to visit an old friend in Amherst New Hampshire with John Patterson following closely behind
00:41:38
while Jane was visiting amher doctors on Cape Cod were examining geneveve and Minnie's remains well the press were
00:41:45
just sitting by waiting to hear what the [ __ ] was going on in 1901 what the [ __ ]
00:41:50
else is going on yeah and given how tight lipped the clinicians were being the Press started speculating that it
00:41:56
was probably all [ __ ] they weren't hearing anything so they were like up so the Boston Daily Globe actually wrote
00:42:02
from Facts gleaned after the autopsies it is inferred that nothing was found to Warrant any suspicions they weren't
00:42:09
saying that because they heard that they were saying that cuz they hadn't heard anything yeah so they just [ __ ]
00:42:13
they're making an inference it's easy to understand why that assumption was made
00:42:18
because the alternative was honestly too hideous for anyone to even comprehend at
00:42:22
that point of course absolutely the truth though was that Dr font and his colleague had found lethal traces of
00:42:29
poison in Minnie's stomach that very much exceeded anything one might consume on accident that finding along with the
00:42:37
growing suspicions around Jane was enough to get an arrest warrant nice on October 29th state police detective
00:42:45
Josephus Whitney Josephus I know Josephus forever Josephus Whitney uh in the company of two other
00:42:55
detectives traveled to Hurst and sought out Patterson who was staying at a boarding house near the home of George
00:43:01
and Sarah Nichols with whom Jane had been staying get those people away from her oh absolutely because you'll hear in
00:43:08
a second the detectives informed Patterson of the autopsy results and together the four detectives went to the
00:43:13
Nickels home to arrest Jane toppen incredible since leaving Calment in late summer Jane had begun to get the
00:43:20
impression that people were uh maybe gossiping about her a little bit I wonder why and that maybe they were
00:43:25
suspecting that she had something to do with the the Davis Family deaths maybe whether this was just paranoia or not is
00:43:31
unknown but when detective showed up with the arrest warrant Jane was not surprised at all when they announced
00:43:37
that she was being arrested for the murder of Min Gibbs Jane was unperturbed started packing her things without any
00:43:43
issue and said I'm innocent and then she said and I'll readily go back with you I'm very shocked by this and it seemed
00:43:50
that they had gotten there just in time because in her confession Jame said Jane
00:43:53
said if the police hadn't shown up when they did I might have killed George Nichols and his sister too the fact that
00:43:59
she says like I might have like maybe maybe if I felt like it that isn't that just [ __ ] crazy that's [ __ ] up like
00:44:06
she didn't even she didn't go there with any intention to kill them but she was like if I if I got around to it like if
00:44:11
they pissed me off I might have if the mood struck you know literally though so Jane was transported back to Barnstable
00:44:18
Barn Barn where she was held on the charge of Murder in the case of mini Gibbs the next day she appeared before a
00:44:24
judge in the Bristol County Court where she pleaded not guilty to the charge and
00:44:28
the case was continued to November 8th and Jane was remanded without bail just as she's always done in the path when
00:44:34
she was accused of wrongdoing she took on the role of I'm so misunderstood I'm a victim told the
00:44:41
press that oh no like in total victimhood oh she insisted she'd knew nothing about the deaths of the Davis
00:44:48
Family excepting that I suppose they all died from natural causes she told the reporter yeah but if Jane was hoping to
00:44:55
keep her name and story out of the paper papers she uh didn't do a good job within days nearly every paper across
00:45:02
the state and honestly the surrounding areas was dedicating multiple pages to this story reporters were seeking out
00:45:09
anyone that could have any facts or any speculation really on Jane toppen uh and
00:45:14
while she was only facing one charge of murder at the time several people started connecting the dots and
00:45:19
wondering whether all those who died under Jane's care had in fact died of natural causes the answer is no and in a
00:45:27
statement to the Press regarding Jane's desire to marry him orl brigam said it is generally understood that she did and
00:45:34
I never proposed to her nor she to me I suppose she wanted to get the money Mrs toppen left and she if she married me
00:45:40
and I was out of the way of course it would be hers wow so he was like she was going to kill me like yeah she wanted to
00:45:46
marry me but I'm pretty sure she would have killed me and taken the money it was just a conquest yeah Jane toppen had
00:45:51
spent years murdering people and went entirely undetected in fact any time a person did voice any concern or any
00:46:00
suspicions you you heard they were shouted down by someone way more powerful who outright refused to
00:46:08
entertain any notion that Jane could be anything other than professional amazing
00:46:14
no way could she have murdered someone to the point where their faces literally became omelets but also now it seemed
00:46:21
like everyone had a story to tell about Jane and her cruel or bizarre behavior I
00:46:26
believe it named classmates from primary school were quot quoted as saying they had always had a certain fear of her wow
00:46:33
while other articles noted any peculiarity as though it was evidence of insanity all of a sudden it was as
00:46:40
though everyone went from believing in Jane's innocent without any questions just blindly to all of a sudden
00:46:46
harboring these deep-seated suspicions that she'd always been capable of Cruelty and murder and it's like where
00:46:51
were you yeah exactly when all these people were murdered exactly because the grand jury had already broken for the
00:46:57
year there was considerable time between when she was arraigned in her trial in that time the Press went crazy trying to
00:47:04
publish anything they could get their hands on about it specifically related to Jane's motives and her sanity by
00:47:10
March the DA's office had assembled a panel of three alienists which is psychologists I also wish we called them
00:47:17
that now alienists the alienists like I think that's such a cool name that's fun
00:47:21
um it was to determine whether she was sane and could even be held accountable for the murders upon their first visit
00:47:27
to Jane she was defiant and she said why how absurd me insane of course I'm not I'll show them that I'm not insane andd
00:47:34
be like I'm good I think you should probably go with the the insane inness the more Jane talked the more the panel
00:47:41
of doctors concluded she was definitely psychologically impaired yeah while Jane
00:47:46
was also always intelligent and always very coherent and never resembled what the public at that time imagined a
00:47:53
mentally ill person to be there was increasing ly little doubt that Jane was entirely capable of murder they said
00:48:01
quote her utter mendacity and disposition to speak slurring of even her best friends and to make accusations
00:48:07
against them almost without exception to praise one minut and blame the next was
00:48:12
very marked and the P that's what the panel wrote in their report and they also noted that she seemed to lie con
00:48:18
constantly making the most outrageous claims seemingly without any regard of whether even someone believed her so
00:48:24
they're like uh altogether we Sur that something's up here that she's wild uh by April after multiple visits with Jane
00:48:32
in her jail cell the alienists concluded quote homicidal Mania is naturally the dominant force in the mentality of the
00:48:38
nurse and Miss Jane toppen is insane huh so they said homicidal Mania which makes sense wow it does also by
00:48:47
that by that time the charges against Jane had grown to include three of the four members of the Davis family all of
00:48:53
whom she was accused of killing with intentionally fatal doses of morine or some other poison and it turned out that
00:49:00
once the three doctors got Jane talking she was more than happy to boast about herself and her crimes so all they
00:49:06
needed to do was sit back and listen to her I wonder at what point she was just like n actually
00:49:12
[ __ ] cuz at first she's like nope I didn't do [ __ ] and I'll prove it to you I think then she was just like whatever
00:49:17
cuz she thought she would get out of it right and she was like I might as well just tell you it's kind of fun to talk
00:49:21
about so I'll get out of it I'm sure God you know or do you think it was when she
00:49:25
realized like oh [ __ ] I'm probably not going to get out of this she never realized that really she didn't realize
00:49:29
that until it was way past this she thought even when she was sentenced she thought there's no way I'll get out of
00:49:37
this spoiler alert um although she stopped short of confessing outright to a large number of murders her quote fond
00:49:47
remembrances of the patients who had met such tragic deaths was a compelling reason to suspect her of killing dozens
00:49:54
of people I would say so in their final report to the DA's office the panel of alienists concluded that Jane had
00:50:00
exercised quote a cool judgment scious and sound when she committed the murders and that she was quote insane and
00:50:09
irresponsible at the time of the homicide with which she is charged the problem though was what do you do with
00:50:15
her Jane's Insanity was not temporary and as far as the alienists saw it it was something that she had always had
00:50:22
and was always going to live with like this wasn't something that was going to be fixed and it was also not something
00:50:28
she could really be treated for and yeah like released into the world they said her disease being constitutional she
00:50:35
will never recover and that if ever at large again she would be a constant menace to the community I love that they
00:50:42
describe it as a menace like I think she was a little bit more than that she was
00:50:45
a a top tier Menace I would say a threat yeah on June 22 a special session of the
00:50:52
Barnstable Superior Court was called to order was called to order in the case against Jane by that time she had
00:50:58
confessed to at least 31 murders damn but was now suspected of many more given the notoriety of the case the
00:51:07
prosecution was led by Massachusetts Attorney General Herbert Parker who presented the jury with Jane's
00:51:13
confession and the many of the important points from the psychological evaluation
00:51:17
concluding that Jane was and always would be a danger to society I mean pretty remarkably but
00:51:23
honestly understandably the defense didn't really bother to refute the claims made and just agreed with the
00:51:28
narrative presented by Parker including their Theory as to the motive which is personal or financial gain means she was
00:51:36
irredeemably insane yeah and opportunity she was a nurse with unrestricted access
00:51:41
to poisons just nuts the trial lasted less than one day and the only testimony presented was the panel of alienists who
00:51:49
evaluated Jane at various points leading up to this yeah and given that Jane who
00:51:54
was only really formally charged with three murders admitted to murdering murdering 12 people and had been
00:51:59
described like at least 12 people at least uh and had been described by three doctors as having quote a degenerate
00:52:05
type of insanity there was little doubt as to what the verdict was going to be and after hearing the testimony and
00:52:11
listening to both sides the jury deliberated briefly and returned a verdict of Not Guilty by reason of
00:52:17
insanity despite being found not guilty it was still understood that Jane was a highly dangerous person who needed to be
00:52:25
permanently removed from Society so she was a sentence to immediate commitment to quote the Taunton insane hospital for
00:52:33
life that's a quote that's not me saying it when the sentence was read Jane seemed completely unmoved and said I
00:52:40
realized that I'm not fit to be free and I think you've done the best thing for me so it was like I don't actually give
00:52:46
a [ __ ] about this so whatever so I guess lock me away whatever cuz she's like I
00:52:51
now from the moment Jame was arrested practically all of New England followed the case daily and we're very surprised
00:52:57
by how jovial and high-spirited Jane had been in the face of all these accusations however just two years later
00:53:05
the Boston Globe reported that in her time at Taunton Hospital Jane had become quote emaciated her High Spirits have
00:53:11
gone and is not believe she can live very long I saw a picture of yeah there there's a photo of her when she was
00:53:18
admitted and then like one or two years in and she looks like a different person
00:53:21
a completely different person and equally shocking to everyone was the ways in which had de had decomposed
00:53:28
mentally yeah um the globe reported the mind that was able to convince so many that it was normal is now palpably
00:53:36
diseased for mental imbecility that means physical de dis disintegration has complete possession of the nurse wow not
00:53:45
surprisingly Jane entered the hospital like I said with the belief that it was going to be a short confinement she was
00:53:52
going to win her release she was going to get out she'll convince somebody and she thought she would convince somebody
00:53:58
I will be able to convince them to let me out I believe it and this of course directly contradicted the Court's order
00:54:04
that she was going to be confined for the remainder of her life but Jane's personality disorder told her made her
00:54:10
believe that she was smarter and better than any other people and would eventually get out of this predicament
00:54:15
she found herself in when it became apparent finally that she wouldn't get out of the situation as easily as all
00:54:21
the others Jane became defiant and uncooperative and eventually she fell back her old habits of pettiness and
00:54:28
spiteful gossip that had plagued her her entire life one report said she has abandoned the careless cheerful frame of
00:54:34
mind in which she has been here to heret for been and is now fretful peevish even
00:54:40
ugly and fearful of eating because of suspected poison which I think how's that is the
00:54:47
funniest like Karma move in the whole world it's also just hilarious that they're like she's even ugly now she's
00:54:54
even ugly now I know I'm like Dam I was like what a damn early 1900s like Jesus she's fretful peevish even ugly yeah
00:55:03
even ugly now she was a lot of things in the year after she was confin started to
00:55:09
be confined but one thing she never was remorseful I believe I'm not even shocked by that ever and while she may
00:55:17
have been unpleasant and been a Relentless gossip Jane's time at Taunton Hospital passed relatively uneventfully
00:55:25
eventually she be became what one staff member described as a quiet old lady just another patient who caused no
00:55:30
trouble on August 17th 1938 Jane toppen died from natural causes at Taunton State hospital at the age of 84 the fact
00:55:40
that she got to live that long really makes you wonder what the forces are that be yeah in writing of her death
00:55:47
many papers could not resist using the statement she made to the Press after she was sentenced and this is it I have
00:55:54
given the alienists and her ber Parker the names of 31 persons I killed but as a matter of fact I killed many more
00:56:01
whose names I cannot recall I think it would be safe to say that I killed at least hundred from the time I became a
00:56:07
nurse at a Boston hospital where I killed the first one until I ended the lives of the Davis Family wow and that
00:56:15
is the story of Jane toppen that was absolutely mindbending she is incredibly prolific and incredible [ __ ] up truly
00:56:28
like wow I was also just looking at pictures of the um state hospital that she was that cuz I I think it got
00:56:35
demolished yeah it did um and it was the second mental hospital in Massachusetts
00:56:41
ever oh yeah yeah that's like one of the one of the the infamous ones you know crazy yeah
00:56:47
um I also think the site is like super haunted I've seen it in one of the New England books yeah it definitely is it's
00:56:54
one of those ones that's always on the list it just like that part of the story just caught my attention for a minute
00:56:58
but holy [ __ ] yeah that the way that that like obviously like murder is terrifying in and of itself and like it
00:57:07
started off so scary but then as it went through she just got so much more unhinged with every last murder like she
00:57:17
just wanted to kill an entire family yeah and in your straight in your rational mind like you're thinking like
00:57:24
there has to be an end game like for why she wanted to do that like I was I was like no she she wants the house yeah
00:57:30
like when you said that I was like oh just wait but no she never even like she didn't want the house she just she just
00:57:34
wanted to kill a family yeah she felt like she was justified in everything she did that really was like a a mindbending
00:57:43
case that one was a wild one yeah so with that being said we hope you keep listening and we hope you keep it weird
00:57:54
but not so weird as Jane topen because is what the actual [ __ ] what [Music]

Badges

This episode stands out for the following:

  • 95
    Most intense
  • 90
    Most shocking
  • 90
    Most unpredictable
  • 85
    Most dramatic

Episode Highlights

  • Psychological Damage
    Exploring the depths of psychological damage and its impact on individuals.
    “This absolutely is psychological damage.”
    @ 00m 12s
    May 06, 2024
  • Jolly Jane's True Nature
    Jane Toppen, known as Jolly Jane, reveals her dark and twisted side.
    “She does it with a smile on her face.”
    @ 01m 41s
    May 06, 2024
  • A Disturbing Pattern
    Jane's attempts to burn down the Davis house raise suspicions among the family.
    “It seems to be a pattern that you are here and this is what's happening.”
    @ 01m 58s
    May 06, 2024
  • The Poison Enema
    Jane administered a poison enema to Minnie, leading to her death.
    “A poison enema? You can't conceive of what this woman does!”
    @ 29m 42s
    May 06, 2024
  • The Chilling Confession
    Jane Toppen confessed to putting three women to death who stood in her way.
    “I had put the three women to death who stood in my way.”
    @ 35m 21s
    May 06, 2024
  • Suspicion Arises
    Captain Paul Gibbs begins to suspect that the deaths in the Davis family are not natural.
    “Let's go, Paul Gibbs!”
    @ 36m 50s
    May 06, 2024
  • Jane's Arrest
    Jane was arrested for the murder of Minnie Gibbs, showing no surprise or remorse.
    “I'm innocent and I'll readily go back with you.”
    @ 43m 43s
    May 06, 2024
  • Confession of Murders
    Jane confessed to killing at least 31 people, claiming she lost count of her victims.
    “I have given the alienists... the names of 31 persons I killed.”
    @ 55m 54s
    May 06, 2024
  • The Chilling Admission
    Jane claimed she killed at least a hundred people throughout her nursing career.
    “I think it would be safe to say that I killed at least a hundred.”
    @ 56m 05s
    May 06, 2024

Episode Quotes

  • I think there's all kinds of shit going down in the airwaves right now.
    “Jolly Jane” Toppan: Angel of Mercy (Part 2) | Morbid | Podcast
  • I mean this is sadistic and she was angry.
    “Jolly Jane” Toppan: Angel of Mercy (Part 2) | Morbid | Podcast
  • I went to the funeral and felt as Jolly as could be.
    “Jolly Jane” Toppan: Angel of Mercy (Part 2) | Morbid | Podcast
  • I had put the three women to death who stood in my way.
    “Jolly Jane” Toppan: Angel of Mercy (Part 2) | Morbid | Podcast
  • I'm innocent and I'll readily go back with you.
    “Jolly Jane” Toppan: Angel of Mercy (Part 2) | Morbid | Podcast
  • I have given the alienists... the names of 31 persons I killed.
    “Jolly Jane” Toppan: Angel of Mercy (Part 2) | Morbid | Podcast

Key Moments

  • Jolly Jane00:34
  • Sound Bath02:14
  • Paranormal Experience03:41
  • Murderous Intent08:19
  • House Fire18:35
  • Chilling Indifference22:20
  • Trial Verdict52:17
  • Confession55:54

Words per Minute Over Time

Vibes Breakdown