Episode 52: The Sexual Thrill Kills
Episode description
Jane Toppan, also known as Jolly Jane, was a female nurse serial killer from Boston, Massachusetts. Between 1880 to 1901, Jane claimed to have given lethal injections of morphine to 31 trusting victims with many being her patients. Ironically, the doctors that worked with Jane considered her one of the best nurses around. Jane however did not limit her victims to just the sick and elderly she was caring for, as her victims also included landlords, her own adopted sister and even friends she grew to dislike. After her arrest on October 29, 1901, Jane admitted to having committed the murders to satisfy a sexual fetish and claimed that her life goal was to “have killed more people – helpless people – than any other man or woman who ever lived.” Jane had a history of attempted suicides which helped her gain an insanity plea and was eventually confined to a state mental hospital for 40 years until her death. Many psychiatrists today agree that Jane Toppan is one of the most unusual female serial killers in history and like many serial killers, she had an unstable childhood. But unlike most female serial killers, she did it for the sexual thrill. So, what caused this sinister nurse’s dark sexual fetish to lead to murder.
References:
Toppan, Jane (1854–1938) | Encyclopedia.com
How Many Victims Did Serial Killer Jane Toppan Murder? (grunge.com)
TBT: The Arrest of Jane Toppan (bostonmagazine.com)
13 Disturbing Facts About Jane Toppan, AKA "The Angel Of Death" (ranker.com)
Jane Toppan | Murderpedia, the encyclopedia of murderers
Jolly Jane Toppan, the Killer Nurse Obsessed With Death - New England Historical Society
Jane Toppan - Crime Museum
Jolly Jane Toppan, the Killer Nurse Obsessed With Death - New England Historical Society
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