11 Deaths, 5 Husbands: The Chilling True Story Of Nannie Doss, 'The Giggling Granny'

The Giggling Granny. That chilling nickname belongs to Nannie Doss, one of America’s most prolific and deceptive female serial killers. For nearly three decades, from 1927 to 1954, Doss maintained a sweet, grandmotherly facade while secretly murdering at least 11 people in her own family, including four of her five husbands, her mother, and her grandchildren. As of December 2025, the story of Nannie Doss remains a disturbing case study in true crime, highlighting how a seemingly harmless woman used domesticity and the promise of romance to conceal a deadly, calculated pursuit of financial gain and a twisted form of "perfect love."

Her method of choice—poison—allowed her to operate undetected for years, often collecting insurance money or other assets after each victim's death was attributed to natural causes or sudden illness. The case of the "Lonely Hearts Killer" only came to light when the death of her final husband, Sam Doss, finally raised enough suspicion to trigger an autopsy, revealing a shocking pattern of arsenic poisoning that spanned multiple states and generations of her family.

The Black Widow's Complete Profile: Nannie Doss Biography and Victims

Nannie Doss, born Nancy Agnes Hazel on November 4, 1905, in Blue Mountain, Alabama, began her life in poverty and abuse. She claimed a childhood head injury from a train ride permanently affected her, but her true motivation appeared to be a blend of financial desperation, a lifelong obsession with romance novels, and a desire to escape difficult marriages. She earned multiple aliases throughout her criminal career, including The Giggling Granny, The Lonely Hearts Killer, and The Jolly Black Widow.

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Her reign of terror began in 1927 and stretched until her final arrest in 1954. She was convicted in Oklahoma and died in prison on June 2, 1965.

Key Biographical Entities and Victims Timeline

• Full Name: Nancy Agnes Hazel
• Born: November 4, 1905, Blue Mountain, Alabama
• Died: June 2, 1965 (Age 59), Oklahoma State Penitentiary
• Cause of Death: Congestive heart failure
• Confirmed Victims (Minimum 11):
  • Two of her middle children (1927, suspected food poisoning).
  • Her grandson, Robert (1945, asphyxiation/hatpin).
  • Her grandson, James (1945, suspected poisoning).
  • Husband 1: Charley Braggs (Married 1921, separated 1927, died later after she returned to him).
  • Husband 2: Frank Harrelson (Married 1929, poisoned 1945).
  • Husband 3: Arlie Lanning (Married 1947, poisoned 1950).
  • Arlie Lanning's mother (Poisoned after Lanning's death, seeking control of his property).
  • Her sister, Dovie (1953, poisoned).
  • Her mother, Louisa Hazle (1953, poisoned).
  • Husband 4: Richard Morton (Married 1952, poisoned 1953).
  • Husband 5: Sam Doss (Married 1953, poisoned 1954).
• Motive: Insurance money, inheritance, and the pursuit of a "perfect mate" from her romance novel fantasies.

The Deadly Pattern: Arsenic, Insurance, and the 'Perfect Mate'

Nannie Doss's criminal career was defined by a chillingly consistent modus operandi, or M.O. She was a classic "black widow" serial killer, primarily targeting intimate partners and family members for financial gain. Her main weapon was a common, easily accessible household item: rat poison, which contained high levels of arsenic. Arsenic poisoning symptoms often mimic gastrointestinal illness, allowing her victims' deaths to be routinely dismissed by doctors in the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s as natural causes like "stomach trouble" or "severe flu."

The pattern was always the same: she would marry a man, often meeting them through lonely hearts clubs or classified ads, quickly take out a life insurance policy on them, and then, when the relationship inevitably failed to meet her romanticized expectations, she would administer the poison.

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Her victims were not limited to her husbands. The death of her grandsons, Robert and James, in 1945, which coincided with the death of her second husband, Frank Harrelson, was particularly heinous. She killed the boys to prevent them from staying with her daughter, Melvina, who was recovering from surgery, suggesting a motive rooted in controlling her family and collecting small insurance payouts.

The Final Husband and the Fatal Mistake

The murderous spree of the Giggling Granny finally ended with her fifth husband, Sam Doss. Unlike her previous partners, Sam was frugal and did not smoke or drink, which Nannie found intensely frustrating as it limited her control over him and her access to his money.

In September 1954, Sam Doss was admitted to a hospital in Tulsa, Oklahoma, with severe stomach pain. After he was discharged, Nannie prepared his favorite prune cake, laced with a lethal dose of arsenic-based rat poison. He died shortly after eating it. This time, however, the attending physician, Dr. Leonard Spears, was suspicious of the rapid decline and insisted on an autopsy.

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The autopsy results were undeniable: Sam Doss had enough arsenic in his system to kill multiple people. Confronted with the evidence, Nannie Doss initially denied everything, but her composure eventually broke. She confessed to killing Sam Doss and, over time, confessed to the murders of four of her five husbands, her mother, her sister, and her two grandsons. She famously attributed her actions to a lifelong search for "the perfect mate," a quest that always ended in murder when reality failed to match her romantic fantasies.

Nannie Doss's Legacy in True Crime and Criminology

The trial of Nannie Doss was a media sensation in the mid-1950s. The contrast between her sweet, grandmotherly appearance and her horrifying crimes—often punctuated by her unsettling, inappropriate giggling during police questioning—captured the public imagination, solidifying her nickname, "The Giggling Granny."

Doss’s case is a significant one in the study of female serial killers. Criminologists and criminal profilers, including those studied on shows like *Criminal Minds*, often point to her as a textbook example of a "black widow" killer, whose motives are typically pragmatic and centered on material gain, rather than the psychological or sexual motives more often associated with male serial killers. Her use of poison, a method that allows for distance and a less violent appearance, also aligns with common patterns in female-perpetrated homicides.

She was eventually charged with the murder of Sam Doss and pleaded guilty to avoid the death penalty, receiving a life sentence. She spent the rest of her life incarcerated at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary, where she died of natural causes in 1965, taking the secrets of any unconfessed victims with her. The true number of people Nancy Agnes Hazel murdered may be higher than the 11 she admitted to, leaving a dark, unresolved chapter in American true crime history.