Amy Archer-Gilligan

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Amy Duggan "sister" Archer-Gilligan (October 1869 - April 23, 1962 ) was an American murderer .

She married James Archer at the age of 23 and gave birth to their daughter Mary in December 1897. In 1901, "Sister Amy," who had never trained as a nurse , opened a nursing home in Newington , Connecticut . In 1907 she moved to Windsor , Connecticut, just 10 miles away, and opened the Archer Home for the old and the infirm .

In 1910 her husband died unexpectedly and after three years of mourning she married Michael Gilligan, who died after only twelve months of marriage. A total of 48 deaths also occurred in the home between 1911 and 1916. Due to the rumors that arose as a result, an undercover agent was smuggled into the home in early 1916 .

Based on the evidence found, police exhumed some residents and found poison in Michael Gilligan and five other deceased. In 1917, Amy Archer-Gilligan was charged with six murders; however, only the murder of Franklin R. Andrews in May 1914 could be proven. She was sentenced to life imprisonment and sent to Wethersfield Prison, where she remained for six years.

In 1924, nervous attacks led to a diagnosis of mental illness and she was transferred to the state mental asylum in Middletown , Connecticut, where she died in 1962 at the age of 92.

Her fall influenced the play as well as the subsequent film adaptation of Arsenic and Lace Cap . In the story, two lovable, quirky old women murder a total of twelve lonely elderly men out of pity in order to “bring them closer to God”.

See also

literature

  • Newton, Michael: The Great Encyclopedia of Serial Killers. 5th edition, Stocker, Graz 2009, ISBN 978-3-85365-240-4 (source, unless otherwise stated)

Individual evidence

  1. Jesse Leavenworth: 'Devil's Rooming House' Examines 'Arsenic And Old Lace' Killings , Hartford Courant, March 21, 2010, accessed December 4, 2015.