Killer Stories with Harvey Guillén - “The Murder Factory” - Amy Archer-Gilligan

Episode Date: July 10, 2018

Amy Archer-Gilligan opened a nursing home in Connecticut in 1907. By portraying herself as a kind and religious woman, she was able to recruit new residents. She was beloved in her neighborhood which is exactly why nobody suspected that she was a cold, calculated killer.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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In 1914, reporters for the Hartford Courant were busy investigating the Archer Home for the elderly in Windsor, Connecticut. Lucy Durand, one of the Archer Holmes' middle-aged residents, had accused owner and caretaker Amy Archer Gilligan of neglect and abject. Amy did her best to silence Lucy. She drove Lucy over to the neighboring town of Derby and paid off a doctor to declare Lucy insane. With the diagnosis in hand, Amy put Lucy in a mental institution in Middletown, Connecticut, assuming that no one would believe Lucy anymore. Amy was wrong.

A current reporter named Aubrey Maddock managed to uncover Lucy's location. He quickly traveled to Middletown and scribbled down to the city's location. and scribbled down her horrifying tale of abuse at the Archer home. While Lucy's exiled to a mental institution was a terrible fate, Maddox soon learned that Lucy was lucky to leave the Archer home alive. Most of Amy's residents weren't so fortunate. By 1916, Amy had killed over 40 of them. Amy Archer Gilligan was a businesswoman who made a profession out of death.

Hi, I'm Greg Polson, and this is serial killers. Today we're going to take a deep dive into the life of Amy Archer Gilligan, an early 20th century serial killer, indicted for five murders and suspected of dozens more. I'm here with my co-host, Vanessa Richardson. Hi, everyone. We'd like to ask a quick favor. Would you leave a five-star review of serial killers on your favorite podcast directory?

It seems so simple, but it really helps us out. And don't forget to subscribe while you're there because a new episode comes out every Monday. You can also find us on Facebook and Instagram at Parcast. And on Twitter at Parcast Network. Amy Archer Gilligan opened and ran a nursing home in Windsor, Connecticut, from 1907, until her arrest in 1916. She suspected of poisoning two husbands and over 40 residents. By spiking their lemonade with arsenic, she bought at a local drug store. Her nursing home earned the infamous moniker, The Murder Factory.

In part one, we'll examine how Amy came up with the idea for her nursing home. We'll investigate how she lured residents into her home by portraying herself as a kind, religious woman, offering them the deal of a lifetime, and we'll see how she used that persona as a tool to cover up 13 mysterious deaths from 1907 to 1910. In part two, we'll investigate Amy's rapidly increasing body count as she got away with poisoning dozens of residents at her home from 1911 through 1916. And will uncover the evidence she left behind that finally led to her imprisonment and conviction for murder. Amy Archer Gilligan's life is full of mystery, inconsistency, and facts buried from the public. Even though her age was never confirmed, most sources cited a birth date around October 1873.

However, other sources cite 1877. Decades later, her obituaries disagreed on the year of her birth. We do know that Amy was the eighth child born to James Duggan and Mary Kennedy in Milton, Connecticut. Her parents would have two more children after Amy. Beyond this, we don't know much about Amy's childhood, her nine siblings. or her parents, since Amy lied about her background throughout her life. Vanessa, let's dive into the psychology behind Amy's lies. Vanessa isn't a psychologist or psychiatrist, but she's done a lot of research for this show.

Thanks, Greg. The DSM doesn't list compulsive lying as a disorder, but according to psychiatrist Dr. Reich, compulsive liars always have something specific they're trying to achieve with their lies, even if their motive isn't obvious. Many compulsive liars are trying to improve their self-image or self-esteem. If Amy struggled with self-esteem issues, perhaps this explains why she made up stories about her childhood. It's possible. But the Mayo Clinic lists compulsive lying as a sign of antisocial personality disorder, sometimes known as sociopathy.

As a reminder for our listeners, someone living with antisocial personality disorder doesn't care about the morality of the their actions. They lack a conscience and don't feel remorse for lying. So if Amy was a sociopath, she wouldn't have felt guilty when she lied about her background. Amy may not have been the only member of her family with a personality disorder. The Hartford Courant later reported that Amy had a sibling at a mental institution, but we have no additional information on the sibling. There are also no records or even anecdotes of early trauma, childhood violence, or unusual circumstances in Amy's early life. In 1890, teenage Amy allegedly attended the Milton School.

After that, she supposedly attended the New Britain Normal School. Throughout her adult life, Amy also told people she trained as a nurse at Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan. But this was another one of Amy's lies. She had no medical training of any sort, but the often-repeated claim that she was a trained nurse deepened the trust, families, neighbors, and doctors placed on her over the years. In 1897, 24-year-old Amy Duggan married James Archer. They had one daughter named Mary, born in December of 1897.

As a young family, the Archers had no public controversies or legal issues. Neighbors liked them well enough. They were a seemingly normal, happy family. In 2001, Amy, James, and four-year-old Mary moved to Newington, Connecticut. There, Amy and James struck a deal with an elderly widower named John Seymour. The Archers would care for Seymour in exchange for living rent-free in his spacious home. It was seemingly a good deal for both the Archers and Seymour. He had adult children, but they were unable or unwilling to live with Seymour and care for him themselves.

Privately owned retirement homes weren't common yet in 1901. So this type of arrangement made perfect sense in that day and age. The archers provided live-in care for John Seymour until he died of what was assumed to be natural causes in 1904. Though Amy was later accused of killing the people she cared for, John Seymour was never listed as a probable victim. However, it's clear that nursing Seymour inspired Amy to run a home for the elderly. In 1904, Seymour's children inherited the house after his death. Initially, they allowed Amy and James to rent the house and use it as a nurse. home. The archers called their new enterprise, Sister Amy's nursing home for the elderly.

By adopting the title, Sister, Amy was manipulating the residents into believing that she was someone they could trust. According to physician and psychiatry professor Randolph M. Nessi, sociopaths, quote, promise everything and deliver only enough to deceive you, then depart with whatever you gave them and your sense of trust, end quote. her life, Amy went to great lengths to fool others into trusting her with this sisterly persona. She portrayed herself as a pious and devout Christian and was often seen carrying a Bible under her arm as she walked through town. Amy was also the one who negotiated with prospective residents or their families about staying at the nursing home. Perhaps her manipulative tendencies

made her better than her husband at winning over strangers. Starting in 1904, Amy and James cared for about a dozen or so residents at their newly founded Sister Amy's nursing home. Amy handed out light housekeeping jobs to able and willing residents, while James did general repairs and physical labor. And when Little Mary was old enough, Amy got her to contribute to the business by playing piano for the residents. In 1907, John Seymour's errors decided to sell the house, forcing Amy and James to find a new home and place of business. Luckily, the archers had enough money saved up to buy a larger home in a community 10 miles north. They purchased a new home in Windsor, Connecticut in 1907 for $4,500, or a bit more than $100,000

in today's currency. Once again, their residents became their business. They named their new nursing home, the Archer Home for Elderly People and Chronic Invalids. The Archer's Nursing Home also went by other names over the years, such as The Archer Home for the elderly and infirm. For simplicity's sake, we'll refer to the residents and business as the Archer Home. Amy's new home was a red brick building with a white picket fence located at the end of a dead-end street within walking distance of a post office, hotel, and downtown square. It was an attractive location for potential residents, and Amy wasted no time

trying to reel them in. In 1907, Amy began advertising the Archer Home in regional newspapers. as a place of refuge and healing for the elderly. Families could check in their parents or grandparents, or individuals could apply for room and board themselves. Amy offered two different payment plans. For the first payment plan, she charged a weekly rate of $7. She allowed residents to pay quarterly, which equaled out to $91 every three months

for a total of $364 a year. In today's currency, this was the equivalent of paying $9,000,000, $226.77 each year. While this may have been appealing for residents who didn't have much longer left to live, this payment plan would require healthy or middle-aged residents to spend a lot of money over the decades. But luckily, Amy had a second payment plan designed to appeal to younger, healthier prospective clients. Residents willing to plunk down $1,000 up front were guaranteed room, board, and meals for the rest of their lives. It's easy to see why this second plan was more popular. When a prospective resident chose Amy's first payment plan, they paid $364 a year.

Within three years, they would have paid Amy $192. That's $92 more than residents who chose the $1,000 lifetime plan. To put this into perspective, $92 in 1907 was worth about $2,332 in today's money. So residents who chose Amy's upfront payment plan would save the equivalent of over $2,000 modern dollars at the end of three years. By their fourth year at Amy's nursing home, the lifetime residents would be saving the modern day equivalent of $9,000 a year. For healthy residents with years ahead of them, it was seemingly the deal of a lifetime. They had no idea that this deal would cost them their lives. Amy, of course, didn't want her residents to figure out that she was planning on.

them dying quickly well before the three-year mark. So she came up with elaborate excuses to justify her upfront payment plan. Amy claimed that families would frequently sign their relatives up for the weekly payment plan and then disown them, sticking Amy with the bill and a resident who couldn't pay for their care. Amy reassured prospective residents that she was, of course, a good Christian who would never kick an impoverished resident out of her home. But if she kept getting stiff on the weekly plan the nursing home would have to close. The upfront plan seemingly benefited everyone. Amy was able to ensure she stayed in business, and the residents who lived past three years

saved a lot of money. Of course, there were a lot of residents who couldn't exactly afford to pay Amy $1,000 up front. Keep in mind, that's asking for about $25,000 in today's currency. But Amy had a solution here as well. She offered to let residents pay the lifetime plan, in installments. And if that still wasn't enough to entice residents to sign up for the one-time payment plan,

then Amy had other creative solutions. Prospective residents could sign over property to Amy. After all, if they were living in Amy's nursing home, they didn't exactly need other property anymore. And prospective residents who didn't have any property to give Amy could also offer her their inheritance, war pensions, or rewrite their life insurance plans

so that Amy was the plan's recipient. Amy went to great lengths to portray herself as generous and flexible, willing to do whatever she could to help residents save money, but it always worked to her own benefit. Amy's penchant for hiding her greed and self-interest behind a benevolent persona is typical for a sociopath. Psychologist Seth Myers notes that sociopaths are, quote, duplicity incarnate, with a polished self shown to the world and a covert. hidden self that has a rigid and calculating agenda, assume the highest level of the social hierarchy,

and win, win, win. It is often the kindest and most trusting individuals who suffer the most at the hands of sociopaths, end quote. While we can't know for sure if Amy was a sociopath, she was most certainly hiding a calculating agenda. And many of the kind, trusting residents who stayed at the Archer Home from 1907 to 1909, fell for Amy's benevolent persona. Some of the healthier residents liked her so much that they even occasionally offered to help her with household duties. We don't know for certain if Amy was planning to kill the residents in her care from the

get-go. In the first years of operation, from 1907 to 1909, there were no written records of serious complaints lodged against Amy or James. But on the other hand, 12 residents died in the first three years after the Archer home opened in 1909. It was a worrysomely high number, especially considering the fact that the home wasn't supposed to hold more than 12 to 14 people at a time. It's possible that Amy killed some or even all of the residents who died by 1909. And this is just a terrifyingly small fraction of the residents who she would murder in the ensuing years.

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It's a powerful clean you can feel good about. So go on. Pick up a bottle of All Free Clear for your next laundry day. And now, let's continue the story. In 1907, when she was in her mid-30s, Amy Archer Gilligan opened her nursing home in Windsor, Connecticut. The local community was delighted to see this saint-like woman welcoming elderly and lonely residents into her cozy red-bricked home. They had no idea she was murdering them. The Archer home was supposed to house about 12 residents at any given time.

But within three years, a full 12 of these residents had mysteriously died. and opened up beds for new residents. Although Amy was never convicted of killing these first 12 clients, we know she murdered many of the residents in her care. Many female serial killers like Amy seem to be drawn to nursing and caretaking, including some others we've investigated on serial killers like Nanny Doss. Evolutionary psychologist Marissa Harrison has puzzled over the mindset of these women. She wonders, quote, what comes first?

I want to kill so I adopt that profession, or I am in that profession, so wow, I see easy access to victims, end quote. It's very possible that Amy started a nursing home because she was planning to kill for profit from the beginning. But it's also possible that she only became a murderer after she realized how easy it would be to get away with killing her residence. But even if Amy wasn't outright murdering her residence between 1907 and 1909, she was quickly becoming adept at handling their deaths. When the occasional resident passed away, she made sure that Dr. Newton Bell, the Windsor Medical Examiner, came over immediately.

He quickly identified a natural cause of death and signed the death certificate. As soon as Amy had the death certificate in hand, she called the morgue and paid to have the body removed and embalmed in a matter of hours. When questioned about her rush to get dead bodies out of the nursing home, Amy utilized her benevolent caretaker persona. She claimed she didn't want dead bodies around because she was concerned for the health and psychological well-being of her living residents.

But of course, Amy wasn't concerned for her living residence at all. By 1909, she was most likely killing them off. And even if she wasn't, her ruthlessly efficient system for disposing of dead residents certainly echoes the methodology of organized serial killers. According to best-selling true crime author Peter Vronsky, the organized serial killer will patiently lure, charm, persuade, and woo the victim into a vulnerable position. This certainly fits the persona Amy crafted. She was careful to portray herself as a helpful, generous, and church-going woman who diligently cared for her residence.

But this was all an act. From the onset, Amy abused and neglected her residence, who she saw only in turn. terms of their financial value. And as Amy's residents uncovered her true nature, some began to seek help. On July 14, 1909, an unnamed female resident of the Archer home was able to get word to some neighbors that she wished to register a complaint to the Connecticut Humane Society. The resident described conditions in the home to the Hartford Current as abusive, unbearable, and unsanitary. The resident was all too right. The Archer Home could only accommodate 12 to 14 people at a time, but Amy regularly stuffed 20 people into her poorly ventilated rooms. In response to the anonymous

resident's complaints, the Humane Society sent a representative to check out the Archer home. But the society's authority over new private nursing facilities, like the Archer Home, were limited. They weren't able to do much beyond finding the archers for overcrowding and failing. to ventilate the home. But even though Amy suffered no serious consequences to her business, she was quick to seek revenge on the poor resident who reported her. Dr. Carrie Barron notes the vengeful tendencies of antisocial people, writing, quote, slight or imagined grievances set off rage, revenge, viciousness, and physical or emotional violence.

They will go to shocking lengths or depths to malign those who thwart them. End quote. This was certainly true of Amy. In 1909, Amy paid a doctor to evaluate the woman who had reported her to the authorities. Unsurprisingly, Amy got the results she wanted. The doctor declared the resident legally insane, and Amy immediately institutionalized her. The benefit for Amy was twofold. She silenced her most vocal critic, and she got to keep the resident's money.

We can't be sure why Amy didn't kill this resident. Perhaps it hadn't occurred to her yet that it would be easier to simply murder a troublesome resident. Or perhaps she was worried she would get caught if she killed a patient who had openly criticized her. But this resident wasn't the last to stand up to Amy. In the fall of 1909, the Connecticut air was getting colder, and resident Teresa McClintock was beginning to experience problems at the Archer Home. Amy refused to keep the rooms warm enough for her residence. And when Teresa requested blankets, Amy either ignored the older woman or mocked her.

Teresa wrote to her daughter, Narcissa, to complain about the situation. She warned her daughter that Amy Archer was cruel and the nursing home was too cold. Narcissa received these letters, but initially dismissed them. She assumed her mother was being self-absorbed and overly demanding. Narcissa wrote back only once. Instead of offering sympathy for Teresa's situation, she admonished her. mother for complaining. She wrote, quote, Dear mother, I cannot possibly go to you now. When I do go, I hope I shall hear something pleasant and agreeable and not any more fault finding, as you are in one of

the best homes of the state, and you are paying the least and have the best room, so I know you cannot fail to appreciate it. End quote. Amy was so skilled at projecting a saintly reputation that Narcissa blindly trusted Amy over her own mother. but Teresa wasn't going to stop trying to get her daughter's help. Over the fall months of 1909, Teresa continued to write letters to Narcissa about the terrible treatment she was receiving at Amy's hands. Her hair was never combed,

and her clothes were never washed. Even more disgusting, the bedpan was rarely removed, washed out, or even covered. In the early winter of 1909, Narcissa finally made the 10-mile track to see her mother. What she discovered, filled her with dismay and shame. Teresa was lying abandoned in a chilly upstairs bed.

Her hair and clothes were a mess, and the room smelled atrocious. Teresa stirred to life as her daughter entered the room and cried, quote, Oh, Belle, take me away from here. I had a chill last night, and I called for someone to come to me. When Mrs. Archer came, she was ugly and told me to shut up. I asked for some hot water to drink and for a hot water bottle to put at feet. She did nothing for me, and I'm afraid of her because she is so ugly." N' quote.

Narcissa was outraged and immediately confronted Amy about her mother's care, but Amy refused to apologize or admit any wrongdoing. This isn't surprising given her sociopathic tendencies. According to psychotherapist John Amadeo, sociopaths can't offer sincere apologies. He explains, quote, they can't afford to notice how they affect others. They're so busy protecting themselves that they don't really care about anyone else's feelings, end quote. Amy was full of excuses for Narcissa. She tried to claim that she had merely fallen behind on some chores. When Narcissa brought up the fact that her mother's room was uncomfortably cold,

Amy suggested maybe sometimes there was a bit of a draft to when James did home repairs. Unimpressed with Amy's defensive attitude, Narcissa leapt into action. She pulled her mother from the Archer home in the winter of 1909 and sued Amy for $5,000. In today's currency, that would equal out to just under $132,000, a significant sum. Amy was initially full of bluster and outrage about the lawsuit, but she must have quickly realized that a public court battle could hurt her business. She quietly settled with the McClintock's out of court.

in 1909. Although the lawsuit did not hurt Amy's business, it caused her a considerable amount of stress. And as we've seen with past serial killers, life stressors can serve as triggers for them to begin their murders. Dealing with the McClintock lawsuit left Amy needing an outlet for her worries about her finances. According to Dr. Joni E. Johnston, quote, nearly one quarter of serial murders are motivated by one of the most mundane motives of all criminal activity, money. This statistic is closer to 50% when we focus on female serial killers, end quote. Stressed by the lawsuit and ensuing financial fallout, Amy was ready to kill for money. And it didn't take long for Amy to select her first victim.

Immediately following the McClintock lawsuit, Amy began spreading national. rumors about her husband James. She told everyone who would listen that James was the one who was really mistreating the residents. In January of 1910, Amy amended James's life insurance policy so that if James suddenly died, Amy would now get a generous payout. Amy was taking a pretty serious risk by plotting her husband's murder. James was only 50 and in good health. She needed to make sure he died without raising anyone's suspicions. Luckily, Amy had a new partner in crime. By January of 1910, a new doctor named Howard King had become the primary physician at the Archer House. This meant King was now the doctor responsible for issuing death certificates for the

home's residence, and Amy knew she could count on King to say that James died of natural causes. By the end of January 1910, Amy's plan to improve her finances was in place. All Amy needed to do to get her life insurance money was to poison her husband. Just a month after James signed a new life insurance policy, giving everything to Amy, he suddenly died on February 2nd of 1910. Years later, James' signature on the insurance policy was ruled a forgery, and I think we can safely assume that Amy was the way. one who forged his signature.

As soon as James died, Amy swiftly brought Dr. King to her husband's bedside. It was the moment of truth. What would Dr. King write on James' death certificate? Amy had nothing to worry about. Within minutes of examining the deceased James Archer on February 2nd, Dr. King determined that James had died of Bright's disease, a generic term used at the time for kidney disease. It was certainly an odd choice of diagnosis.

Doctors knew even in 1910 that people suffering from Bright's disease showed symptoms long before they died of kidney failure. James was previously healthy, with no signs of kidney disease. Perhaps Dr. King was an active accomplice helping Amy cover up her husband's death. He was so close to Amy it spurred people to gossip that the pair were romantically involved, though this was never proven. But perhaps he was merely gullible and easily blinded by his own greed. and incompetence. He may have been reluctant to question an employer. Whatever Dr. King's motives, he was always ready and willing to declare that Amy's murder victims had died of natural causes. Amy had her husband's body quickly removed, embalmed, and entombed, until it could be buried in the

springtime of 1910. The payout from her husband's life insurance policy meant she no longer needed to worry about any financial difficulties caused by the McClintock lawsuit. Psychologists Scott A. Bonn notes that female serial killers tend to kill men who are emotionally and physically closest to them, particularly husbands or lovers, and they generally kill to improve their lifestyle. This clearly applies to Amy. But not everyone was as willing as Dr. King to believe that Amy's husband died of natural causes. Ironically, it was one of Amy's husband friends who would first come to realize that she was a cold-blooded killer. Our story will continue in a moment after the break.

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hundreds of sites with kayak and get your trip right. Kayak. Got that right. This episode is brought to you by Redfin. You're listening to a podcast, which means you're probably multitasking, maybe even scrolling home listings on Redfin, saving homes without expecting to get them. But Redfin isn't just built for endless browsing. It's built to help you find and own a home.

With agents who close twice as many deals, when you find the one, you've got a real shot at getting it. Get started at redfin.com. Own the dream. Now, our story continues. By February 1910, Amy Archer Gilligan had successfully poisoned her husband James and taken over their business running a nursing home in Windsor, Connecticut. And Amy easily convinced the home's resident physician, Dr. King,

that James had died of natural causes. He assuredly wrote Bright's disease or kidney disease on James's death certificate. But not everyone was convinced that James had died naturally. The first to suspect Amy of a potential murder was her friend, Carlin Gosley. Gosley was a 24-year-old insurance salesman and part-time reporter for the local newspaper, the Hartford Courant. He was also a passionate amateur detective and the treasurer for a social club called the Windsor Rogue Detecting Society. If anyone was going to sniff out a serial killer, it was an aspiring detective. like Gosley. But believe it or not, Gosley started out as one of Amy's strongest supporters.

He fully believed that Amy Archer was a kind-hearted Christian woman doing his town of Windsor, Connecticut a great service by running her home for the elderly. He later remarked, quote, I thought she was a wonderful person, end quote. Gosley liked Amy so much that he even defended her after she was sued in December of 1909 for neglecting Teresa McClintock. But after Amy's seemingly healthy husband James died suddenly on February 2nd of 1910, Gosley grew suspicious.

He began investigating Amy in the spring of 1910 and asking townspeople about James' death. It didn't take long for Amy to find out through town gossip that Gosley was investigating her. She was furious at the betrayal of a former friend and prepared to do everything in her power to undermine Gossley's investigation. We've seen how vindictive and manipulative Amy can be when angered,

and she stayed true to form. Amy soon launched a campaign to get revenge on Gossley by turning the town of Windsor against him and ruining his reputation. She came terrifyingly close to succeeding. Gossley's daughter later noted, quote, many people in town thought that Amy was a wonderful person and dad got many threatening phone calls. they thought she was a very caring and philanthropic woman because she did so many nice things for Windsor, end quote.

But despite Amy's attempts to assassinate Gosley's character, he was still able to raise the suspicions of some of the town's people. A few months after James Archer's death in February of 1910, Dr. King wrote to a friend, quote, Amy has been a victim of persecution, as any number of people in town dislike her personally, and have caused suspicions to be directed against her. end quote. Gosley's investigation may have created additional stress for Amy and fueled her murders, or she may have simply been encouraged to keep killing after getting away with her husband's death. Just over a year later, almost two dozen residents had died at the Archer home. And on May 25, 1911, Amy picked her latest victim, Hilton Griffin.

An 81-year-old resident of the Archer home passed away mysteriously. Amy called Dr. Howard King, who quickly noted the cause of death as, quote, general debility and old age, end quote. Amy had the body removed and bombed and buried as quickly as possible. She sent flowers to the family and donated money to the church. But she never sent flowers or donated money out of benevolence. This was all part of Amy's grandmotherly Christian persona. As Amy's biographer, M.W. Phelps noted, quote,

Amy didn't just have a few supporters. She worked hard to maintain her flawless image, end quote. Amy may have also relished playing the role of the grieving caregiver. According to criminology professor Scott Bonn, quote, although most female serial killers murder for money or other profit, some do it for the attention and sympathy they receive following the death of someone they cared for, end quote. The image Amy crafted for herself worked. At first, no one noticed anything unusual about Hilton Griffin's demise, until Carlin Gossley took a closer look at the death certificate.

As part of his reporting work, Gossley was in charge of writing the Hartford Courant's obituaries. So when Hilton Griffin died, Gossley picked up Dr. King's death certificate from the Windsor Town Clerk. He was disturbed to read that Hilton Griffin died of general debility and old age. Gosley had written enough obituaries over the years to know that people didn't die of old age. The doctor should have written down the illness that caused Griffin's death, but there was no medical explanation for Griffin's demise. Hilton's death certificate just added fuel to Gosley's suspicions about Amy, so Gosley began interviewing former residents and their families.

He heard gossip of theft, signature forgery, trickery, and fraud, but was the kindly Amy Archer, a woman so religious that she took her Bible with her on trips to W.H. Mason's drugstore capable of murder? Gosley needed to find out. He traveled to W.H. Mason's drugstore to investigate and examined the store's black book where employees recorded all of the poisons that customers purchased. He discovered that Amy had bought large amounts of morphine. But that made sense. Archer had several residents who needed people. pain relief and medicine, and in 1911 anyone could go to a drugstore and purchase morphine like it was Advil. But then, Gosley uncovered something even more disturbing.

Amy had purchased arsenic at the drugstore. A lot of it. Most cases of arsenic poisoning occur accidentally through the consumption of contaminated water. Here's water specialist Eric Olson on the subject. The people at greatest risk of getting cancer or other effects of arsenic, and their drinking water include basically anyone that's exposed for an extended period of time. So it can be young children and it can be the elderly. But Amy's elderly victims weren't getting poisoned by their water.

Amy slowly killed her residence by mixing arsenic into the sweet lemonade she served at a nursing home. Once it's absorbed into the body, arsenic disrupts cells at a molecular level, targeting the reaction that allows cells to store and transport energy. Symptoms can start with headaches and progress to vomiting, severe stomach pain and convulsions. Eventually, the victim's organs will shut down. It doesn't take much arsenic to kill you. One-twent of a fluid ounce of arsenic can be fatal to an adult. And according to the drugstore's Black Book, Amy Archer often bought upwards of 10 ounces at a time.

That's enough arsenic to kill 200 people. As Gossley went through the drugstore's records in 1911, The pieces began to fall into place. James Archer's mysterious and sudden death in 1910, the rumors of neglect and fraud, the vaguely worded death certificates, Amy's large supplies of arsenic and morphine. It all pointed toward one simple conclusion.

Amy Archer was killing her own residence. The question was, could Gossley prove it? Gosley took his suspicions to his boss, the editor of the Hartford Courant, but the editor refused to publish Gosley's theory. All Gosley had was a collection of rumors and circumstantial evidence. If Gosley wanted to bring Amy Archer to justice, then he needed to keep digging. As Gosley doggedly pursued new leads, Amy continued to lash out at him.

In a letter dated May 22, 1911, Amy called Gosley's investigation a witch hunt and wrote, quote, I presume it is unnecessary for me to tell you of the newspaper's reporting conduct toward my home. They never saw best to write of my caring for people for nothing, as I have in a number of cases, end quote. Given Amy's history of habitual lying, it's unlikely she was actually caring for any of her residence for free. So we have to take her words with the grain of salt. On June 30, 1911, Carlin Gossley visited the Town Hall of Records. the Archer home was now the last listed residents for 24 deceased people. He couldn't believe that two dozen residents had died in the span of four years.

He noted, quote, the death rate is simply too high, end quote. But even though residents were dropping like flies, Gossley still couldn't prove that Amy was killing them. And people were still eagerly filling the beds at her nursing home, providing Amy with a steady stream of potential victims. Throughout the year of 1911, Amy wrote an assortment of letters, inviting people to visit the Archer home. She dared lawyers, reporters, police, and government authorities to try and find something suspicious. But no one besides Carlin Gossley was interested in investigating Amy. Emboldened by the world's indifference, Amy stepped up the frequency of her murders.

In 1912, she killed five. 15 more residents. At this point, she may have been responsible for almost 40 deaths at the Archer home. But Amy would not be able to kill with impunity forever. In next week's episode, we'll investigate how Amy carried out an estimated dozens of murders over the next four years from 1912 to 1916. We'll learn how she wooed a new husband, Michael Gilligan, and swiftly murdered him for his money. And we'll uncover the evidence that finally led to Amy's capture and the shuddering of her Windsor, Connecticut, murder factory. Thanks again for tuning in to serial killers. If you want to listen to any previous episodes of serial killers, you can find them on Apple Podcasts, Tune-in, Google Play, Stitcher, and Spotify, or on our website, paracast.com.

spelled p-a-r-c-a-s-t-com. If you like what you hear, please leave a five-star review or tell us what you think on social media. We're on Facebook and Instagram as at Parcast and Twitter at Parcast Network. It seems simple, but it really helps our show. Have a killer week. Serial Killers was created by Max Cutler, is a production of Cutler media and is part of the Parcast Network. It is produced by Max and Ron Cutler, sound design by Ron Cutler, sound design by Ron Shapiro with production assistance by Joel Stein and Paul Mahler. Additional production assistance by

Carly Madden and Maggie Admeyer. Serial Killers is written by Nick Adams and stars Greg Paulson and Vanessa Richardson. A beloved 75-year-old man washing up, getting ready for bed, is brutally beaten and killed. Despite an exhaustive investigation, the killer avoids arrest and then strikes again. I'm Global News crime reporter Nancy Hicks. You might listen to a lot of true crime podcasts this year, but they're not crime beat. Search for and follow the award-winning podcast Crime Beat on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and wherever you find your favorite podcasts. Blood Trails is a true crime podcast born in the outdoors, where the terrain is unforgiving, the evidence is scarce, and the truth gets buried under brush and silence. I've seen something in the road. I instantly thought it was a sleeping bag.

And there was a full of blood. Somebody somewhere knows something. I'm Jordan Sillers. Season 2 is out now with new episodes every Thursday. Listen on the IHart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.