54- On the Case: The Crimes of the Giggling Granny

Join us on our last Sunday upload (we are moving Sunday's episodes to Monday). Hatter takes us head first into the crimes of Nannie Doss, who was a serial poisoner. Although she has 5 confirmed victims, her actual crimes seem to stretch well beyond that, reaching into the double digits. Through it all she never stopped smiling, thus earning her the nickname, the giggling granny.

Harvey, Gordon. “Nancy ‘Nannie Doss’ Hazle.” Encyclopedia of Alabama, Alabama Humanities Alliance and Auburn University, 29 July 2014, updated 15 Oct. 2025. Encyclopedia of Alabama — Nannie Doss

“Killer of Mates Gets Life Term.” Medford Mail Tribune, 2 June 1955, p. 14. Historic Oregon Newspapers, University of Oregon Libraries.

“Grandma Doss Given Life for Husband Deaths.” Athens Banner-Herald, 5 June 1955, p. 11. Georgia Historic Newspapers, Digital Library of Georgia.

Associated Press. Contemporary news reports concerning the arrest, confession, psychiatric examination, and prosecution of Nannie Doss, 1954–1955. Reprinted in newspapers throughout the United States.

United Press. Contemporary news reports concerning the investigation, exhumations, arsenic testing, and sentencing of Nannie Doss, 1954–1955. Reprinted in newspapers throughout the United States.

Johnson, Will. “Nannie Doss.” County Historian, 18 June 2010. Genealogical and historical examination of Doss family records, marriages, deaths, and contemporary newspaper reports.

The Big Spring Daily Herald. Contemporary coverage of Nannie Doss’s confession, investigation, guilty plea, and prosecution. Big Spring, Texas, 1954–1955. Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library, Texas Tech University.

The Evening Star. Contemporary coverage of the Nannie Doss sanity proceedings and psychiatric testimony, May 1955. Chronicling America/Historic American Newspapers, Library of Congress.

Medford Mail Tribune. Contemporary coverage of the investigation into Nannie Doss and the exhumation and toxicological examination of suspected victims, Dec. 1954. Historic Oregon Newspapers, University of Oregon Libraries.

Athens Banner-Herald. Contemporary coverage of the prosecution and sentencing of Nannie Doss, 1955. Georgia Historic Newspapers, Digital Library of Georgia.

Oklahoma Historical Society. Gateway to Oklahoma History. Digitized Oklahoma newspaper coverage concerning Nannie Doss’s arrest, sanity hearing, guilty plea, and sentencing.

Library of Congress. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Contemporary newspaper reports concerning Nannie Doss and the investigation of deaths associated with her.

University of Oregon Libraries. Historic Oregon Newspapers. Contemporary United Press and Associated Press reports concerning the Doss investigation, exhumations, psychiatric proceedings, and sentencing.

Digital Library of Georgia. Georgia Historic Newspapers. Contemporary Associated Press coverage of Nannie Doss’s prosecution and life sentence.

Texas Tech University Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library. Digitized issues of The Big Spring Daily Herald containing contemporary coverage of the Nannie Doss investigation and prosecution.