Arsenic and Old lace

Just home from a quick trip to Minnesota. Had to help celebrate as my parents reached that milestone of married life known as their 60^th wedding anniversary. Of course my dad said, “I was going to put up a sign that said ‘We’re not together anymore, sorry for the inconvenience’”.  At least they had a good time.

Then the 10 hour drive home to an air conditioner that went kaput about 2 hours after I walked in. Along with being mobbed by Mama Mia and her puppy squad, I was able to catch the last half of a horrible football game between the Vikings and 49 er’s. I don’t think either team wanted to win.

After taking my father-in-law to the doctor, and dealing with the air conditioner repairman, I read an article from Reuters, written by Richard Weizel. The Connecticut Supreme Court voted 5 to 2 to keep the medical records of Amy Archer Gilligan sealed forever, rejecting the idea that they are historical records. Amy Archer Gilligan, who died in 1962, was a serial killer who inspired the play and movie “Arsenic and Old Lace”.

I recently watched Arsenic and Old Lace with Cary Grant. It was really a good movie. Yes it’s old. Older than I am. Yes it’s black and white. Young people today would poo poo it, but it proved you could have a good movie involving a serial killer, murder and mayhem without sex, violence and gore.  

So who was the original Arsenic and Old Lace killer? “Sister” Amy Duggan Archer Gilligan was born just after the Civil War in October 1868. She was suspected  of killing at least 48 people. Some put the number as high as 60, which included her second husband, Michael Gilligan.

Amy married James Archer in 1897. A daughter was born that same year. Amy and James Archer got a job as caretakers in 1901 when they were hired to care for an elderly widower, John Seymour. They moved into the Seymour house in Newington, Connecticut and made themselves at home. John Seymour died in 1904, at which time his heirs turned the residence into a boarding house for the elderly. The Archer’s were allowed to stay and run the boarding house under the name of “Sister Amy’s Nursing Home for the Elderly”.

In 1907, the Seymour heirs decided to sell the house. The Archer’s moved to Windsor, Connecticut and used their savings to buy a house and soon they were in business as the Archer Home for the Elderly and Infirm.

Some considered this business to be a pioneer in the health care field in Connecticut. John Archer died in 1910 of apparently natural causes. The official cause was listed as “Bright’s Disease”, a generic term for kidney diseases. Amy of course had taken out an insurance policy on John a few weeks before his death. I wonder how many poisons have symptoms that look like kidney disease. Especially in 1910. Anyway, Amy got the money, and it was business as usual.

In 1913, Amy married a wealthy husband, Michael Gilligan. Michael died February 20, 1914. The cause was officially listed as “Acute bilious attack”, or severe indigestion. Again, think of how many poisons would cause indigestion. Especially in large amounts. Amy was once again financially secure as Michael had drawn up a new will leaving his entire estate to his new wife.

Between 1907 and 1917, there were 60 deaths in the Archer Home. Relatives of Amy’s clients grew suspicious at the large number of deaths occurring to residents under her care. Between 1907 and 1910, only 12 residents died, but 48 residents died from 1911 to 1916.

Among the deaths was Franklin R. Andrews, and apparently healthy man. On the morning of May 29, 1914 he collapsed after doing some gardening, and was dead by evening. Officially, his death was caused by a gastric ulcer. His sister, Nellie Pierce inherited his personal papers. She noted occasions where Amy Archer-Gilligan was pressing Andrews for money. Nellie also noted a pattern that many residents died soon after giving her large sums of money.

As the deaths continued, Nellie made a report to the local district attorney, who basically ignored her. Nellie next went to The Hartford Courant, a newspaper. The paper, on May 9, 1916 came out with the first of several articles on “The Murder Factory”. A few months later the police began to seriously investigate the case. It took police almost a year to complete their investigation, which included exhuming Gilligan, Andrews and three other boarders. All 5 died of poisoning. Either arsenic or strychnine had been used. Local merchants testified that Amy Archer-Gilligan had purchased large amounts of arsenic to kill rats. A look into Gilligan’s will easily showed it was a forgery, written in Amy’s own hand. Evidence even showed that Amy sent some of her victims to the store to but arsenic for her.

They originally arrested and tried Amy on 5 counts of murder, but her lawyer got that dropped to one count. Amy was found guilty and sentenced to death. On appeal, Amy got a new trial and plead insanity. Amy’s daughter testified that her mother was addicted to morphine.. The 2^nd trial found Amy guilty of 2^nd degree murder and she was sentenced to life imprisonment. In 1924 Amy was declared temporarily insane and transferred to the Connecticut Hospital for the Insane in Middletown. There she remained until her death on April 23, 1962.

That was some long temporary insanity. But story writers had luck creating a Broadway play and a movie based on this tale of murder. It shows how sad criminal events can be made into a dark comedy by Hollywood.

They have a reasonably normal family member dealing with a homicidal family. The main culprits are 2 maiden aunts who murder lonely old men using elderberry wine laced with arsenic, strychnine and a pinch of cyanide. There is a brother of the 2 maiden aunts who thinks he’s Theodore Roosevelt and digs canals in the cellar. Of course this makes a great place to bury the victims. There is another brother who is an escaped murderer who has had plastic surgery and is on the run from police.

In the movie, Cary Grant plays the normal family member. As if Cary Grant could be normal. As he tries to get married to the girl next door, his aunts are murdering men left and right, and poor Cary is left trying to fix everything before someone finds out.

No one will probably ever know for sure how many people were killed by Amy Archer-Gilligan. Did she lace the elderberry wine with poison as the movie shows, or did she add it to their stew? Or maybe their coffee? As in the case of Mr. Andrews, did Amy find a way to turn organic vegetables poisonous?

If you do like safe products, you can check out the link below.

http://www.TheJourneyIsWorthIt.com