Jane Toppan
On October 29, 1901, police inspectors arrested Jane Toppan on suspicion of the murder of four members of the prominent Davis family to whom Toppan was employed as a private nurse. Generally well-regarded by her peers, “Jolly” Jane, so-called for her sunny disposition, was born Honora Kelly, the daughter of Irish immigrants. With a mother who passed away from tuberculosis when Jane was only one year old, and a father who was committed to an asylum for the insane soon after, Jane used her intelligence and social graces to become a nurse, and to begin a covert and murderous rampage that would shake what was known about serial killers at the time to its foundations. What is the nature of “healthcare serial killers?” What could motivate someone to prey on the sick and injured when they are most vulnerable?