Story of the Killer Nurse- Jolly Jane 

 Who was Jolly Jane?

The original name was Jane Toppon, was an American serial killer, Nicknamed Jolly Jane, it was believed that she killed more than a hundred patients though she confesses to only 31 murders.

Jane Toppon was born Honora Kelly on March 31, 1854, she was the daughter of Iris Immigrants

she also had a sister and her name was Delia, jane was very young when her mother died of tuberculosis, her father peter kelly was a very abusive alcoholic. after 1860 only a few years after his wife's death, kelly took his two daughters, Delia and Honora to an orphanage known as Boston Female asylum because he couldn't take care of them anymore, it was written in the documents of the asylum note, 'that they were rescued from very miserable home'

In November 1862 less than two years after their father left them, Honora kelly was placed as an indentured servant in the home of Mrs. Ann c Toppan of Lowell Massachusetts. she was never legally adopted by this family but she was given the surname of the family and eventually known as Toppan.

The original Toppan family already had a daughter named Elizabeth with whom Honora got along pretty well. they were of the same age but Elizabeth would often remind jane that she was beneath her and the family. but the family was pretty fair to jane but they did constantly remind jane about her Irish heritage and it was that time when Irish immigrants were highly criticized. also sometimes it was very difficult for the immigrants to find work or apartments to live in due to being Irish.

Murders 

In 1885, Honora began training to be a nurse at Cambridge hospital, she was a teenager and had an image of being chirpy, bright, friendly, and very well-liked by everyone. she created a character that she wanted everybody to see, but deep down it was totally opposite, it was believed that she created a character so that everybody could accept her because since childhood people around her, would constantly remind jane that she was unwanted. so deep down it affects her really hard which leads her to become a pathological liar. 

she was also a great storyteller, she often used to go to people and tell lies about her original family, lies as her father was a sailor or her sister married to a wealthy prince. but the reality was her sister went into prostitution and sadly ended up being dead, and her father was an abusive alcoholic.

so in the Cambridge hospital, everybody liked her, she had a great personality, charming, her patients loved her and that's how she ended up being called  'Jolly Jane'

Jane used to spend a lot of time with her patients, once she became close to the patients she used to choose her favorite ones, usually, the patients whom she used to choose were elderly or very sick. during her residency, Toppan used her patients as guinea pigs in experiments with morphine and atropine. she altered their prescribed dosages just to see what it would do to their nervous system. 

moreover, she used to spend a considerable amount of time with her patients making up fake charts and medicating them to drift in and out of consciousness.

In 1889 Topan was recommended to the prestigious Massachusetts general hospital, There, she claimed more victims before being fired the following year she returned to Cambridge, and from there also she was dismissed soon because she was caught misusing opiates. (a drug that acts on CNS). then Topan began her career as a private Nurse.

Toppan began her poison spree in 1895, by killing her landlord Israel Dunham and his wife in 1899 she killed her foster sister Elizabeth. 

In 1901, Toppan moved in with an elderly Alden Davis and his family in Cataumet to care for him after the death of his wife. within a week she killed most of the family members including Davis.

climax

The surviving member of the Davis family ordered a toxicology examination on Alden Davis's youngest daughter Minnie and the report found that she had been poisoned, then local authorities assigned a police detail on Toppan to watch her.

On October 29, 1901, she was arrested for murder and in 1902 she confessed to 31 murders. but it was believed that. the number was even higher. Toppan insisted upon her own sanity in court claiming that she was not in her senses and didn't know, it was wrong when she was doing those murders. on June 23 she was found not guilty because of the reason for insanity and committed for life in the Staunton insane hospital.

so that was all about jolly jane, do let me know your opinion on this story in the comment section below, and also I will be posting more murder mysteries every Wednesday so for getting the notification of all my posts, don't forget to subscribe and if you like the story then do share.